Job Discussion Forums

[carolinachristy]

I am thinking about teaching in India when my contract is up and was wondering what my job options are. I have a BA in English, an online TEFL, 6 months teaching in Mexico and a year teaching in Korea.

[scb222]

i would be surprised if there were many teaching jobs for langauge school teachers in india as their state system teaches english. english is the medium for nationwide communication, due to the many dialects in each state. if im wrong please say so, cos i too would like a jaunt in india.

[squindia]

You are correct.

The best options for EFL teachers in India are either at International schools or call centers doing accent and customer service training.

You may find a job in a language institution or a school but the pay will be very very low.

Volunteering at NGOs is also an option and since living in India is so inexpensive its possible to do for awhile on a little savings.

squid

[armitage]

I have just returned from teaching around Delhi, India. I believe I was lucky in getting a contract to teach at a Business/management institute which was experimenting with an ESL course for its students. I was working for BLS Group of Education, or BLS Institute of Management. At this point let me say if you see a job offer from them - AVOID IT LIKE THE PLAGUE.

They were, unequivocally, the most unprofessional, morally base people I have ever worked with. The job package was excellent (37,500 Rs/month, free accommodation, transport etc) but the job itself, and my boss, were a nightmare.

I was told I would be teaching ESL to classes of about 30 post graduate students. On arrival, my boss tried to get me to teach Business Communication as part of the Post Graduate Diploma in Management. Something I am not qualified for, nor had agreed to. By the end of the semester my class size was 87 (eighty seven!) students.

We did not have audio facilities throughout our time there, despite repeated assurances we would be getting it. The classes were arranged not by level of English, but alphabetically! The classes were also optional and about a fifth of my students actually bought the book I was teaching from.

Oh, and the textbook was a pirated copy of a Cambridge New Interchange book, which was then sold on to the students for profit. The communication and organisation was utterly shambolic and we would more than once we turned up to teach only to find class had been cancelled.

So it was 'teaching' with pirated books to an optional class of up to 87 mixed level students, without audio or any supporting materials.

I could go into a diatribe about the wholly unprofessional and racist standards of my boss, but suffice to say that he one day wore a t-shirt to work which read in big, bold text:
'Yes, I have plenty of change you worthless piece of sh*t, thanks for asking.'

Do not even CONSIDER working for BLS. By the end of our time there, they had breached our contract and were threatening to get our visas revoked and kick us out of the country.. thankfully, the rest of my time in India was not marred by my employers!

Rant over. Thanks.

[RedheadAbroad]

I am currently teaching in south India, though not for profit. I am volunteering with an organization though I do get free room and board (yummy Indian food!). The ESL program at the facility is just getting its start. I am working 100% with international students, non-Indians, who attend the local university. They strongly desire to learn English from native speakers. Most of my classes are private tuitions. I am trying to build up the class sizes if only because it would help the students learn more if they could interact with more people in English while they are being taught.

Everything is ridiculously cheap here, so unless you're a heavy spender and require imported foods, if you have some savings (even only a couple hundred dollars) you could easily live here for a few months with no financial worries and not have an income.. Do let me know if you're interested in teaching here!! We could definitely use another teacher and the students truly are a blessing.

Although English is taught in schools, the accent most Indians have is terrible. Many students, if their parents can afford it, are in tuitions for their English. However, there are many people here who are not at all proficient in English. In poorer areas I think you would be hard-pressed to find someone who speaks more than a few words of English. That's certainly how it is here.

37K rps per month?!!! That's incredible! Most Indians make about 7K.. if they're lucky. Although, that job sounds awful. I'm sorry you had that experience. From what I hear about the local university here, it sounds like a very disorganized process. And India is rather funny about shutting everything down on random days. It seems like they look for any excuse to close the offices or schools. BTW, did your boss even know what his shirt meant? I've seen a lot of shirts worn here and I wonder each time I see such statements if the wearer even knows what he's exclaiming.

[Cubism]

AC will be a must. I lived before with some folks who are gone now.

BTW, I enjoyed hearing about the volunteer gig -- sounds so pleasant -- and was sorry to hear about the horrible business training thing. I, too, have recently been had.

I got laid off at a straight job in CO in 1984 and didn't work for a big company again until I started teaching ESL full-time, in about 2000. Seems it's time to go back to freelancing again, for me, anyway.

Thanks again.

[Green Acres]

Is it easy to do volunteer work and travel through India?

[Cubism]

Yes, but you must line up your volunteer schedule just as you line up your travel itinerary. In fact, as soon as you know your departure and return dates, get in touch with the charities/NGO's/leaders of groups in India you want to work with/for.

By searching the Net you can find every possible kind of volunteering. On this board, there was a woman who worked volunteer for a Xtian bunch in an Indian city, eg. You can use one of your interests as a search word. Eg, "Buddhism in India, ESL volunteer jobs."

Specific organizations post detailed information about jobs and coordinate teachers' coming and going quite carefully. Or you can lsee your local chapter's page ((of an internatinoal organization) for tips on how to get in touch with the Indian/other nation's administrators.

Forgive my spelling and mistakes. I have another class this afternoon and I want to write for an hour. Also, I need to find a new job...
But best of luck.
Keep in touch.
Cube

Some of these jobs are very interesting. Plus, the needy in India really depend on us. Irreplaceable goodness you'll be doing.

[Cubism]

Yes, but you must line up your volunteer schedule just as you line up your travel itinerary. In fact, as soon as you know your departure and return dates, get in touch with the charities/NGO's/leaders of groups in India you want to work with/for.

By searching the Net you can find every possible kind of volunteering. On this board, there was a woman who worked volunteer for a Xtian bunch in an Indian city, eg. You can use one of your interests as a search word. Eg, "Buddhism in India, ESL volunteer jobs."

Specific organizations post detailed information about jobs and coordinate teachers' coming and going quite carefully. Or you can lsee your local chapter's page ((of an internatinoal organization) for tips on how to get in touch with the Indian/other nation's administrators.

Forgive my spelling and mistakes. I have another class this afternoon and I want to write for an hour. Also, I need to find a new job...
But best of luck.


Some of these jobs are very interesting. Plus, the needy in India really depend on us. Irreplaceable goodness you'll be doing.

Keep in touch.
Cube

[clare loxey]

[quote="RedheadAbroad"]I am currently teaching in south India, though not for profit. I am volunteering with an organization though I do get free room and board (yummy Indian food!). The ESL program at the facility is just getting its start. I am working 100% with international students, non-Indians, who attend the local university. They strongly desire to learn English from native speakers. Most of my classes are private tuitions. I am trying to build up the class sizes if only because it would help the students learn more if they could interact with more people in English while they are being taught.

Everything is ridiculously cheap here, so unless you're a heavy spender and require imported foods, if you have some savings (even only a couple hundred dollars) you could easily live here for a few months with no financial worries and not have an income.. Do let me know if you're interested in teaching here!! We could definitely use another teacher and the students truly are a blessing.

Although English is taught in schools, the accent most Indians have is terrible. Many students, if their parents can afford it, are in tuitions for their English. However, there are many people here who are not at all proficient in English. In poorer areas I think you would be hard-pressed to find someone who speaks more than a few words of English. That's certainly how it is here.

where have you gone redhead abroad i would love to have some of your contact details so i can e-mail you and ask for some of your advice.... my e-mail - [email protected] coming to southern india myself in september. if i can offer any help i most certainly would aswell please get in touch cheersxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx