Job Discussion Forums

[ShelleyJ]

I am a 26 year old, white, female American citizen who holds a BA in English from DePaul University. I just made the decision that I want to teach abroad in either China or South Korea. I have a friend who is currently in Pusan and keeps telling me I should go there and I have a friend who just got back from Shanghai and had a great experience. I would like to go somewhere where I personally know someone who has been as I would like first-hand knowledge of the experiences they've had in those places.

I don't have any teaching certificates and would like to bypass getting certified altogether. I have student loans - though the payment is low - and am looking to be able save money while teaching abroad so I can travel after I am finished. I would also like to go somewhere that pays for room and board. Some sort of health benefit or assistance is important to me as well. I would like to go in the springtime of '10 and do not speak any other language than English. I am extremely confident and readier than ever to make this leap - just need as many resources as possible.

I have bouts with depression and am concerned that I will be homesick so I would prefer a place that has a fair amount of people doing the same thing as me so I can make friends fast. I am 150% certain, however, that I am strong enough to handle anything that happens so I know that being homesick can be overcome if given enough time.

So can anyone explain to me Shanghai as compared to Pusan, China as compared to S. Korea? (Cost of living, salaries, programs, things to do, etc.) I also want to make sure the program I am going through is legitimate and that I remain safe in whatever ventures I decide to take.

Feel free to PM me if necessary.

Thanks!

Shelley

[Mr. Kalgukshi]

In line with site policy, Korean living & teaching discussions should occur on the Korean Job Discussions and not here. Seperate registration is required.

The two China forums on this board contain a wealth of information regarding living & teaching in China.

[naturegirl321]

Welcome to the boards.

Basically, if you want to save money go to Korea.

I-ve been to both, both have different things that are good about them. Try posting on the China forum for info abotu China and the Korean one for info about Korea.

Sounds like Korea would be the place for you, because of your loans.

CHina, with no teaching experience or degree or cert, you-ll probably only make 500 bucks a month. You can save, but not heaps.

In both places you-ll get free housing and flights.

Things to do? Depends on what you like. There are always things to do, just about anywhere, if you put your mind to it. Check out hte Lonely Planet at your local library, that could give you an idea.

Hope this helps

[nickpellatt]

I do think you should seriously consider some training, certification, or some type of placement or work experience.

When you did your English BA, did your teachers or university lecturers have any teaching qualifications and experience ... or did they just take the class on the basis of being a native speaker? Would you have been happy to take on student loans on that basis? Bearing in mind many of your prospective students 'may' be paying quite high fees for a foreign teacher ... and in a country that doesnt have much in the way of social security etc, their educational achievements could arguably be more important to them than you BA was/is to you.

I hope that doesnt sound too preachy ... it is a very real thing to consider though, and being a native speaker isnt really enough to be a paid language teacher and expect students to pay fees to attend your classes.

The other big benefit of that, is that some sort of training may make the teaching experience a lot more enjoyable for you as well as worthwhile for the students. It can be quite daunting to walk into a class of students with no experience and no idea about what to do. It also takes time to understand how to grade your speech to be understood in class, and to understand so many elements of language teaching. Its not just about being a native speaker, and if it was ... people wouldnt be spending time and money gaining EFL qualifications and linguistics or TEFL Masters qualifications. Being confident is great ... but knowing what to actually do is perhaps more important.

The more time I spend working in EFL, the more value I place upon the training I did have ... and whilst I didnt do this before I began teaching ... I did begin working in a voluntary capacity with students that DIDNT pay any sort of fee for FTs. A number of people I started this program of volunteer teaching with quit early...as they simply couldnt cope with it, and didnt know how to handle it. This included UK state school teachers who were used to classroom situations, but not to EFL classes.

Dont overlook the value of some sort of training ... although it would be nice to find employers who would offer a training / induction period ... it is also equally likely that they may just welcome you to China on sunday, and send you off for 3 x 45 min classes on monday without any teaching brief or materials.

I cant comment on shanghai Vs korea Im afraid. I do have China experience, but it was far from the major cities so it may not be relevant. Some people do find China very hard and especially frustrating though .. do consider this before making your choices. it might be worth searching the middle kingdom website for some China info. I quite like that site for China info...I dont have a link but google 'middle kingdom life and Im sure it will pop up!

Nick

[ShelleyJ]

I completely understand what you are saying about being as prepared as you can for something that you can't prepare for all that much, etc. with the teaching experience/certificate. Neither of the people I know who taught abroad (in China and S. Korea) had teaching experience nor a certificate... I even asked my friend who is in Pusan if he got a certificate and he said he had heard from multiple sources (friends who went to S. Korea) that it was unnecessary unless you wanted to get paid more.

I completely agree that it is better to orient yourself to something new than to rely on others to do it. My friend in Pusan got there and his boss gave him a few books that he had to teach to the kids and nothing else and told him he started the next day - no orientation, no jump off point, just a sort of free for all. This actually doesn't worry me one bit. I think I will do quite well in a situation such as this.

The prices of certification are so astronomical that it would take me several months just to save up the money to pay for it let alone the many more months it would take me to save more than that to go abroad. I don't really think this can be compared to my going to college and being taught English by professors with teaching experience. I would probably get just as good an education from a native Chinese speaker as I would from an American who studied Chinese and was fluent in it as a second language. Good points, though, just not my concern as of now.

What I really want to know is where I can get the most well-rounded experience, learn the most about another culture and myself, enjoy some other expats/people doing the same work as me, and gain teaching experience (because I ultimately do want to be some sort of teacher).

I'll repost this on the China and Korea forums.

Thanks all for your responses!