Job Discussion Forums

kellymilf · Joined: 24 Sep 2009 Posts: 6 Location: St. Louis, MO

Hello all. I'm a new ESL teacher this year. I just began teaching adult evening classes in my hometown of St. Louis, MO. I'm looking to move abroad next school year and am considering Turkey. Does anyone have any advice on which city would be the best to find a job in--Izmir, Ankara, Instanbul, etc.? They all seem to have their perks, but I'm looking to teach adults or uni students, not high school or below.
I currently have a BA in English and a TEFL/TESL certificate and am wondering if that is enough, or if I should also try to get CELTA certified before I go. Any advice at all would be appreciated.

Thanks!

spiral78 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 11534 Location: On a Short Leash

Exactly what kind of cert do you have?
There's a distinction between on-line and the real on-site courses that include supervised teaching practice with real students (not peer trainees).

If you have just a BA and a basic cert, it's unlikely that you're going to get university jobs anywhere...

kellymilf · Joined: 24 Sep 2009 Posts: 6 Location: St. Louis, MO

I have a TEFL/TESL/TESOL certificate from Oxford Seminars. I did a summer class where we put in 60 hours of class time over the course of three weekends. It was in-person and not online. No practical experience in the sense that we didn't teach actual ESL students. I'm hoping that's where my experience this year will come in handy. I wouldn't mind getting my CELTA as well, as it seems to be more widely recognized. Any ideas on my original question of which city might have the best jobs? I realize with Istanbul being the largest it might seem like the best option, but I'm also trying to find out about the quality of the schools in each city.

Thanks for the help!

fishmb · Joined: 08 Jul 2009 Posts: 184 Location: Istanbul

My girlfriend and I are about to start our CELTA course next week - we're in Istanbul. It's much cheaper to take it here than in the states ($1500 vs $2500).

I'll let you know how it goes if you're interested.

kellymilf · Joined: 24 Sep 2009 Posts: 6 Location: St. Louis, MO

Ooh. Good to know about the price. Thanks for the info, and definitely keep me updated. Thanks!

spiral78 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 11534 Location: On a Short Leash

Let me suggest that you get some letter(s) of recommendation from your students and supervisor(s) where you are teaching now.

The key with basic cert courses is the supervised teaching practice, with feedback on how well you did in different areas, from experienced teachers. Just having taught, without feedback or evaluation, won't entirely make up for not having done a CELTA or equivalent. See if you can get feedback from some experienced teacher in the program, and letters of rec. from both students and an experienced teacher or two.

This will probably help - though if an employer requires a CELTA or equivalent, that may well be as far as he/she will go when reviewing CVs/resumes.

fishmb · Joined: 08 Jul 2009 Posts: 184 Location: Istanbul

Yeah, the CELTA is a different price in every country, and sometimes varies from institution to institution, but most of them were within $50-100 if not the exact same. Most expensive I found were CELTA centers in Japan, roughly $3300.

amainegypt · Joined: 20 Jun 2008 Posts: 12

Hi Kelly- I think we took the same Oxford session. I am actually reviewing a contract to teach in Turkey- have you decided on a city yet? I forgot to ad- this is Evie

kellymilf · Joined: 24 Sep 2009 Posts: 6 Location: St. Louis, MO

Evie,
I don't think we were in the same session actually. I only had 6 other people in mine. But PM me and we can chat. Thanks!

TeachEnglish · Joined: 09 Feb 2005 Posts: 239

As far as İ have seen and spoken to other currently employed teachers about, any TEFL certificate and a 4-year degree from an English speaking country.. is good enough to get a job here in Turkey at any University in the English prep. departments. Good luck

istanbuldelight · Joined: 22 Dec 2009 Posts: 4 Location: Istanbul, Turkey

I have found that everything spiral78 says about getting a job at a university to be untrue. Universities can hire whomever they want and are not restricted by the Turkish Ministry of Education's guidelines. If you have a good resume, and some sort of ESL/EFL certificate you are a viable candidate. More than certificates and degrees, the number one thing that gets you hired in Istanbul is experience.

If you want to teach k-12, you have the perfect qualifications. The Turkish Ministry of Education requires a BA in English for teachers wanting to teach English. (If you weren't to have this qualification, fear not, private schools have all kinds of ways of bending rules).

TeachEnglish · Joined: 09 Feb 2005 Posts: 239

Istanbuldelight said