Job Discussion Forums

[moonshine]

I've been here 3 months now and have applied to numerous tutor ads on Craig's List - most to no avail - the only nibbles have been science-related as my degree is a B.S. - but I'm beginning to wonder if something about my most recent experience teaching ESL in K (since 2003) is hurting me?

am I just being paranoid?

I thought it'd be a snap to find some tutoring gigs here - I'm working on my MFA, and have said so on my resume.

so what's up? I know the market it tight but this seems very odd - the gigs are posted regularly on Craig's so they're out there -

any suggestions?

[johnslat]

Dear moonshine,

I hear the UNIVERSITY OF BUEA, South West Region, Republic of Cameroon
is looking for a few good people. You MUST BE a man or a woman, but I assume you'd qualify.
Why don't you send off your CV?

Regards,
John

[moonshine]

ok, now it's official, you must simply be a TROLL

[johnslat]

Dear moonshine,
Darn, you figured it out. Yup, I'm a TROLL, and it took 5,496 posts before someone bright enough figured it out.
Congratulation on your perspicacity.
Regards,
John

[anyway]

I've seen several ads on 'spokenskills' in the last few months...

[Chancellor]

[spiral78]

most recent experience teaching ESL in K (since 2003) is hurting me?

It's true that teaching ESL in Korea isn't always a huge plus when seeking jobs in North America. The expectations of students, and accepted classroom methodology and approaches can be very different from what's expected in western classrooms. Further, your experience teaching monolingual classes will be very different from the multilingual classes found when teaching ESL as versus EFL.

You may want to check with the funded classes for immigrants in the area. Students are very often offered free/extremely cheap language training, assuming that they qualify for immigrant status. This is seriousl competition for teachers who actually need to make money....

The ESL 'tourist' (private language school) business is down, primarily due to the economic crisis.

Jobs are just tight everywhere.

Good luck.

[moonshine]

[moonshine]

[moonshine]

[spiral78]

From my lowly position at under 4,000 (in my current incarnation as spiral78 - I had an earlier stint under my real name), I can say that many of us have been around for years....my first actual Dave's post was in 1998, for example.

John's a god

[johnslat]

Dear moonshine.

" I mean, seriously, dude, you are spending WAY too much time on here - !!"

My wife would definitely agree

But look at it this way - I've been on Dace's for about a dozen years. That works out to about 460 posts a year, only around 1.3 posts a day.

It doesn't sound quite so bad that way.

Once upon a time, I was a Mod on here, but no longer. I mean, long hours, no pay, no R-E-S-P-E-C-T (Hmm, sounds kind of like being an ESL/EFL teacher, doesn't it?)

I enjoy answering questions, trying to provide accurate information to others (Hmm, sounds kind of like being an EFL/ESL teacher, doesn't it?), bantering with old on-line friends, being accused of being a troll .

As I tell my wife, it beats hanging out in neighborhood bars or visiting chat rooms, exchanging messages with law officers pretending to be teen-age nymphets.

So yup, I probably do spend too much time on here - but I can easily think of worse ways to occupy my hours.

Dear sprial78,

A god?? Hardly - although I wouldn't argue with "demigod." But being called a "god" makes me uneasily recall what Emperor Vespasian allegedly remarked when on his deathbed (or rather on his "death toilet" since that's where he reportedly expired - rather like that other King, Elvis.)

"Vae, puto, deus fio,"

"Oh dear, I suppose I'm turning into a god."

Regards,
John the Demigod

[spiral78]

Funny. I was recently referred to on one of the European forums as a king on a throne, and I had to point out that the gilt on that throne has revealed itself to be porcelain at heart, and that I'm in danger of falling in.

[Chancellor]