Job Discussion Forums

[plantagenet]

Hey everyone. I am a 20 year old American college student who started a bit late (I just started) and am working with the desire to teach English abroad. I also have an ambition to obtain dual-citizenship in the EU so I have a few questions.

1. My major/degree- I realize a BA is usually required to each abroad, does it matter the subject? I would presume teaching would be best, but what if you get a degree thats non-language related but receive a certification and have strong English skills? I mainly ask because I want to teach abroad, but I am not sure if I want to settle and be a teacher in the US. So lets say I got a undergraduate in Management Information Systems, would I secure a job? Would I be at a disadvantage if I also had a certification?

2. The importance of the other language- Is it vital to be fluent or semi-fluent in the language of the country you are about to teach in?

3. How realistic is the goal of wanting to graduate, then teach in either Japan/China, and after gaining experience getting a job in Belgium that will allow me to live there for 3 years and thus obtain citizenship through naturalization? Has anyone who has pursued a similar venue had any success?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated, thanks

[norwalkesl]

[denise]

If you only want to teach abroad for a couple of years and don't wish to make a career out of it, a BA in any subject + a TEFL certificate will most likely be enough--you can get jobs in private language institutes that way, and in China you might even be able to get university jobs. Many teachers hold degrees (at least, first degrees--lifers tend to go back and study education-related things) in non-teaching fields.

You will rarely need a second language to get a job. Whether or not you need one to cope in a foreign country, of course, is a whole 'nother issue...

d

[naturegirl321]

I've send a second language required in some Asian countries.

[spiral78]

after gaining experience getting a job in Belgium that will allow me to live there for 3 years and thus obtain citizenship through naturalization? Has anyone who has pursued a similar venue had any success?

The problem is justifying you as a newbie level teacher for three years.

Remember that experience in Asia is not necessarily counted for much in Europe, because the students here, their motivations and expectations, are very different from those in Asia.

To get you a work permit, an employer will need to justify the 'fact' that you have something to offer than an EU citizen can't match.

The job market in Belgium is small and very tight just now. I've been around in the area for a long time, and I can't see anything changing radically in the next few years.

I think your dreams of Belgian citizenship are going to be EXTREMELY challenging to achieve...

[plantagenet]

Thanks for the helpful tips and advice. And yes, as the last poster stated, I find that after some additional research this Belgium thing wont go so well. This question is probably often asked here, but is there any intelligent route for an American to take toward European citizenship that would involve teaching/working or perhaps marrying within a EU country? Any advice? I love Europe and wish I could live there, and am determined to do what I can to hopefully achieve this dream.

So I gather that for the most part, it is entirely possible to have a non-related degree such as the MIS degree I mentioned earlier and still teach? The poster who said if I dont want to make a career out of it I can get a degree in any field, if I already have been teaching for years and discover I do love it, will I have a good chance of continuing as a career even if lacking in the degree?

Final question I have is where in Europe would you see as the primo place to teach in the next couple years? Primo as in comfortable pay and largest job market.

Thanks again

[spiral78]

is there any intelligent route for an American to take toward European citizenship that would involve teaching/working or perhaps marrying within a EU country?

Marraige is about the only item in your list that is likely to work.
Citizenships aren't given out for simply living/working in a country. You might be able to get something like permanent residency, for example, in one of the 'new' EU member states simply for staying there and working continuously for some years, but citizenship is a different matter. Western European citizenship is basically out other than through marraige or near ancestry.

will I have a good chance of continuing as a career even if lacking in the degree?

Ultimately, to move up, you would need further quals that are related, like a DELTA or related MA. But your BA is not very important.

Final question I have is where in Europe would you see as the primo place to teach in the next couple years? Primo as in comfortable pay and largest job market.

Quite honestly: there is no comfortable pay in Europe at the newbie level.
I am comfortable now, but I have 12+ years of experience and an MA TESL/TEFL from a good British university. Further, I"m not working in the Czech Rep, where I have residency, citizenship, and would love to be -because the wages even at my level are poor.

The job market in Europe in general is simply very much in favor of the schools. There are MANY, MANY teachers around, tonnes of well-qualified Brits who can work without any tedious paperwork having to be filed by their employers, and many North Americans and Aussies happily filling by far the majority of positions in Central/Eastern Europe at minimum pay.

I don't see things changing in the next few years.

Here's a realistic route: come over to a 'new' EU country that allows US citizens to get legal working papers. Get a decent cert, beat the pavements, find a job that will at least support you in a basic manner. Then hope to get lucky somehow, in terms of a relationship or some other of the rare 'ins' that happen to pop up every now and then. There IS no general way to do it that will work in most cases!!!

[plantagenet]

Thank you spiral, your information has been very helpful. Thanks to everyone else as well. I suppose I will have to try my luck and figure things out, I just hope that the job market doesn't falter in the next 5 years or so because like I said I just started college so it may be a while before I will actually be teaching.

[Deicide]

Successful EFL career=oxymoron

Since you are young, let me save you the pain I had to go through. Don't bother doing EFL.

Do IT, Law, Medicine or Engineering...you will have job security in those fields and to some extent mobility.

I strongly urge you NOT to pursue EFL if you have technical skills and could prosper with such skills...

[Nabby Adams]

Yes, if you have a career in any other profession you can always move into TEFL later on if the whim takes you, but build a career in TEFL and you wont be able to do anything else without expensive retraining.

TEFL is a low skilled job where doing an MA for 10 months puts you right at the top of the pile. So while there is opportunity to do other stuff don't settle for what in most of the TEFL world is retail levels of pay.

[denise]

[coledavis]

Also, doing a three or four year degree without having an interest could be quite damaging. Why not try a career choice test to see what might interest you initially. A free one is www.careersteer.org

[robertokun]

I�d do a B.A. TESOL (or related concentration) with teacher certification. Maybe you don't think you'd want to become a teacher in the future, but it wouldn't hurt to have the license. And EFL might not have the best long term prospects, but being able to fall back on ESL in the States is a very nice plan B.