Job Discussion Forums

[scottmx81]

Another option is to enrol in an online school, and take your classes from Mexico. You can live off your student loans. If it works out, you can do your whole degree that way. If not, you can go home and transfer into a traditional, on-campus program, as long as you take your first year classes from an accredited institution.

It's win-win-win. You get to live in Mexico, you get to study, and you don't have to work for $4 / hour. But you have to be extremely self-disciplined to do it.

Or do the minimum required to be considered full-time & get the full time loans/grants (60% here in Ontario, YMMV elsewhere), and then do some part-time teaching in Mexico to get started and to get a little bit of extra money.

I know some online programs have that diploma mill reputation, but I think there are legitimate options out there. I decided to go back to school when I was 25, after spending about 5 years in Mexico. I'm doing a mix of on-campus courses and online courses from Mexico, from a traditional school, but I've been feeling enticed by Athabasca University ever since I became aware of it. In retrospect, if I had known about Athabasca and that it was a relatively legitimate (government mandated) online school, I probably would have started out there instead...

[Tretyakovskii]

Everybody here's been very practical, recommending that ChennO get more education before plunging ahead. But, I have to confess to a certain fondness for Phil_K's point of view: there is a real element, in life, of success being more about a willingness to put yourself forward, to be adventurous, trusting to the future and your own adaptability, to succeed. In TEFL this may be true more than in other of life's many possible directions.

I think there are many in TEFL who look back on where they've been, and where they are, and are amazed, themselves....

[gregd75]

I think that you propably have your head screwed on and know full well what you want to do....

If you want to come to Mexico to teach English, I would strongly recommend taking your TEFL course down here and with an institution that offers job placement assistence. This way you'll get certification and then experience.

Maybe the first job you get won't be amazing (if you're really unlucky), but with this classroom experience you'll be able to use this as a springboard onto a more suitable job.

You won't get rich quick, coming and working in Mexico (I'd say go to China or Korea for that...), but this country is GREAT and you'll have an amazing time.

Speaking from personal experience, as a recruiter, I would recommend an organisation called 'latin teachers international' based in Mexico City. This is a well run, professional outfit and I know that they offer a good placement service too. As a recruiter in Guadalajara, I have received teachers via TI and they have always worked out really well.

Good luck, in whatever you decide!

[awest]

I guess I would ask you a question. Do you want to live overseas for the rest of your life? If the answer is no that you want to go back home eventually then I would say finish the degree. The statistics show that if you don't now you are not likely to finish at all. A degree would be helpful when you return home.

If you are planning on traveling or living abroad then I would say go for it and good luck.

[fishmb]

Though they are plenty of teaching positions around the world that won't consider you if you don't have a degree. In fact, in Japan having a college degree to work is a government requirement.

[Prof.Gringo]

[fishmb]

I know it's Mexico, but I was responding to awest's assertion.

And you could teach in the US with a CELTA, just not at public schools.

[Prof.Gringo]

[geaaronson]

I had an acquaintence back in Boston who was teaching English at a state program for non native learners. He did not have a college degree. This was back in 1989.

[Prof.Gringo]