Job Discussion Forums

Guest

Hello

I have now been "teaching converational English" here in China for almost seven months now. I am here for the long haul. I have no Degree, no qualifications and no experience and I do not even have youth on my side.

My recommendation to you would be to accept a 5 or 6 month position in an area that appeals to you to "get your feet wet". Do not try and go for a high salary as without a Degree, qualifications etc. we cannot expect that.

We cannot expect to command anything like the wages of Roger, etc. who are qualified and very experienced in the field. However, I do think there is a place here for us - as the demand for "teachers" far outweighs the supply - so we are not doing anyone out of a job as people such as Roget would not want my job anyway. I will be eternally grateful for the opportunity I have been given to live and work here in China as I am totally in love with the Country and its Citizens.

Good luck

Aramas · Posted: Sun Apr 04, 2004 3:56 am Post subject:

There are a lot of graduates that seem to have taken what I generally refer to as a 'well balanced approach' to life - ie they have chips on both shoulders.

It's hard to imagine any field other than ESL where a BA is actually of some value. When I was at uni a BA was called a 'Bachelor of Dinner Conversation'. The theory was that BA's existed in order to give young middle class girls the opportunity to hang around campus and meet nice young medicine and law students Smile

When I had 30 contact hours a week for a B. Eng, my arts student friends had 7-10.

So be nice to them. It can't be easy spending 3 years of ones life to obtain a qualification that makes people chuckle Cool

waxwing · Joined: 29 Jun 2003 Posts: 719 Location: China

Hi Rhonda! Glad you're better!

ls650 · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 3484 Location: British Columbia

Aramas · Posted: Sun Apr 04, 2004 11:36 pm Post subject:

hesterprynne · Joined: 16 Sep 2003 Posts: 386

You can definitely get a job with a livable situation without a degree or certificate. You have to sell yourself. What kind of work or life or educational experience do you have? What do you look like? What is your personality? Do you have any talents? Do you have an area of specialized knowledge? Do you have travel experience? Do you speak another language? Can you spell? Can you write a killer resume? Do you have an eye for creating your own teaching materials? What is your hobby? Have you ever self-taught yourself something and learned something about the educational process in the meantime? Are you funny? If you want to teach children, will you dance with them and sit on the floor with them and smile and encourage them? Do you care enough to put hours of your free time into improving the quality of your classes? Can you look at a textbook and at a game summary and make the two match in a way that works for different classes? How much effort are you willing to put into learning the language of the target country? You can learn a lot about teaching the kids by understanding how they think about language.

ls650 · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 3484 Location: British Columbia

Aramas · Posted: Mon Apr 05, 2004 6:03 am Post subject:

yaramaz · Posted: Mon Apr 05, 2004 6:28 am Post subject:

I worked my ass off doing my BA. It was in literature and history, which I suppose Aramasassociates with basket weaving. However, I remember staying up until 5am with a pot of coffee and a 25 page paper on the metaphysical wotsits of John Donne or comparative blahdiblah many many times. A BA may not be metaphysics but it does teach you to think critically of the world and it gives an excellent insight into how we gotto where we are as human beings. Please show respect for all areas of study. They are all valid.

RoseMarie · Joined: 03 Apr 2004 Posts: 23

Um, who gets a BA in three years?? I know some super motivated people, but it takes hard work to finish that fast. It took me five years personally, and I took over the minimum load every single year, except the last when I was writing my honor's thesis. It took me slightly longer than the standard FOUR years to finish, but I also learned a foreign language and spent a year studying abroad as part of my undergraduate education. Although, I'll admit that I enrolled in several performing arts classes and other electives just for fun. I ran track and field for a year too, but still... I worked hard, and unfortunately I didn't have time to meet a future husband.

It's true that my BA in Anthropology is not opening any career doors for me, but I learned a lot - both about the world and myself. My college experience challenged me physically, intellectually, and artistically (I wrote my thesis on a classical Indian dance form that I now study). I would never consider it a waste.

Of course, I know some people who took only required classes, tried to graduate as quickly as possible with as little work as possible, and barely finished with the minimum grade point average. I guess that getting a BA is what you make of it.

Irish Blood English Heart · Posted: Sat Apr 17, 2004 1:31 pm Post subject:

BA degrees in Britain are all 3 years unless you do a sandwich course and work for 1 year of that.

RoseMarie · Joined: 03 Apr 2004 Posts: 23

Thanks for clearing that up for me.

I guess that the BAs in the United States take so long to get because we have to do two years of general education. It's my understanding that in France and Spain they jump right into their "careers" without the general ed, so I assume that it's similar in Britain then. I wasn't aware that the BAs only took three years though; Does anyone know if that's true all over Europe?