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thecuriousotter
Joined: 03 May 2010
Posts: 2
Location: Scotland
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 Posted: Wed May 05, 2010 9:00 am Post subject: Another newbie with some questions..... |
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Last edited by thecuriousotter on Thu May 06, 2010 1:23 am; edited 1 time in total |
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spiral78
Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 11534
Location: On a Short Leash
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| Posted: Wed May 05, 2010 9:17 am Post subject: |
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So I am currently working towards the 120 hour combined course
It's unclear exactly what qualification this is. CELTA is the name brand newbie-level qual, though there are some generic and other courses out there that meet a standard of 120 hours on -site and supervised teaching practice with real students. If you're doing a course by distance or one that doesn't include real teaching practice with feedback, you'll be at a disadvantage on the job market.
I have considered a short term contract until the beginning of March somewhere closer to home such as France or Italy then use this experience to get a better job in Asia somewhere for the start of their academic year.
Short term contracts aren't widely available in Europe. You might find something, but it's a tight job market and it's not something you can probably count on as a given. Also, the teaching contexts between Europe and Asia are very different - experience gained in Europe may not be of much help to you in Asia. The students and their motivations and expectations are just extremely different, as are accepted approaches and methods.
It sounds like you are really targeting Asia, and I can't speak for that market so I'll end on that note - sorry it sounds a bit discouraging. I expect that there will be some good places that you can start, and others will have more info about that.
Good luck! |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Wed May 05, 2010 9:35 am Post subject: Re: Another newbie with some questions..... |
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| craigdurkin wrote: |
| After spending the last few years since graduating from university with a degree in law working and trying to figure out what career path to follow or travelling it has finally dawned on me that the ideal career for me is teaching English as this will allow me to travel to any country in the world and work. So I am currently working towards the 120 hour combined course and I will be in a position to embark on this exciting journey in September. |
How much do you still have to pay off in student loans for that law degree?
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| teaching English as this will allow me to travel to any country in the world and work. |
Not necessarily. Americans, for example, can't get work visas for most of Europe.
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| When I go to Japan I think Sapporo is the ideal city for me |
Don't jump the gun here. You mean if you go to Japan.
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| Sapporo is the ideal city for me - located in the mountains, busy and modern enough but not to the point of being a bit crazy. |
How would you know if you've never been there? I lived there for 7 years. It's a city of 2 million people. For some, that's crazy enough.
There are other cities in Japan that fit your description, too.
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| - Where do I start? Bearing in mind I will have a degree and a TEFL qualification but no experience. Which countries can the less experienced still get a decent contract? |
You start by realizing that you have a generic degree unrelated to teaching, and that even with certification, you are as vanilla as most newbie teachers.
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| I gather Japan for instance is in particularly high demand so the jobs for new starters are not the best. And it also seems that those jobs are in the less exciting cities and don't tick many of the boxes for me. |
Yes, Japan is flooded with teachers and wannabes right now. No, the jobs are not in the "less exciting cities". Where did you get that notion? The jobs are everywhere, but there are more applicants than openings right now.
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| - What time of year is recruitment at its highest? |
For Japan, Feb/March. If you are interested in ALT work, the JET program applications are due at the end of the year (country-specific months) for the following August start dates. You have missed both.
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| I have considered a short term contract until the beginning of March somewhere closer to home such as France or Italy then use this experience to get a better job in Asia somewhere for the start of their academic year. |
Short-term work does not impress anyone, and in Japan experience outside of the Japanese borders usually doesn't count for anything at all.
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| - Is there any particularly good or bad schools or agencies? I think my eyes are actually turning square from reading so many forums and there are such mixed opinions on the likes of Saxoncourt I don't know who to listen to! |
There are plenty of both. Come to the Japan forums and ask this. The answer you get will usually be a list of some bad places that are notorious, and a statement urging you to just do your own research to find an appealing employer, then ask specific questions about him. People can't tell you every employer's name, and in a competitive market, nobody is going to tell you something to get an edge on themselves. |
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vcarter706
Joined: 05 May 2010
Posts: 11
Location: Los Angeles
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| Posted: Wed May 05, 2010 10:25 pm Post subject: |
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| Yes, Japan is flooded with teachers and wannabes right now. No, the jobs are not in the "less exciting cities". Where did you get that notion? The jobs are everywhere, but there are more applicants than openings right now. |
Would you say that the high amount of applicants means that a the 'newbiest' of the 'newbs' essentially have little chance of finding a respectable program? I am hoping to go right after graduation but the competitiveness of the program seems like those without experience or a certificate (i.e. me) would have little chance of acceptance. |
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thecuriousotter
Joined: 03 May 2010
Posts: 2
Location: Scotland
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| Posted: Thu May 06, 2010 12:01 am Post subject: |
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Last edited by thecuriousotter on Thu May 06, 2010 1:22 am; edited 1 time in total |
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scooby doo
Joined: 30 Oct 2009
Posts: 48
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| Posted: Thu May 06, 2010 12:29 am Post subject: |
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| craigdurkin wrote: |
| Glenski, as much as I appreciate you taking the time to reply to my thread, you really have not answered anything. More just put everything I said down and been quite insulting. I am very new to this, and i appreciate you have been in this game for quite some time and this may be the brutal nature of the industry, but it really seems like you have real negative feelings and certainly did nothing to help me along the way. I know what I am going to achieve and where I am going to go in my life, I was simply asking for a bit of help along the way. |
Not cool. Glenski offered you excellent advice and answered a lot of your questions in a straightforward way. Most importantly, he gave you a reality check, saving you time and disappointment.
However I am also all for the idea of going somewhere as basic as there is because I feel the sense of making a difference to the peoples life would be especially satisfying there.
And that notion isn't going to help you either in the industry. If that's partly why you want to travel and teach, join the Peace Corps or the VSO. |
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Justin Trullinger
Joined: 28 Jan 2005
Posts: 3110
Location: Seoul, South Korea and Myanmar for a bit
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| Posted: Thu May 06, 2010 12:29 am Post subject: |
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A couple of things to think about:
YOu may be better off getting more specific questions up in country specific forums. Questions like "when does hiring happen?" never have a global answer, but rather many different local ones.
Another thought- You're getting "the 120 hour combined course".
Not to put to fine a point on it, this is like saying "I'm going to go to the college to get the degree" and expecting people to comment on your prospects with the degree.
Which course are you doing? There's a lot of advertising and a lot of polemic available on this topic, so take it all with a grain of salt. While you're at it, though, you should know that acronyms like TESOL, TESL, TEFL etc aren't accreditations, they're just labels. So it's possible that a very good course and a very bad one have the same letters on the cert. What matters is which cert you got.
Best,
Justin |
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santi84
Joined: 14 Mar 2008
Posts: 1317
Location: under da sea
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| Posted: Thu May 06, 2010 2:15 am Post subject: |
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| scooby doo wrote: |
| craigdurkin wrote: |
| Glenski, as much as I appreciate you taking the time to reply to my thread, you really have not answered anything. More just put everything I said down and been quite insulting. I am very new to this, and i appreciate you have been in this game for quite some time and this may be the brutal nature of the industry, but it really seems like you have real negative feelings and certainly did nothing to help me along the way. I know what I am going to achieve and where I am going to go in my life, I was simply asking for a bit of help along the way. |
Not cool. Glenski offered you excellent advice and answered a lot of your questions in a straightforward way. Most importantly, he gave you a reality check, saving you time and disappointment.
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Surely Glenski's realistic comments aren't as bad as anything the OP encountered while studying for a degree in law  Or is that the reason Craig is considering teaching instead? Actually, I worked in the criminal justice field myself prior to teaching, and I find the classroom to be a harsher environment  |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Thu May 06, 2010 3:20 am Post subject: |
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| vcarter706 wrote: |
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| Yes, Japan is flooded with teachers and wannabes right now. No, the jobs are not in the "less exciting cities". Where did you get that notion? The jobs are everywhere, but there are more applicants than openings right now. |
Would you say that the high amount of applicants means that a the 'newbiest' of the 'newbs' essentially have little chance of finding a respectable program? I am hoping to go right after graduation but the competitiveness of the program seems like those without experience or a certificate (i.e. me) would have little chance of acceptance. |
There are 2 issues buried in that question:
definition of newbie
respectable program
The law of percentages applies. If you don't apply, you will have exactly 0.000000% chance of getting a job. If you apply to many, you stand "some" chance. It depends on a zillion factors, so don't let newness to the field stop you from applying.
As for "respectable" position, can you clarify your own definition? |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Thu May 06, 2010 4:39 am Post subject: |
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craigdurkin wrote:
Glenski, as much as I appreciate you taking the time to reply to my thread, you really have not answered anything. More just put everything I said down and been quite insulting. I am very new to this, and i appreciate you have been in this game for quite some time and this may be the brutal nature of the industry, but it really seems like you have real negative feelings and certainly did nothing to help me along the way. |
Deleting your posts is not a way to gain friends here.
I gave you sound advice and directly answered your questions as they pertain to Japan.
If you take issue with any of them, please come back and talk things over. You will get zero help with a blank post (with the exception of the remainder that exists from copy/pastes).
I was not insulting, by the way. You, on the other hand, insulted me by not answering any of my questions. How are we supposed to help you if you don't answer some basic questions?
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| I know what I am going to achieve and where I am going to go in my life, I was simply asking for a bit of help along the way. |
Don't take this the wrong way, but there are some breeds of posters here who make the same remarks yet are never back here again to describe how they did it. You asked for help and you got it. The fact that you didn't like the answers puts you in the category I just described. Come back and get more advice, from others as well as me. |
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vcarter706
Joined: 05 May 2010
Posts: 11
Location: Los Angeles
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| Posted: Thu May 06, 2010 5:37 am Post subject: |
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| Glenski wrote: |
| vcarter706 wrote: |
| Quote: |
| Yes, Japan is flooded with teachers and wannabes right now. No, the jobs are not in the "less exciting cities". Where did you get that notion? The jobs are everywhere, but there are more applicants than openings right now. |
Would you say that the high amount of applicants means that a the 'newbiest' of the 'newbs' essentially have little chance of finding a respectable program? I am hoping to go right after graduation but the competitiveness of the program seems like those without experience or a certificate (i.e. me) would have little chance of acceptance. |
There are 2 issues buried in that question:
definition of newbie
respectable program
The law of percentages applies. If you don't apply, you will have exactly 0.000000% chance of getting a job. If you apply to many, you stand "some" chance. It depends on a zillion factors, so don't let newness to the field stop you from applying.
As for "respectable" position, can you clarify your own definition? |
Newbie for me: applying straight after graduating with a degree in a non-teaching related field (history), no teaching experience and no teaching certification.
By respectable I just meant one of the programs that many people here talk about (JET, Interac, and AEON to name a few) and seem to have positive experiences. I guess I could make it even more general and say that a respectable program in my opinion is one which is well established and does not have a history of negative interactions between the teacher and the management (I've read some bad stories on the Korean forum regarding the Hagwons). |
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aot531
Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 21
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| Posted: Thu May 06, 2010 10:28 am Post subject: |
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| Surely Glenski's realistic comments aren't as bad as anything the OP encountered while studying for a degree in law Or is that the reason Craig is considering teaching instead? Actually, I worked in the criminal justice field myself prior to teaching, and I find the classroom to be a harsher environment |
Funny! Sure, I don't want to feel smacked down any more than I suppose any other newcomer who posts here does. I can't speak for law school, but it's hard for me to imagine many harsher environments than the abusive culture I encountered in med school and residency. God help me if the teaching environment is harsher than that! |
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santi84
Joined: 14 Mar 2008
Posts: 1317
Location: under da sea
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| Posted: Thu May 06, 2010 1:03 pm Post subject: |
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| aot531 wrote: |
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| Surely Glenski's realistic comments aren't as bad as anything the OP encountered while studying for a degree in law Or is that the reason Craig is considering teaching instead? Actually, I worked in the criminal justice field myself prior to teaching, and I find the classroom to be a harsher environment |
Funny! Sure, I don't want to feel smacked down any more than I suppose any other newcomer who posts here does. I can't speak for law school, but it's hard for me to imagine many harsher environments than the abusive culture I encountered in med school and residency. God help me if the teaching environment is harsher than that! |
The confrontational behaviour of my former "clients" was often attributed to drugs, alcohol, or mental illness It is a lot easier to take personal criticism from one person who isn't functioning at full capacity than a classroom full of adults  
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Thu May 06, 2010 1:11 pm Post subject: |
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| vcarter706 wrote: |
| By respectable I just meant one of the programs that many people here talk about (JET, Interac, and AEON to name a few) and seem to have positive experiences. |
You'll find far more posters with negative experiences at Interac than positive ones.
JET. Well, if you go to BigDaikon.com you'll see a lot of whiners, but take them with a carload of salt, as most have never set foot outside their home country (perhaps hometown), nor have worked a real day in their lives, yet think Japan owes them money for doing nothing except partying hearty. (Yeah, a generalization, but you be the judge.)
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| I guess I could make it even more general and say that a respectable program in my opinion is one which is well established and does not have a history of negative interactions between the teacher and the management |
That is more like it. |
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nater
Joined: 18 Apr 2010
Posts: 6
Location: Michigan, USA
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| Posted: Thu May 06, 2010 11:20 pm Post subject: |
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| Glenski wrote: |
| vcarter706 wrote: |
| By respectable I just meant one of the programs that many people here talk about (JET, Interac, and AEON to name a few) and seem to have positive experiences. |
You'll find far more posters with negative experiences at Interac than positive ones.
JET. Well, if you go to BigDaikon.com you'll see a lot of whiners, but take them with a carload of salt, as most have never set foot outside their home country (perhaps hometown), nor have worked a real day in their lives, yet think Japan owes them money for doing nothing except partying hearty. (Yeah, a generalization, but you be the judge.)
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| I guess I could make it even more general and say that a respectable program in my opinion is one which is well established and does not have a history of negative interactions between the teacher and the management |
That is more like it. |
I think you just did a fairly accurate review of Bigdaikon in general. MESL is a bit scary for newer posters, but BigDaikon is more so. |
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