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GemGem
Joined: 16 Oct 2010
Posts: 13
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 Posted: Sun Oct 17, 2010 7:19 pm Post subject: Where to teach in Asia and save some money? |
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Hi,
I'm a 29yr old graduate who is planning on going travelling in Asia (Japan, Vietnam, Thailand) from March next year.
- I have a 2:1 BA (Hons) degree in English from York University.
- I have 6 months experience as an English Teaching Assistant in Malaysia in 1999 but as that's quite a while ago I'm not sure if that counts for much!
- I am thinking of enrolling in a 4 week CELTA course in February before I go.
My main burning questions which I'm hoping you can help with are:
1. Ideally I would like to find work in Japan as I have a friend out there who could help me settle in. What are my chances of finding a teaching role in Japan without a CELTA qualification and just the qualifications above?
2. If I do the CELTA course in February can I apply for positions now? I.E. would a school still take me on on the condition that I complete the CELTA course or is this a no-go?
3. Working out the average salary in Japan minus the average monthly rental cost seems to leave me with VERY little to survive on. If I work in Japan can I actually save any money for travelling or am I likely to be spending over what I am earning?
4. If this is the case where else in Asia provides opportunities to work and still save some cash? I can see opportunities in Vietnam are available but would like some feedback on what it's like to teach out there and/or recommendations for other countries worth looking into. I would like to have the option to travel once I have completed my contract.
Phew! That's all my questions for now....!
Many many thanks in advance for anyone who can help me with this as I'm really keen to get out there!
Thanks
GemGem |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Sun Oct 17, 2010 11:32 pm Post subject: Re: Where to teach in Asia and save some money? |
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| GemGem wrote: |
- I have a 2:1 BA (Hons) degree in English from York University.
- I have 6 months experience as an English Teaching Assistant in Malaysia in 1999 but as that's quite a while ago I'm not sure if that counts for much!
- I am thinking of enrolling in a 4 week CELTA course in February before I go.
My main burning questions which I'm hoping you can help with are:
1. Ideally I would like to find work in Japan as I have a friend out there who could help me settle in. What are my chances of finding a teaching role in Japan without a CELTA qualification and just the qualifications above? |
Like most newcomers, you are minimally qualified, so you should be looking for jobs in eikaiwa or ALT (either dispatch or JET programme).
Your "chances" are the same as everyone else with minimal qualifications. That is, realize that in Japan the market is flooded right now with teachers and wannabes, and salaries are declining. Keep on the lookout for work starting now, and apply in February/March when the peak is at its highest for hiring. April start dates are the norm. From now to January ads will decline precipitously as usual.
| Quote: |
| 2. If I do the CELTA course in February can I apply for positions now? I.E. would a school still take me on on the condition that I complete the CELTA course or is this a no-go? |
CELTA is not known widely here, BTW, but you may still need it for an edge over the other 100-200 applicants per job.
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| 3. Working out the average salary in Japan minus the average monthly rental cost seems to leave me with VERY little to survive on. |
Unless you have a lot of debt to pay, you are not figuring this out well. Or you have a high standard of living in mind.
On an entry level salary of 220,000-250,000 yen/month, you should still have half left over after paying for rent, food, utilities (none in a guesthouse), phone/internet, and insurance. If that is "very little", then I would have to ask why.
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| If I work in Japan can I actually save any money for travelling or am I likely to be spending over what I am earning? |
With roughly 125,000 left over after basic necessities, it's up to you to decide what more you want to spend on.
satellite TV
magazine/newspaper subscriptions
car + parking
nightly entertainment
etc.
A couple of nights out for moderate drinking every week will run about 50,000 yen/month, so you still have about 75,000 yen/month to play with. Enough?
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| 4. If this is the case where else in Asia provides opportunities to work and still save some cash? |
Most people will probably tell you Korea. Register for that separate forum and find out. Beware the negatives of living there, though. |
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GemGem
Joined: 16 Oct 2010
Posts: 13
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| Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 12:08 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks that's really helpful.
I'm a bit surprised by your comment that the CELTA course is not known widely there as looking at the adverts currently out there from Japanese schools many of them do mention this qualification.
Is there another one that is more recognised? I would rather spend my time and money getting the best recognised qualification I can.
Your advice on the timings of when to apply is really helpful.
If anyone else has any tips I would be glad to hear them. I'll also start looking at Korea as well although Japan I think woudl still be my first choice.
G |
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tttompatz
Joined: 06 Mar 2010
Posts: 1951
Location: Talibon, Bohol, Philippines
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| Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 2:10 pm Post subject: |
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| GemGem wrote: |
Thanks that's really helpful.
I'm a bit surprised by your comment that the CELTA course is not known widely there as looking at the adverts currently out there from Japanese schools many of them do mention this qualification.
Is there another one that is more recognised? I would rather spend my time and money getting the best recognised qualification I can.
Your advice on the timings of when to apply is really helpful.
If anyone else has any tips I would be glad to hear them. I'll also start looking at Korea as well although Japan I think woudl still be my first choice.
G |
With the exception of the old British colonies in SE Asia (and Thailand) most places don't care about the "brand name" of the TESOL course.
Some places don't care that you have one at all (Korea, Japan).
Their only requirement is that you have whatever immigration says you need to have in order to acquire a work visa.
Other places like Thailand used to "insist" on a recognized TESOL cert but that was before immigration upped the requirements and mandated a bachelors degree or better to clean up the industry. Now most schools (as compared to language academies) don't care about the TESOL cert since you have to have a degree in order to get the visa and work permit.
Any decent TESOL cert of 120 hours with at least 6 hours of observed practicum with real students will more than satisfy most employers.
Another thing to note is that IF you are working with kids (k-6) or even (7-9) a CELTA (Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults) really doesn't prepare you very well.
You'd be far better off finding a course that specializes in younger learners (like the CELTYL also offered by Cambridge (and being deleted after Jan 2011)
[Please note that CELTYL will be withdrawn from January 2011]).
http://www.cambridgeesol.org/exams/teaching-awards/celtyl.html
School starts occur in:
March for Korea
April for Japan
May for Thailand
With recruitment usually taking place 60-90 days prior to the new school year.
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 10:04 pm Post subject: |
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The point in Japan is that you don't usually need any certification to get started here. Obviously, you've found some exceptions. Things do change, and in Japan they change slowly. With the flooded market here, having a cert may be to your advantage, and it may be the reason some employers nowadays are getting on the bandwagon, to weed out the 90% of people who don't have any cert. (That figure is just a relative number.)
If you are concerned about getting "the best" cert anyway, CELTA and Trinity are usually considered the top 2. |
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naturegirl321
Joined: 04 May 2003
Posts: 9041
Location: home sweet home
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| Posted: Tue Oct 19, 2010 3:16 am Post subject: |
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CELTA is more common in Europe than Asia.
To the OP, what is a 2:1 BA (Hons) degree?
SIT and Trinity are also well known, but CELTA is probably the most famous. If you want to teach kids, you should look into PGCE. |
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