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bulgogiboy
Joined: 23 Feb 2005
Posts: 803
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 Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2011 5:12 pm Post subject: Re: Where can I go to teach 6 months a year? |
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| nellychess wrote: |
| I am 39 years old American male with a Bachelors degree. I teach tennis, and run a club in the states from April-November. I am off the rest of the year, and would love to go somewhere to teach English and live the rest of the year. Money is not important. i mainly want to have a good time, meet women and cool friends, and maybe just make money to live on while I am there. Any ideas? |
Wow swift judgement from a lot of people for his audacity for even considering a casual foray into the ultra-important world of TEFL teaching, that vital industry that keeps the global economy from collapsing to its knees. 
To the OP: I think you're just being honest. A lot of single males, and females too I suspect, want to get into TEFL for the same reasons you've stated. I was the same at first (not now though!). I think it's possible for you to have a good time as well as contribute something meaningful to your students lives.
I agree that TEFL can be a serious career, and it is probably how I am going to earn my living for the next few decades, but comparing TEFL to surgery/flying planes is a bit OTT! I mean, you don't really think you are THAT skilled, do you?? People have been known to learn English from movies/music/magazines by themselves; learning how to carry out surgery/fly a plane is somewhat more tricky.
In any case, he IS actually qualified to teach TEFL in Korea, as well as a few other countries, because he's a native-English speaker with a Bachelor's. It's only the fact he's looking for 6 month contracts which precludes him being approved as a teacher in places like Korea.
Problems with teaching 6 month TEFL contracts:
1. More and more people are getting TEFL qualifications, and being a native speaker with a BA/BSc doesn't take you very far these days. You should look into getting a CELTA.
2. A large percentage of jobs ask for 1 year contracts. Europe seems to offer shorter contracts, especially in Western Europe, but these are often 8-9 months, plus they will be looking for a CELTA and often an EU passport holder.
3. You could look over the China/Korea job ads for those offering 6 month contracts, but to be honest I can think of better countries to go to if you want to have fun and socialise with the opposite sex.
I suppose you could try Istanbul for at least 1 stint. You'd be working illegally, which is by no means ideal, but you could probably pick up some part-time work, or even full-time work, just by wandering round the language schools with your CV. Of course there's no guarantee you're actually going to like working in the schools which take you on...
If money isn't important then why not just go somewhere like Thailand on a tourist visa for a month? Live in a beach hut and party on down? You'll get all the things you are looking for over there.
Good luck! |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2011 10:20 pm Post subject: |
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Camps still are work which would require a work visa (at least they would for Japan). Look at whether some university program in your home country would offer something to set you up for such, otherwise I'd say forget camps altogether.
Realize, too, that for only 6 months, you may only just be starting to make up your setup costs in Japan. Elsewhere...? |
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nellychess
Joined: 25 Mar 2005
Posts: 187
Location: USA
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| Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2011 9:09 pm Post subject: Re: Where can I go to teach 6 months a year? |
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If money isn't important then why not just go somewhere like Thailand on a tourist visa for a month? Live in a beach hut and party on down? You'll get all the things you are looking for over there.
Good luck![/quote]
Thanks for the info. I quoted you because I know I could do what you said. Other posters attack my motives, but I really want to teach English to people. I'd be willing to take classes, or get certified, work as an apprentice or whatever. Obviously if I wanted to meet girls and get drunk, I could go to Thailand and sit on a beach. I really want to teach English, and I would think that somewhere, for a really cheap price, I could help a school or somewhere for 6 months each year.
Not that I put you in this category, but some of the people here really need to relax, and shouldnt prejudge someone, or their motives when they know nothing about the person except a simple question they asked.
I would think someone so bitter and judgmental wouldn't be the kind of person I'd like as a teacher of anything. |
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bulgogiboy
Joined: 23 Feb 2005
Posts: 803
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| Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 12:10 am Post subject: |
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| I would think someone so bitter and judgmental wouldn't be the kind of person I'd like as a teacher of anything. |
You meet a lot of people like that in TEFL. People who take themselves far too seriously! |
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rtm
Joined: 13 Apr 2007
Posts: 1003
Location: US
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| Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 2:33 am Post subject: Re: Where can I go to teach 6 months a year? |
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| Quote: |
| some of the people here really need to relax, and shouldnt prejudge someone, or their motives when they know nothing about the person except a simple question they asked. |
I think part of the problem is that all you gave us is a "simple question that [you] asked", so it is hard for us to know how to react to you. We don't know what skills or related experience you have, and we don't know your motives other than "i mainly want to have a good time, meet women and cool friends, and maybe just make money to live on while I am there." When you say what you "mainly" want to do, and that doesn't include teaching, well...
I think it would help to imagine someone coming into your tennis club (say, an experienced English teacher), and saying that they want a job as a tennis instructor. Probably, the first thing you would ask is about their experiences, what makes them a good candidate for such a job, etc. If the English teacher wasn't qualified as a tennis instructor, they might ask how they could become qualified, which might be a good line of inquiry for you here.
As others have recommended, a CELTA course might be a good basic introduction to teaching tenni... err... English. |
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tttompatz
Joined: 06 Mar 2010
Posts: 1951
Location: Talibon, Bohol, Philippines
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| Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 4:01 am Post subject: |
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Go to Thailand.
Take your degree (original or university issued duplicate), a couple sets of your transcript and a criminal background check.
Land.
Hit the beach for a few days.
Unwind, relax, have a few nights on the town.
Take a TEFL course. It'll use up about 30 days of your time but will (A) get you a cert and (B) allow you to network with others (never a bad thing when starting out).
Then take your CV and hit up a few of the language academies.
You should be able to find some work - enough to get you started and if you are good they will keep you busy.
Regular schools won't want you because you can't/won't complete an academic year.
You qualify for a work visa (non-immi"B") and a work permit.
As long as you have 21 days remaining on your tourist visa (get a visa instead of the 30 day stamp on arrival) you can change your status at the immigration office instead of making a border run.
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While I was out
Joined: 24 Feb 2008
Posts: 119
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| Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 12:49 pm Post subject: |
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Agree with Ttompatz. Tefl International, while not the best certificate, is situated in/near the small fishing village of Ban Phe and Samet island is only about 5 kilometres and 1 hour away by boat at the weekend.
One month there, a week or two to party in Bangkok or Chiang Mai and the world's your weird non-English speaking uncle. |
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