Job Discussion Forums

[Wide eyed wanderer]

Hello!

I am a North American (thus no EU passport). I have two years of ESL teaching experience overseas in Korea, Turkey and the Republic of Georgia and a TESOL certificate (only 60 hours unfortunately). I am now preparing to fly to Istanbul to look for a job. I have spent endless hours online trying to find jobs before I get to Europe but I've had little to no luck. I have read many of the posts here and they often say the best way to get a job is to fly to Europe and start knocking on doors and handing out CV's. This idea leaves knots in my stomach. Last time I flew to a country hoping to find work it ended badly and left me in debt. I would really appreciate any advice on the best way to look for a job now and once I arrive, as I am leaving in a few days. I am willing to work anywhere in Eastern Europe including Turkey and Russia. I am hoping to work at a school and would like to avoid jobs where I have to travel from company to company teaching for only a few hours at a time. I do have an agent in Turkey who is currently looking at jobs for me as a back up plan. Any advice would be appreciated

[_smaug]

[ossie39]

Hello Wide eyed wanderer. It certainly is difficult when you have little money to play with when searching for a job. I think you must go to that destination, the one in which you wish to teach. Going to the place will give you the feel of it, could you live in that city or could you work in that place or for that person? Employers who do need staff need them 'here and now', teach this class tomorrow night, but they won't tell you this at the start of the interview. You must be in that city, reachable! Talking over tea or coffee is also particularly cultural with Turks, "Who are you?", "What do I feel about you?" Being there means you can offer a demonstration lesson and display any teaching materials in your portfolio.
Regarding language school teaching, if a school doesn't offer you at least 18 hours of weekly teaching, becareful as to the lesson times you sign up for. A school could 'cherry pick' what is peak times (weekend mornings and weekday evenings) - if a school can't be reasonable regarding times then there will surely be a better offer nearby. Regarding cenral Europe you may like to drop in on state schools too in Hungary, Slovakia or Czech Republic. These countries must have a paid native teacher in their state schools which stipulate that they specialise in languages. You will have more chance in small and medium size cities. Good luck.

[spiral78]

[Wide eyed wanderer]

I have a great deal of sample lessons. What kind of teaching materials would they expect to find in my portfolio?

[ossie39]

SOL - Share One Language has been placing teachers in state schools in Central Europe for 2O years. This includes Hungary, Slovakia, Romania. It did place teachers in the Czech Republic but not now. That said, I had 5 offers last year to teach in state schools in the Czech Republic. I have 4 native speaker friends who work in state schools. The Hungarian law states that a native speaker qualified teacher must be employed in schools specialising in a modern language whether it be English, French, Spanish or German. Some of these programmes amount to 15 x 45 lessons weekly in a starting students first year.
The package for teachers in the Czech Republic is very much the same as for Hungary. AIA is the Academic Information Agency which is part of the Ministry of Education in Prague. Although fewer posts are advertised these days they act as a go between for schools and teachers. Offering this service regarding 'native teachers', there is obviously some obligation (written or expected by the locals) to have a native teacher for grammar schools again specialising in a foreign language. Whilst wages these days may be pretty low as suggested by spiral78, I bet native speakers get more pay than Czechs, if that is the case it is because of some employment obligation to have native speakers.
Sure going around is difficult but isn't that the nature of job hunting? Christmas Time is a time when people leave jobs anyway. Teaching in a state school means you get gauranteed income for the day time thus opening up evening time for privates.

[ossie39]

Wide eyed wanderer, I think you need a little bit of everything because you may have to be flexible regarding levels and ages.
In some language schools you may be the only native speaker teacher and this may mean you are expected to focus on speaking and communicative learning. You would be teaching many different classes weekly for about an hour each. Pronunciation activities could be good.
I think you should have something stimulating for children and young learners, there isn't always the range of resources available overseas and I am fairly sure that you will get a young learners class or some privates.
In some schools you may find yourself teaching all areas so perhaps some supplementary stuff to ease away from the predicable text book. Music as stimulus for lessons is popular also as comprehension. Turks enjoy the chance to be imaginative, creative, problem solving is good for them but they generally aren't so good at it. They enjoy pairwork and small group work.

[_smaug]

[ossie39]

Why would you bring booze???? Turkey aint Saudi arabia!

[Wide eyed wanderer]

Thanks for all the help and support ossie39 and spiral78! I really appreciate it. I will look into SOL and AIA ossie! Thanks!