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CPA
Joined: 29 Jan 2016
Posts: 24
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 Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2016 7:28 am Post subject: Teaching English: Thailand versus Japan? |
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I am interested in teaching English in Japan and Thailand. I picked these countries because I would like to study martial arts and Buddhism while I teach.
I am a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in the United States with muliple years of corporate experience and an undergraduate university education in accounting in finance. I am hoping my backround might help me obtain a position teaching high school students, university students, or working professionals.
My goal is to have a great immersion experience plus the chance to develop language and cultural skills that can be applied later in life in business environments.
Thanks for any advice. |
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Mr. Kalgukshi
Mod Team
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
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Location: Need to know basis only.
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| Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2016 8:14 am Post subject: |
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| This thread must focus on teaching in Thailand. |
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suphanburi
Joined: 20 Mar 2014
Posts: 916
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| Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2016 8:26 am Post subject: Re: Teaching English: Thailand versus Japan? |
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| CPA wrote: |
I am interested in teaching English in Japan and Thailand. I picked these countries because I would like to study martial arts and Buddhism while I teach.
I am a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in the United States with muliple years of corporate experience and an undergraduate university education in accounting in finance. I am hoping my backround might help me obtain a position teaching high school students, university students, or working professionals.
My goal is to have a great immersion experience plus the chance to develop language and cultural skills that can be applied later in life in business environments.
Thanks for any advice. |
Do you want the good news or the bad news?
With an unrelated BA, a US passport and no TEFL course or experience you can get an entry level job just about anywhere in the country. You'd likely be teaching a pretty broad range of EFL ages (K-12).
The salary will be in the range of 30-35k baht per month with no benefits.
You'll have to fly in on your own (at your own expense) and the best time to be here and looking is right after Songkran (late April).
Now for the bad news. Teaching EFL is most liklely going to be a 40 hour work week (M-F from 8:00 - 16:30) if you get into a mainstream school (at least the salary is assured)
and a load of evenings and weekends on an hourly rate if you get a job in a language academy. (Wages are NOT assured since you get paid by the hour/class). This will allow you some flexibility but not as much as you might like to pursue your other interests.
Japan will at least pay better but it will be very hard to land a job with no related qualifications or experience and still sitting at home in the US.
Good luck with your wish list.
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Last edited by suphanburi on Mon Feb 01, 2016 10:39 am; edited 1 time in total |
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nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
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| Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2016 10:33 am Post subject: Re: Teaching English: Thailand versus Japan? |
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| suphanburi wrote: |
Do you want the good news or the bad news?
With an unrelated BA, a US passport and no TEFL course or experience you can get an entry level job just about anywhere in the country. You'd likely be teaching a pretty broad range of EFL ages (K-12).
The salary will be in the range of 30-35k baht per month with no benefits.
You'll have to fly in on your own (at your own expense) and the best time to be here and looking is right after Songkran (late April).
Now for the bad news. |
I thought that first part was the bad news.  |
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sigmoid
Joined: 21 Jan 2003
Posts: 1276
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| Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2016 5:01 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
I picked these countries because I would like to study martial arts and Buddhism while I teach.
...
My goal is to have a great immersion experience plus the chance to develop language and cultural skills that can be applied later in life in business environments. |
It should be possible for you to live in either country. So, you should probably focus on considering the major differences between the two cultures and countries.
Thailand has a tropical climate. There aren't very many major earthquakes. It isn't a fully industrialized nation. They practice Theravada Buddhism, not Zen. It is somewhat more culturally diverse. They aren't as rigid, professional or wealthy as Japan. The political situation in Thailand is highly unstable at the moment. Their educational system is not considered as good as the Japanese. The salary will be much lower but the cost of living is also lower. Basically Japan is a developed nation, whereas Thailand is a developing nation.
If you do decide to teach in Thailand, I would recommend teaching at a university, but choose which one very carefully.
There are numerous websites with job ads from both countries that you can peruse. Contact some that look interesting and see what they say. |
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plumpy nut
Joined: 12 Mar 2011
Posts: 1652
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| Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2016 8:16 pm Post subject: |
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| The Buddhism that you will get in Japan (which is mostly atheist) is Nichiren Buddhism. This may be pretty alien to the Buddhism you're thinking of. So if you go for Buddhism, Thailand is the better option. Keep in mind you will be making crap money, if in the end you make any money at all. However Thailand really is a nice place to be, but so is Japan probably. |
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mitsui
Joined: 10 Jun 2007
Posts: 1562
Location: Kawasaki
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| Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2016 12:58 am Post subject: |
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It depends what you want.
Study religion? Make money?
Buddhism is more serious in Thailand.
Pay in Thailand is less with less opportunity. |
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CPA
Joined: 29 Jan 2016
Posts: 24
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| Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2016 7:00 pm Post subject: Will I be able to afford this life on a teacher's salary? |
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Thank you for the responses. I am leaning towards Japan because I will make almost double the salary, but I am still considering Thailand. I have combed the Japan boards to get an idea of what life is like teaching in Japan. I will do the same on this board.
Do you imagine there be opportunities to study Buddhism from an English speaking teacher?
Would I be able to afford the following life on a teacher's salary?:
(1) work full time
(2) have a nice enough private room of any size with a small kitchen (shared bath is OK).
(3) explore the local culture and sight-see at night and on the weekends by using local transit and walking.
(4) study martial arts and Buddhism with Thai teachers in English a couple times per week. (I probably can get by learning martial arts without knowing Thai, but I would like to meet an English speaking monk/teacher).
(5) travel somewhere interesting in Thailand for a weekend at least once or twice.
(6) eat out as much as I can afford, but cook at home too.
(7) Join a fitness club. |
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suphanburi
Joined: 20 Mar 2014
Posts: 916
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| Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2016 2:03 am Post subject: Re: Will I be able to afford this life on a teacher's salary |
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| CPA wrote: |
Thank you for the responses. I am leaning towards Japan because I will make almost double the salary, but I am still considering Thailand. I have combed the Japan boards to get an idea of what life is like teaching in Japan. I will do the same on this board.
Do you imagine there be opportunities to study Buddhism from an English speaking teacher?
Would I be able to afford the following life on a teacher's salary?:
(1) work full time
(2) have a nice enough private room of any size with a small kitchen (shared bath is OK).
(3) explore the local culture and sight-see at night and on the weekends by using local transit and walking.
(4) study martial arts and Buddhism with Thai teachers in English a couple times per week. (I probably can get by learning martial arts without knowing Thai, but I would like to meet an English speaking monk/teacher).
(5) travel somewhere interesting in Thailand for a weekend at least once or twice.
(6) eat out as much as I can afford, but cook at home too.
(7) Join a fitness club. |
1) If you have a degree, a western passport, clean police clearance and a white face then finding work in April or May is about as difficult as stepping off a curb.
2) On a typical teachers Salary (30-35k baht) and inside a major center (like Bangkok) you will do OK for living expenses provided you live like a local. If you enjoy the expat life you will soon be dipping into your bank account or finding that there is more month than money. The same is true in Japan.
In Bangkok you should be able to afford a smallish condo or studio apartment (5k). It may or may not have air and won't have a kitchen. Nice condos with kitchenette, pool and gym will cost about 50-60% of your salary and you haven't added commuting to work or food expenses yet.
3) Local culture is all around you are but not what you see in the travel brochures or on tourist trips.
4) Pick one. You'll not have time and money for both; not on a teacher's salary. That said, learning from a monk at the local temple costs next to nothing but will take more time than you have.
5) After you figure out the bus/van system then travel is cheap. It is the hotels that get you. There is a double pricing system in Thailand and white faces pay LOTS more (eg. entry to a national park for a Thai = 30 baht. Same entry for a falang = 300 baht).
6) Most of your eating out will be at street vendors. Restaurants that cater to expats will run you B300-500 per plate plus drinks. $10 may be cheap at home but takes a big bite out of your 1000/day salary.
7) There won't be a fitness center in any sense that you recognize that you can afford. The ones that look like home will cost you a significant portion of your salary. You'll have lots of opportunity to learn muay thai if you hang around with the locals.
Let's be serious here for a moment. Entry level teacher jobs means 40 hour work weeks for $1000/month (680 quid). Until you get settled and settled in your wish list will remain a wish list.
AFTER you get settled, probably about 6-12 months after you land, then you will be able to figure out which way is up and how to do some of the things you want to do.
IF you want to learn at a temple, then spend your semester breaks in a temple as a novice monk (common for ALL Thai men at some point in their life). You'll get a lot of respect from the locals afterward and they'll quit treating you like the tourist teacher.
IF you want the "cultural experience", learn Muay Thai and learn about Buddhism then go up country and go local for a year or two. Living in Bangkok is no different than any other major city (like London, New York, LA, etc).
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CPA
Joined: 29 Jan 2016
Posts: 24
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| Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2016 7:31 am Post subject: |
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Thanks for the detailed response suphanburi.
There are tons of "Sushi Thai" restaurants here in Florida that serve sushi and Thai food. While I don't expect to find Sushi... are there many Thai sit-down restaurants that locals eat at? How much do they cost?
I really don't need the gym, I will be happy to study muay thai for exercise. Muay Thai gets a ton of respect here in the US in the Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) community and I have wanted to learn for a long time. Muay Thai is often paired with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) to make a great combination of stand up and ground skills.
The travel on the weekends I don't really need either.
It's appealing for me to live in rural or semi-rural Thailand and study with a monk regularly. Will I be able to find a temple with monks that speak English?
I am more interested in teaching university students and adults. Will there be many opportunities for me to teach this age range?
I was really leaning towards living in Tokyo, but I plan on living in a big city when I return to the US so it might be nice to live in a rural or semi-rural Thailand for awhile. |
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nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
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| Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2016 8:00 am Post subject: |
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| CPA wrote: |
| I am more interested in teaching university students and adults. Will there be many opportunities for me to teach this age range? |
Already answered:
| suphanburi wrote: |
| With an unrelated BA, a US passport and no TEFL course or experience you can get an entry level job just about anywhere in the country. You'd likely be teaching a pretty broad range of EFL ages (K-12). |
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CPA
Joined: 29 Jan 2016
Posts: 24
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| Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2016 10:05 am Post subject: |
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Thanks for helping to facilitate a bunch of my posts nomad. You have provided some good advice and insight.
In this case I am going to play lawyer and say I don't think my question was answered earlier in this thread  .
Suphanburi said I would "likely be teaching a pretty broad range of EFL ages (K-12)." His wording implied that K-12 was "likely" the case, but not for certain.
After my last post, I looked through the last year of threads and it appears that some university jobs in Thailand can be found with an undergraduate degree. Anyways, I would probably teach high school if offered a position. |
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suphanburi
Joined: 20 Mar 2014
Posts: 916
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| Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2016 10:57 pm Post subject: |
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| CPA wrote: |
Thanks for helping to facilitate a bunch of my posts nomad. You have provided some good advice and insight.
In this case I am going to play lawyer and say I don't think my question was answered earlier in this thread .
Suphanburi said I would "likely be teaching a pretty broad range of EFL ages (K-12)." His wording implied that K-12 was "likely" the case, but not for certain.
After my last post, I looked through the last year of threads and it appears that some university jobs in Thailand can be found with an undergraduate degree. Anyways, I would probably teach high school if offered a position. |
Under the current circumstances teaching at a uni (the language center) is possible but unlikely given your under-qualification and lack of connections/network. Uni jobs also pay less ((25k); a result of fewer class hours but still often require your presence for 40 hours per week.
Teaching at a technical college is also possible but the same problems with hours and wages will exist.
Teaching at a high school (years 7-12) is possible, especially up country. More likely however is that you will be teaching in a k-9 (OBEC) school and could end up teaching a range of as large as 9 grade levels for an hour per class unit per week.
As to learning at a temple, you won't likely be having any long, philosophical discussions in English. Any English they are likely to have will be minimal and their work is all done in Thai. How is your learning by rote memorization?
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CPA
Joined: 29 Jan 2016
Posts: 24
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| Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2016 6:23 am Post subject: |
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My learning by rote memorization is OK, it was better in the past. Why do you ask?
I have some offers to interview for jobs in Thailand. I did some research on the companies and two of them had complaints filed against them online regarding not paying teachers and having really bad management.
I will keep searching and hopefully find something good. |
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suphanburi
Joined: 20 Mar 2014
Posts: 916
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| Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2016 9:33 pm Post subject: |
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| CPA wrote: |
My learning by rote memorization is OK, it was better in the past. Why do you ask?
I have some offers to interview for jobs in Thailand. I did some research on the companies and two of them had complaints filed against them online regarding not paying teachers and having really bad management.
I will keep searching and hopefully find something good. |
Jobs in Thailand are found IN Thailand.
Unless you are something special the only jobs you will find when you are abroad are with schools/agencies who can't recruit locally due to bad reputations.
Get a flight and be here in late April (right after Songkran) and you will be working by May 2.
. |
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