Job Discussion Forums

kimcordle · Joined: 23 Mar 2006 Posts: 30

Henry,
I didn't use the term audiologist because I'm not one. I'm a hearing specialist and yes, I'm licensed in the state of Michigan.

Glenski,
I don't see you as being negative and I'll take what you've said to heart. That being said, even living overseas I will be a USA citizen and be paying taxes there. Citizenship is the requirement, not the location you reside. However, the money can only be used at American schools. You can find more info at www.fafsa.ed.gov if you're so inclined.

I just like the idea of getting most of my school paid for by someone else. As I stated before, I haven't accepted a job yet and I really am listening to what you all have to say. But after investigating everything, I'll make the choice I think is best, whatever that may be. All of your input is invaluable. Thanks.

TheLongWayHome · Joined: 07 Jun 2006 Posts: 1016 Location: San Luis Piojosi

kimcordle · Joined: 23 Mar 2006 Posts: 30

Long Way Home,

What is SLP? Thanks in advance.

denise · Joined: 23 Apr 2003 Posts: 3419 Location: finally home-ish

It seems like these "quit being so negative!" threads crop up every few months. I think I even initiated one a few years back... More geared at posters personally attacking each other than badmouthing their own field, but still, I agree that there is a lot of negativity in this field. Not everyone is cut out for this life, whether because they don't like teaching, don't like the country that they're in, or are in this job only because they're running away from something back home.

Trust me, Kim, there are plenty of us who do enjoy what we do. I love my job, and I love living abroad. Sure, there are rough days in the classroom and things about the various places that I've lived in that sometimes bug me, but it`s all part of the experience.

Get qualified, do your research, and then go for it. Don't expect it to be a glamorous adventure (as Glenski pointed out several pages back, we are paid to do a real job, not travel around the world. Of course, it's much easier to travel when you're already in the region--I'm on vacation in Argentina right now!). I think you've got the right attitude already.

I agree with you that we should be grateful for what we've got. I am planning on going back to the US in a few months and getting into the university ESL scene back there, but if it doesn't work out I know that I can hop on a plane and go pretty much anywhere in the world. Not many people in many fields have that option.

I'm happy to see potential teachers asking questions and expressing enthusiasm. We were all "newbies" at one time, and even those of us who are now lifers might not have planned it that way. I know that when I started, I didn't intend on making a career of it. I realized soon after I began that I loved it.

Good luck to you, Kim.

d

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

tedkarma · Posted: Tue Jul 11, 2006 6:22 am Post subject:

Ditto Denise.

I too love this occupation - and you do see this board (and others) go through periods of negativity. At the same time - it is important to have unrealistic dreams sobered a bit. But, your dream is your dream and if you don't follow it - well . . . too bad.

TEFL has been very good to me - and I advocate it as a lifestyle and career choice. I have been teaching overseas since 1992 - and expect to spend the next ten years doing the same.

Gregor · Joined: 06 Jan 2005 Posts: 842 Location: Jakarta, Indonesia

I only read pages 1, 4 and 5 of this thread, but I want to throw in my comments about the OP just the same.
Kim: For one, I started to feel a little strange for thinking that you were male when posters started addressing you in the feminine form, and then you vindicated me. I thought you sounded male from the start. Hmm. You can never tell from a name; you sure as hell learn THAT in China. There's a crap novel by Robin Cook, Toxin, whose protagonist is a male cardiac surgeon named Kim. It never occurred to me that that Kim could be a woman, either, from the things he said and did.
Of course, that's no indication either, and no more fair. But since we don't have a sexually neutral pronoun, then we have to guess. But I digress.

I too love my job. I've been back in the USA and I still don't like it for the same reasons that I left. And after 9+ years in TESOL, knowing the field fairly well (i.e. Latin America, Eastern and Western Europe and Eastern and Western Asia), I'm going back later today.
For some of us, the novelty of living in a foreign country and being an expat DOESN'T wear off. Reality never had to set in because I was realistic from the beginning, as you seem to be. It was very hard in my first few years, but the novelty of the thing kept me going until I really got my "sea legs" so to speak, and then it was just cool, in all sorts of ways.
Things are done differently in different countries. People sometimes think differently. And so on. But this is still, to me, as glamorous and exotic a field as I thought it would be.
Please enter it! You will find that you are more than welcome here (meaning out in the world, and who bloody cares about a discussion forum?). I concur, Frank Zappa is needed in Mexico (I should say, more Frank Zappa; he is not completely unheard of there, or anywhere else, in my experience). But such can be said about anywhere, am I right?
Good luck. Wish me luck (I'm going to Viet Nam in about 12 hours). And stick around here. We need all the positive energy we can get.

TheLongWayHome · Joined: 07 Jun 2006 Posts: 1016 Location: San Luis Piojosi

kimcordle · Joined: 23 Mar 2006 Posts: 30

Glenski,
To be completely honest with you, my plan is not set it stone to the point of a MA. I think before I start planning my MA in linguistics or TESOL, I should first find out if I like teaching.

As far as how could I afford to pay off student loans in Japan:
Well, you live there, so obviously you know better than me. But let's say I have $10,000 in loans for my MA. Student loans generally have a sliding scale for repayment based on what you make. We won't even take that into account though. $10,000 in loans at 6.8% (which is the new fixed rate for student loans as of July '06) would have a minimum payment of $50. To pay it off in 10 years, you would need to pay $115.08 per month. To pay it off in 5 years, the payment becomes $197.07. Of course, these figures are based on a $10,000 loan which could be more or less than I borrow. You can see though, this should be possible for someone in Japan, Korea or the Middle East.

Also, I'm hoping teaching won't be the only way I can earn money. As I stated previously I'm a musician. I'm a bass player by trade, but I also play acoustic and sing. I used to do lots of one man shows this way in local bars and coffee shops. Not only is it a way to earn money, it's a sure-fire way to meet new people and make new friends. Plus, it's a social life you MAKE money at, not spend money on. If anyone has any suggestions of locations where this would be possible, please let me know.

Gregor,
Best of luck in Vietnam! You must be excited.

Denise,
Thank you. I'm glad you enjoy your life so much. Enjoy Argentina!

LWH,
I feel like an idiot. I've never even heard of it. I'll have to break out my atlas. How is it close minded?

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

kim,
Paying off US$200 per month will be little problem in Japan. You usually make the equivalent of US$2500 per month and spend half of that on basic necessities. That means $1250 is left over for anything else, so once you've paid your loan, you'll still have $1000 to play around with. Depending on your real rent (my figures are for averages), and your lifestyle (meaning how you eat and entertain yourself), you may have zero to $1000 of that left over.

Now, you still have not answered why you think you need an MA degree. At least, that's the way I interpreted your other post. Number one, you're not going to need it for entry level work here. Number two, if you have it, you may even find that some employers don't want to hire you because they may think you're overqualified or that you'll storm in and try to change their preprogrammed teaching format. Number three, you won't get paid more for it. (For example, NOVA pays only about $50 per month more for people with a master's.)

By the way, ignore the last remark I made on the previous post. I couldn't edit it for some reason, and I realized after I hit SUBMIT that it was an invalid statement.

kimcordle · Joined: 23 Mar 2006 Posts: 30

Glenski,
I never said I needed a Masters. It just seems like the logical progression should I find I enjoy teaching and want to do it for the rest of my life. As I stated in my last message, I need to teach to find out if I like it.
Also, there's still that nagging thing in the back of my head "What if you want to move back to the USA?". I will be more competitive in the marketplace with it.
Also, you may want to check my last post again. I added a paragraph.

Oh also, you quoted the figure $200 a month, and as I stated, the minimum payment on $10,000 would be $50 a month. Granted it will take forever to pay off. But, as you stated in your message, after paying everything I would have 0-1000 left over after expenses. I don't drink, and as you read in my previous message, have other ways to earn money. I don't have $1,000 a month left over after paying all my bills here making double what I'd earn in Japan. Even by halving your figure, I could reasonably save $500 a month, which is $6,000 a year!

Calories · Joined: 17 Jun 2005 Posts: 361 Location: Chinese Food Hell

I knew someone who saved $15,000 CAD in a year in Korea.

kimcordle · Joined: 23 Mar 2006 Posts: 30

So in my estimation, we've established it is possible. It just depends on where you choose to live.