Job Discussion Forums

[roywebcafe]

Hello

like to hear from anyone on here who has had experience teaching in Mongolia or just visiting or traveling in Mongolia. Its part of my future plans to go to there and maybe teach in addition to my visit. Have taught efl in China, Taiwan and Thailand and wondered how different it might be?

any information welcome.

[surendra]

I had a friend who taught at a Uni there. I can't remember it's name but I've seen it advertised here. He really liked it I think. Seemed like those students were well-behaved for ESL students and the pay seemed legit. He even got business cards :p and he was in Ulaanbaatar.

He is a big post-soviet union country buff who likes Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, etc. So just remember it probably won't be like the countries you listed. If anything, closer to Korean culture.

P.S. My friend left due to REAL family issues/circumstances and not due to the school.

[tbear2]

It's not really like Korean culture. Students are less in awe of authority than in those countries you listed. Also, while the students may want to learn (depending on the school), it seems that very few of the schools actually care whether the student learns anything; they exist purely to make as much money as possible, education be d***d.

It's not just the small, struggling local schools... take one of the "international" schools in Ulaanbaatar -- the foreign directors change every couple of years and each time there's a new director the same set of misguided policies are re-instituted and then later removed when disaster inevitably follows. From what I've observed at several private schools over a decade or so, both teacher welfare and learning needs are disregarded completely or at best take a backseat to profit-making.

Generally, whatever helps minimize cost and bring in money -- no matter how short-term the benefit -- is allowed. Hence: anything from overflowing classrooms, dodgy (but cheap!) curricula, unqualified teachers, salaries paid late, students put in unsuitable levels, to outright lies in advertising.

If you can stomach this, AND glacial temperatures and thick smog don't faze you, then yes, it's a sign you should definitely teach in UB.