Job Discussion Forums

[Black_Beer_Man]

I was wondering about your experiences teaching in countries besides Japan. Let's have a mainly positive thread here and stick to positive experiences. There's enough negativity on this board.

I taught in Korea in the public system and had a very positive overall experience. Salaries are similar in Korea to Japan when you factor in the "free" apartment, "free" round-trip plane ticket once a year to your home country and 1 month's salary contract finishing bonus.

The cost of living is cheaper there, so you're able to save more money. My public schools always had a cafeteria where you could eat unlimited buffet-style food for about $3 - $4. A Korean lunch in a restaurant is typically around $5 (no tax / no tip).

Koreans also treat foreigners rather well - sometimes giving special discounts to us. I got a foreigner's discount for bus tours of the countryside in Daegu. The Seoul Land amusement park offers a discount coupon for foreigners. http://eng.seoulland.co.kr/eng/index.asp

Most Korean shopkeepers were very polite to me even though they could only manage a few words of English.

South Korea's pretty good. However, before you consider taking a job with a private language school, run the name by the foreign teachers on Dave's ESL Korean forums board because some of these schools don't follow through on everything they promise.

[Master Shake]

I just moved to Tokyo today, but that last 6+ years I've mostly spent teaching English in Warsaw, Poland

It's definitely been a positive experience overall. The students are generally eager and capable (and at times demanding) and the overall level of English is much higher than in SE Asia. Most educated young people speak English at at least an intermediate level.

Poland has a well-deserved reputation for having beautiful women, so it's no surprise the vast majority of foreign teachers there are men.

Poles take paper qualifications very seriously, so in order to be competitive for the better jobs, you usually need a BA + recognized teaching cert. (e.g. CELTA) as a minimum.

Starting salaries can be low compared to SE Asia, but the cost of living is also lower so there's the potential to save money, especially in Warsaw. Once you have a year or so of experience teaching in Poland, it's easier to find opportunities to earn a much better living wage - many of these are impossible to find from abroad.

Probably the best part of teaching Eng. in Poland for me professionally, has been that I gained a lot of valuable experience and qualifications which I can now use to find better jobs in the TEFL world in the future.

As with anywhere, it definitely pays to do your research on a school (e.g. on Dave's) before you accept a job in Poland. There are a few notorious schools which hire abroad in order to prey on newbies' inexperience, offering them unrealistically low salaries, breaking promises, not paying on time, etc..

[Voyager2]

Am teaching in Bali Indonesia. A few positive things in keeping with the theme: very low cost of living, mostly very friendly local people, the complete ease of opening most things from mobile phones to bank accounts. No need signing any contracts when starting to live somewhere. Generally speaking - a much higher purchasing power and better quality of life possible on what is a middle class salary here (although a salary that would see you living under a bridge in the west).

There are downsides of course, quite a few, but not in keeping with the spirit of the thread. Regards,

[Didah]

Greetings,

My two best experiences were in the most unlikely places... Equatorial Guinea and Iraq.

In both places I had highly motivated students who looked at learning English as a way to access English-medium instruction that would lead to good jobs and in some way help their country. In Iraq, I trained Iraqi English teachers in K-12 through college. They were great. Ditto for the students in EG who were learning English to receive technical instruction. I hear from them now and then and am very pleased with their success.

New category -- slightly on-topic -- would be the worst students. For me its hands down the tragic kingdom of saudi arabia. A close runner up would be the UAE. But I digress.

[Black_Beer_Man]

[RM1983]

Had a pretty good time in Korea too, although it was difficult to settle down. Even durin rough times you knew you were saving money so tht helped.

Worked at private schools there and got a nice variety of levels and classes, much more so than here. Also was allowed to wear casual clothes and received vast amounts of help for everything, such as the visa, renting a phone, apt etc. Lived right next to my school and never started work before 3pm. Also didnt work one Saturday in two years!

I also taught in the UK for a couple of years and this was a joy overall. Got to meet students from all over the world who were often at a similar age to me. Very rewarding as I still get thank you messages from say Colombia or Spain saying they got an awesome job or etc cos of their English. Also, socialising was encouraged to the point where if you could grab the manager on a friday he might give you a tenner to go to the pub with the students.

Also taught in Prague for a shorter while, and as I get
older I more and more regret not having a try at living there longer term. The beer is phenomenal and cheaper than the water. Likewise the food (although not as phenomenal as much as dependable) was cheap. Spectacularly beautiful place, with great big forests half an hour from the centre. The students seem a bit cynical but are very smart and funny.
Not sure why I didnt stick it out longer there

[Master Shake]

[RM1983]

Im not sure they are particularly unfriendly compared to most of Europe, just dont smile a lot. Generally the more foreigners around, the less impressed the natives are.

By the time I left i had a few Czech friends and some acquaintances at my local who would send me over shots of Becherovka when I didnt want em hahah.

Visiting isnt the same as living somewhere though so
I guess I'll (probably) never know.

Actually the job was the main reason I left. As a new teacher I was looking at working split shifts and quite possibly weekends to scratch out a beginning. Given time I think it wouldve got better but there you go!

[mitsui]

There was a job teaching Czech soldiers some time ago and I wonder if it is still there. It was through the Defense Department and was for Americans only.

I had good experiences in Poland, Russia and Morocco.
Morocco was the opposite of Japan. The students there always wanted to practice speaking.
Quite different here, as we always try to find ways to get them to talk and stop using Japanese in class. It gets tiresome.
The passive style of learning does not work. The Moroccans could teach the Japanese something.

[RM1983]

The attitude and style makes an enormous difference. Problems used to be, say if you had a group of Libyans they wouldnt stop talking or getting you off topic. Likewise with say, Spanish students, you always had to keep in mind that there was some focus to the class and it probably shouldnt be descending into pub banter again. Of course, they would learn quickly, mainly because they didnt really give much of a hoot if they made a mistake. If they made a funny one you could tell them about it and theyd find it hilarious

What I wouldnt give for some classes like that now!

[Voyager2]

[thomthom]

Quick capsule K vs J comparison-

Seoul: great social life; mediocre sex-life; dissatisfied with the culture; saved lots of money.
Tokyo: mediocre social life; great sex life; enraptured with the culture; permanently skint.

[fat_chris]

[Maitoshi]

[Maitoshi]