Job Discussion Forums

[toto321]

While I was a student of a foreign language overseas in the middle east I get sick with bi-polar. Before that I took CELTA in the U.K. and I am from Canada. I always wish I had stronger health to carry on my educational goals and one of the ideas I had was that teaching English is something easy. Now my interests are still the same, I did "teach" myself Arabic and have a big library though I rarely read that much. I recently got an e-mail with a few days to decide to do the DELTA even though I never got the grades to achieve the Certificate for CELTA at the same center I took it with (international house). I find the educational standards are much different in Canada, U.K. and Saudi Arabia. I was aiming for a degree in Canada my home country to teach English in Saudi Arabia but managed to find a scholarship after I visited Saudi Arabia in person and that was how I eventually started teaching English more due to boredom and because that's what my friends where doing. So I got a little exposure to teaching English at private Institute colleague, and private classes. Otherwise I would've had to wait until I finished my Arts and Science degree before I could achieve anything in the educational field. My friends that know how hard it was for me tell me if I wanna try to teach something to do Arabic lessons but I have been having motivation problems. I did try volunteering at a local school. So I never passed any programs I did except a 2-3 year Arabic diploma.

[rtm]

I'm sorry, I'm not sure what your question is.

Do you want to know about how to cope with bi-polar while teaching abroad?

Do you want to know about how to get a job without an undergraduate degree (it sounds like you didn't finish your degree)?

Are you interested in any specific parts of the world? Or only the Middle East?

You mentioned that you "never got the grades to achieve the Certificate for CELTA" -- does that mean you took but did not pass the CELTA? Do you want to know what kinds of training you should seek?

If you give us specific questions, we'll be better able to help you.

[toto321]

Well, any general advice would be appreciated to.
Yes how to come with it teaching abroad or even at home. If it's a hard career choice for people with the illness.

I did not pass the CELTA but for some reason the same school is offering for me to take DELTA.

I thought about just Saudi because I been there before, though I wouldn't mind trying Malaysia or even Indonesia. I am also questioning if I should still try to get back into it.

[nomad soul]

[dragonpiwo]

If you have failed a CELTA, maybe this isn't for you.

[toto321]

@ nomad, I spoke to him about going back to study abroad which I guess the same thing would apply to teaching abroad. Especially since teaching was possibly easier than studying. Saudi had good medical service for mental illness it was just hard to access the better hospitals at first.


I took it intensive at international house in U.K. I noticed I have been getting slower due to my illness from being able to learn a second language without a teacher to not even being able to focus reading whole books and give lectures anymore. But I don't want to give up.

[santi84]

Toto, do you have any qualifications beyond the Arabic diploma?

Teaching English isn't something easy (which I suspect you know after failing the CELTA), but if it is a goal you have, then you need to finish your industry standard qualifications.

Everyone has their own opinion, but I personally found that my TESL degree and certification was a breeze compared to actually being in charge of a class. As a student, you can take a break, skip a class, put in 50% effort, get sick, or whatever. We don't have that luxury as a teacher. If you sink into an episode of mania or depression during the year, you are looking at losing your job and word spreading about your unreliability.

If your illness makes it too difficult to learn a second language or pass the CELTA, then it is likely that teaching ESL abroad is unrealistic at this time. Perhaps discussing management of your illness with your health professional team is the priority, and then you can work with them on your goals.

Good luck!

[toto321]

Like I said, I was only a first year arts and science student in Canada (my home country) before I went to saudi and after the diploma I finished only a year in an actual arabic degree before I had to call it quits.

I did do TEFL but I doubt that was needed to find a job it was more being a native speaker and references that got me jobs. There were other times where without references I was told I needed Delta and many years experience when I was searching.

It is really long to get qualifications in Saudi for Arabic for whatever one wants.

[santi84]

Well, it is really up to you what you want to do then. If you want to teach in Saudi, by all means use your connections. If you want to teach elsewhere, you are going to need to finish that university degree.

Here in Canada, a related university degree and full TESL (120 to 250 hour TESL Canada 1/2) is your bare minimum. It is very hard to find a job with those qualifications, and an MA TESOL is usually the average requirement.

So I guess you need to decide if you want to come home or stay in Saudi. You won't get a teaching job here in Canada with just the first year of university. You could probably get work with a place like Sylvan Learning, Oxford Learning, or other after-school programs, but not teaching.

I have experience with mental illness (my career prior to teaching) and I would personally recommend staying in your home country unless you have access to good health professionals and an extended support network (family and friends). If you have that in Saudi, and you can find a job you like with your connections, then it may be worth staying there.

[toto321]

Well I am back in Canada already been here for a while. Maybe your right I need to work more on managing the illness first. And I have reached the point where the doctor recommended I get a job which I did but it was not teaching. My Canadian friend I met in the Arabic program who did his Phd said the Arabic diploma is almost equivalent to a Bachelors but he also said it doesn't really matter. And he thought I should get into teaching Arabic in Canada instead as he was there with me in Saudi.

I really think I have to finish a degree if I want to teach English either way. As connections can't beat the law you need one to get a work visa.

[nomad soul]

[Prof.Gringo]

[toto321]

Yes, I am Muslim so a trip to Makkah would always nice even if it's just for that. How is Kenya as a TEFL market? I know some speak English pretty well. My Mom lives there and it's less cold than -40 celsius. But I don't know how I can stay there long and give English lessons. I got put in jail for walking in the middle of the night by a person who was holding a rifle. (I think I trespassed by mistake) And the cop threatened to kill me while dragging me to jail. Luckily my dad just found me the next day in prison and he speaks Swahili so all they asked for was Biryani. And the situation needs to calm down more. But Mom always asks about her kids and when were coming.

Yet, I been also exploring ways to over-come Bi-polar a.k.a depression. At least I've been told they are ways other than drugs but it takes time. So hopefully they work. One way is I wanna start "Trauma Release Exercise" By David Berceli and fasterEFT that somebody told me worked for him. Then I will be able to travel more freely after that. Not to say pills kill you, just haven't been working well enough.

A question, what would be the worthwhile minimum requirements to be a private tutor? Would it be wrong to think that because English is my mother tongue I can tutor all levels? I know some teachers are better than others as the best one I knew at the same private school in Saudi (which I know know has a bad reputation) was teaching for years without anything other than being American (even though he was Pakistani background).

[nomad soul]

[likwid_777]