Job Discussion Forums

piglet · Joined: 26 May 2004 Posts: 22

Hi Gang!
I am a 48 year old expat Brit. I have taught high school efl for the las t20 years, and am looking for a change of scenery. What are my chances of getting a university position in either Taiwan, Thailand , S Korea or China at my age ,with a hubby to support (retiring soon....). I have an MA in languages from London, a quickie TEFL degree from London from donkeys' years ago, but not really acquainted with the current TEFL scene....
what do you think? Rolling Eyes

PAULH · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 4672 Location: Western Japan

PAULH · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 4672 Location: Western Japan

This is a good site about university teaching in Korea with info on teaching in Taiwan and Thailand as well

http://seamonkey.ed.asu.edu/~jonb/

hamel · Joined: 03 May 2004 Posts: 95

piglet:

korea is competitive with regard to university jobs at the moment and the pay is not great. a lot of university teachers have public school certificates and often know another teacher (which helps them to get hired). graduate degree is also a bonus.

this summer i spoke to an older man who had taught in a japanese university for seven years as well as in china and was going home after one in a korean university. he said that previously japan was great and paid well, but has dried up, china was a bit too primitive, and that korea was a lot of fun for a year with some really good teaching experiences.

you may have a hard time finding good housing for your family. often university housing is very basic. though epik (public school) may be an interesting option with good housing and descent pay too. you sound very qualified for university teaching however in the R.O.K.--good luck as they say.
hamel

sigmoid · Joined: 21 Jan 2003 Posts: 1276

Sheep-Goats · Joined: 16 Apr 2004 Posts: 527

60 is the cutoff age in Thailand. You can find work at a university here with an MA, but the pay will be quite bad.

You should have little trouble finding English teaching work in Korea at the university level with an MA and teaching experience. Don't expect to be treated as a bonafide professor, though.

In China, anything's possible -- that cuts both ways though. I had a few university level classes when I taught in China (BA English, CELTA at the time) but then I wasn't in Shanghai or Beijing, and I wasn't teaching at a top-notch goverment school. Pay will be less than anywhere else, but then living in China is cheaper than anywhere else too.

I would assume finding university work in Taiwan is quite a bit more difficulty than in China -- Taiwan has a reasonable lifestyle and decent pay, so a lot of long-term TEFL folks have probably squatted on those posistions. I'm no where near 100% on that one, though.

You may also wish to consider Cambodia. If I didn't need something semi-reputable on my resume I'd probably be there now. Downside to university teaching in Cambodia is the silly names all the schools seem to have. Cambodia's quite a change and an exciting place to live -- and not nearly as dangerous as the movies like to make out.