Job Discussion Forums

Deckie007 · Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 7

Hello everyone. As you can see, this is my first post. I have really enjoyed reading over this forum. There is a great deal of experience here that I plan to take advantage of. I am not an ESL teacher (yet), but I plan on being one in the next twelve-eighteen months or so. That being said, I've laid out a plan for myself. Now I want to see whether it is a wise one. So bear with me.

First, my background:

I'm a 22 year old male, from Toronto, Canada. I have a limited amount of tutoring experience (not in the ESL field). I've taught computers to children in co-op and to seniors as a part-time job. Teaching seniors computers was very rewarding, and required quite a bit of patience. I think that experience would serve me well in another teaching position. I'm totally unattached.

Second, the plan:

Finances
* pay off my limited credit card debt
* save $3000-$4000 CAD

Education
* obtain TEFL certificate @ Oxford Seminars (course includes Teaching Practicums)
* start working towards degree of some kind via correspondance - English(?)

Job Hunt
* look for a job in Mexico, Brazil, or Ecuador

Later Plans
* Teach in Europe - father is Danish citizen, so I should be able to get a Danish citizenship, therefore making it easier to get those EU jobs.
* Teach in Asia, specifically Taiwan.

Is this a smart plan? I don't really want to take 3-4 years to get a degree, but I'd have no problem working on it while teaching abroad. I figure the TEFL certification will get me rolling in the right direction. What do you guys think? Any constructive criticism would be appreciated. I don't take offense, honestly.

Doglover · Joined: 14 Dec 2004 Posts: 305 Location: Kansai

Deckie007 · Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 7

Thanks for the advice, Doglover.

A few things....

1) I would never "buy" a degree. It strikes me as rather odd that someone who teaches could justify faking a higher education. Very hyprocritical.

2) From my research, it looks like a BA isn't required in Mexico to get a working permit. That's what I've found. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, it's happened before Wink

.

3) The pros of going to Mexico:

* friends of mine own a house in Mazatlon, so housing in that city would be easy and cheap.
* if no jobs exist in Mazatlan, I have connections with an owner of a TEFL school in Guadalahara.

3) Asia, specifically Taiwan. I wouldn't consider going there until I achieved a BA. Same with Europe. I'm thinking about those places much further down the road.

4) Looked into the U of Phoenix a couple of days ago. I asked them for a catalogue. I also looked up linguistics and found an online undergraduate degree from Utah State University. Maybe that would be a good start.

Thank you very much for you advice. I welcome any other comments.

Doglover · Joined: 14 Dec 2004 Posts: 305 Location: Kansai

Deckie007 · Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 7

Thanks for the links. You've given me a lot of food for thought. I've had an interest in teaching for a while now, so I think it's finally time to act on it. Time to save $$ and go back to school. Hopefully this will be the career I'm looking for.

Doglover · Joined: 14 Dec 2004 Posts: 305 Location: Kansai

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

Doglover--

The school in Monterey is the Monterey Institute of International Studies. Other than a handful (like, about 10) of students, it's a graduate school only.

Deckie007--

Welcome to the forum! It really sounds like you are doing your research. As long as you are working on the BA/visa issue, your plan looks good. It's nice to see that you're looking ahead and not just jumping in with no money saved, no plan to get a degree, etc.

d

Celeste · Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2005 10:29 am Post subject:

Deckie-
You also qualify for the working holiday visa in Japan. THis will allow you to travel and work here for up to one year, no degree required. THis is because you are under 30 years old and are form one of the countries that participates in the reciprocal working holiday program.

Justin Trullinger · Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2005 7:08 pm Post subject:

In Ecuador, the degree wouldn't be much of an issue, although I respect your decision to go about getting one, one way or another.

Hope it works out- the plan sounds good. ANd if you wind up coming this way- get in touch.

Justin

Deckie007 · Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 7

Cool. I have friends that served as religious missionaries in Quito, Ecuador, and raved about the people. Ecuador is #2 on my list right now. I especially would love to see the Gallopogos Islands. Hopefully it all works out.

Laughing

moonraven · Joined: 24 Mar 2004 Posts: 3094

I hate to sound like an "aguasfiestas", but I think you are missing something very critical to getting a job here in Latin America--especially without a degree: I didn't see anything in your plan about learning either Spanish or Portugese.

To me, for someone to want to be a language teacher, but not to plan to study the language of the countries he targets sounds pretty half-baked.

Deckie007 · Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 7

Cdaniels · Posted: Sun May 01, 2005 3:30 pm Post subject: I'm curious about your plan-

If I were you I'd get my EU citizenship as soon as possible, and go to Spain, learn Spanish and possibly teach English there. Or you could even take Oxford seminar in Great Britian. Why not go to Europe first? and BTW Have you been to Denmark? Smile

Deckie007 · Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 7

Ben Round de Bloc · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 1946