Job Discussion Forums

[ripple]

With the certification I'm about to get (through TEFLinstitute) I can get free placement in a few countries in South america and many in Asia. My first choices are Chile for 8 months and Vietnam for a year. VERY different places, eh? Especially since the school I'd be in in Chile is rural (region 6, wherever that is) and in Vietnam i'd be in Saigon.

Does anyone have experience in rural South Amer and urban Asia? I'm wanting Chile because I prefer rural to urban and I believe Spanish will be easier to pick up that Vietnamese. And more useful. In my mind, Chile has mountains everywhere and decent food. But then again, Vietnam has a pulse, its wild, exotic, and relatively unexplored. The religion is Buddhism which I prefer to Catholicism. It would be truly remarkable, moreso than Chile. Plus, I'd make way more money in Vietnam. But the pollution and noise of Saigon, the total lack of scenery, and an incomprehensible language that almost no one has any use for outside of Vietnam is a downer. So I'm stuck. I know this is a personal decision, but I'm basing it on these assumptions that I have gotten mostly from movies or rumor. Are these countries really as I have described? Is there something else I should consider?

Thanks!

[Glenski]

Could you narrow down "urban Asia" to a country or two? Or is Vietnam the only one you're interested in?

JET program in Japan places most of its ALTs in rural areas.

Do you even have a bachelor's degree (needed in most countries for a work visa, regardless of whether you have a TEFL certificate)?

[ripple]

Yes I have a bachelor's degree. And I've heard that the JET program is very selective, but I'm not sure how much. I just sort of figured that Japan would be too much like the US and that Vietnam would be more exotic yet at the same time it's easy to make a decent wage. Taiwan is very developed, so is Korea. Thailand seems great but I don't think the market for ESL is as strong. But it is intersting that JET places people in rural areas, I figured they all end up in Tokyo or some other place that resembles New York.

[Glenski]

ripple,
Tokyo gets less than 10 of the 6000 JET ALTs. see p.17
http://www.jetprogramme.org/documents/2006%20pamphlet_e.pdf

As for this,

[naturegirl321]

Go for some place that you are interested in. Money isn-t everything and having to complete a year contract in a place that you hate just for the money will make you bitter really fast.

Rural places, especially if you don-t speak the language lose their charm quickly. In China, we had the electricity and water cut off in the summer from 7 am to 7pm. Pointing and staring doesn-t make things easier either.

Don-t believe everything that people say about languages, I found CHinese easy to pick up contrary to what everyone told me.

Do a bit of research and go where your heart takes you.

[Deconstructor]

As far as I'm concerned, South America is a hellhole, at least Brazil. I've been down there a few times only because my wife is Brazilian. In fact I got back two days ago. Crime is out of control; everyone lives behind bars and barbed and electric wires. The city like Sao Paulo is without doubt the ugliest place I have ever been. It is so ugly that my eyes couldn't stop burning. It's a total shanty town. On the plus side, the food is good.

[naturegirl321]

[MamaOaxaca]

Ripple,
Why is it either or?
Only got one year to live?
Why not do both?
Apply for both, take the first one that says yes, keep the contact info for the other one for next year.

I also wonder how you figured Japan would be like the US. "Developed" does not equal "like the US".

I have to disagree with naturegirl about rural places losing their charm quickly. I suspect ripple might be like me, a small town girl. My first extended abroad experience was Santiago, Chile, as a student. At the time Santiago had a pop. of 5 million. The biggest city I have ever lived in to this day. By the end of six months, urban life had lost all, ALL, it's charm. In Japan, I lived in Nara Perfecture, in a town on the boarder with Osaka Perfecture. That was great! A 25 minute train ride and I could be in the heart of Osaka. A ten minute walk and I could be in soaking up the forrest, without another human soul in sight.

The year will go by really really fast, trust me. Both sound like experiences of a life time to me. I've never been to Vietnam, but I bet it has just as much to offer as Southern Chile, which is absolutely beautiful by the way. Maybe you should make the decision based on the job offers, rather than the locals? As you are new at this, which one offers you more support and opportunities to develop yourself as a teacher?

[chinagirl]

I worked in Latin America and now work in the Tokyo area. Both experiences completely different and I wouldn't change either one. It depends what you want out of the experience.

[NorthofAmerica]

I wanted to just keep reading rather than posting right away because this is quite a tall order but here goes...

I am teaching in Japan right now and like it enough that I am considering staying for another year (first contract finishes in August) but after that I am really interested in heading to South America.

My first idea had been Chile but now I am totally unsure, also looking at Argentina and Brazil. A few things that I am aching to know:

1) Is all Spanish created equal? I mean, looking at Chile I hear more and more that the Spanish is quite difficult and exceptional. But then, I read about Argentina and it says something about using "vos" all the time. One reason I want to head to South America is to learn Spanish but would some countries be better to learn in than others?

2) If I already speak conversational French (and by then possibly Japanese) do you think Spanish will be relatively easy to pick up? Right now I know about 20 words haha. I am expecting it to be easier than Japanese

3) I'd like to work in a fair sized city (1.5 mill +) with access to a solid local arts and music scene while still being relatively safe and clean. While it is all personal preference I am starting to think Argentina looks to have a more cosmopolitan and active arts scene than Chile. But man, how do you decide on a "cool" city? Anybody have any suggestions.

4) Some other things I'd like in a city/country. Good cost of living vs. pay, good working conditions, opportunities for private lessons or anything outside ESL, lots of young people (Japan is OLD), public transit, green spaces for biking, chilling in the park, hiking etc....

5) If you want to send money home (to Canada) does any country have a pay and exchange rate that makes it much more lucrative?


6) Where are you living and what do you think of it? Where else have you lived?


Japan is alright and I am having a good enough time (hate the Kanji though haha) but the high cost of living is a pain. Luckily the work conditions I have are quite nice. I teach about 20 hrs a week at a conversation school with a mix of small adult and kids classes. Aside from a lower cost of living I don't think I will find anywhere else in Asia as good as what I have now. South America just seems more exciting to me and Spanish more useful as a second (or third or fourth) language. Any help would me much appreciated.

[naturegirl321]

HI, I-ll try to answer some of your questions.

1. No, all Spanish is not equal, in Chile and Argentina it-s different than other LA countries, which in turn is different from the kind in Spain. I heard that Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Mexico are good places to learn.

2. Spanish is similar, I think, to Portuguese, Italian and French.

3 and 4. As far as cool cities go, you might try touring around the country for a week or two to see what you like. DIfferent people like different things. If you-re interested in Argentina or Chile, you could ask opinions on those forums.

5. Sending money home is pretty easy now, you can have bank transfers or western union it. Just pick a country with a stable exchange rate.

[matttheboy]

NorthofAmerica, you'll find everything you're looking for in Mendoza, Argentina except 1 thing: decent pay and living conditions. if you don't have at least us$200-400 a month to add to your meagre wages life can be grim for an argentine tefl teacher

argentine spanish is completely different to spanish anywhere else. verb conjugations, intonation and pronunciation are more than often non-standard. chilean spanish is a nightmare to begin with but at least it's based on standard spanish that can be used anywhere else without getting you laughed at. that said, i prefer argentine spanish.

as for the OP, if you're in rural Chile (read: middle of nowhere) in the 6th region (south of santiago), your life will almost certanly be boring as hell if you can't afford to buy a car. unless you like looking at vines and maybe the odd cow, of course.

[MikeySaid]