Job Discussion Forums

[ebayne]

[crossposted from Thailand forum, sorry for being redundant]

I am US lawyer-turned teacher. I am not certified to teach but I have taken some education classes including one 'theory of teaching ESL'. I am willing to do a CELTA program (probably in Vietnam or Thailand because of cheaper cost of living.) However, i don't want to come to SE Asia with no job (even if it means taking a crummier job than I could get in-person/in-country.)

I have some experience teaching English, and several years of high level corporate and legal experience. I have a BA in English, and a Doctor of Jurisprudence. I am also well versed in the social sciences.

Ideally I would like to teach specialized courses to lawyers and businessmen who do business in the US, but I am willing to take an entry level job just to get "in country."

I don't need to make a mint of money, but I need to make enough to live and send home about $400 in child support. I don't expect to save; especially in my first position.

I am investigating schools in Taiwan, Vietnam and Thailand, and would appreciate any opinions -- good bad or pedantic.

By the way, am I overlooking an obvious country-of-choice?

Thanks

-eb

[WorkingVaca]

Forget Thailand and Vietnam if you want to be hired from overseas. Also be aware that the few-and-far-between "business" English classes you would teach would be to sales people at electronics stores, bank tellers and travel agents. You will not meet many highly skilled business people in general, let alone taking English classes. These are third world countries, remember? Some colleges actually hand out degrees in computer science if you can use Microsoft Office software and network a few computers together. Most of the people learning English are kids and teens. Finally, your salary as an ESL teacher would be little more than $400USD (20,000 baht a month is the norm, maybe 30,000 if you're lucky AND in Bangkok), so forget about sending that amount home.

In Taiwan too, most of the people learning English are kids. But there are more adults willing to brush up on their English, as well as corporate classes at biz-2-biz companies that actually do communicate with markets overseas--not just tourists in-country. The pay is better too, even the lowest paying jobs will let you save at least 200-300 a month, then more once you pick-up more work. Some people claim to save 1500-2000 a month. It all depends on how much you want to work. There are more "chain schools" in Taiwan that hire people from overseas, too.

I hope this helps...

[beenthere96-2005]

[lou_la]

The likelihood of you getting the type of job you talked about in either Taiwan or Vietnam without being there is almost nil, especially with no qualifications or experience. I don't know about Thailand, but I would expect the same to be true. If anyone is willing to give you one of these jobs, I'd be wary, it's probably not that great a place to work.

I've worked in Taiwan, and I'm currently in Vietnam. The job markets seems mostly pretty similar - lots and lots of kids, although here in Vietnam there seem to fewer jobs just for little kids. There are some schools that teach adults too, but mostly general English or exam classes, and you'd likely have to teach at least 12 hours of kids a week too.

You could try looking at ILA in Vietnam. They run Celta courses and take a lot of newbies on.

[forest1979]

Holding a doctorate puts you in the market to get a university post in Taiwan.

But to teach business english? No. Legal language classes? Certainly not. Legal curricula in Taiwan emphasise Japanese and German not English.

So what's left in the university way?

Much university teaching in Taiwan centers upon giving remedial level, general language classes. Specialist language it is not! Interesting to teach it is not neither. Expect to use poor quality books, often designed by in-house 'experts', and to teach to unmotivated, large-sized classes. Picture 70+ people bored out of their minds in a classroom and you are imaging language classes in Taiwanese higher education.

Furthermore you have no experience. This is certainly a hindrance if you want to work at a good university, and certainly one of a name you would know 'back home'. Therefore expect to do a crummy job at a crummy place, and waste many years to see what happens from there unless another crummy university offer what they will say is a better job to you.

I would say this too. Experience is NOT everything when it comes to a university post. But if you want to get on then publications and research grants will be. To get these takes time and assuming you have no publications already this means starting from scratch. You mention being well versed in the social sciences...nice...but means nothing to a university administrator and in Taiwan these are the people you will need to impress if you wish to get on through the system.

If you are serious about coming to SE Asia then swallow a large dose of reality medicine. Romantic notions of life in Asia will get you no where. Your present career too will get you equally as (un)far.

As has been said, most teaching of English in SE Asia is to kids. Regardless of what you do 'back home' this is where you will be if you come to Asia. Certainly this is where you must expect yourself to start and anything above this is a major bonus.

No one has mentioned the local economies. It needs to be said! Language teaching jobs are now not as plentiful as they used to be. Competition is fierce and given that you might soon have a CELTA you still have no teaching experience relevant to what SE Asian language schools want.

My advice? Stay at home, devise a practical strategy as to what to do and do NOT book a plane ticket to travel.

[markcmc]

Limited experience & not wanting to find work within the country are problems, and will severely restrict your options. However, if you keep looking at the jobs section of this site and others, you may be able to find a job.

[JZer]

Your chances of finding a job in Taiwan without coming to Taiwan are not good. In Taiwan you can earn 60,000NT, send 10,000NT home and live on 50,000.

There is one problem. You will be expected to pay 20 percent of your wages in tax the first six months. Thus you will only be earning 48,000 a month on a 60,000 salary to begin with.

[Sialia]

Way to dredge up an old post. The OP probably doesn't need to worry about child support anymore.

[creztor]

Yup, I saw this and didn't say anything, but what the heck. 7 year old post, guys. LET IT DIE