Job Discussion Forums

[Brooks]

hello,

I am thinking of relocating to the west coast in the next couple of years, and I would like to know what it is like to teach ESL at high schools, community colleges, etc. and what you have to do to get certified to teach in public schools.

My wife wants to teach Japanese, so I thought I should limit my search to bigger cities.

thank you.

[Noelle]

I've just moved to the west coast from the east. I've actually been teaching abroad this past year and now I'm in California.
Seems that the market for ESL teachers is better out here... California especially. I'm in San Diego right now.

It is good to have a masters in TESOL or linguistics though... or at least be in the process of earning one as I am.

We need Japanese interpreters around here. Teachers might be helpful too!
Good luck

[Brooks]

I have a MA and my wife does too.
She can teach both English and Japanese.
I wasn`t thinking of San Diego, but it sounds ok.
How much is rent generally and what`s the traffic like?

[choctawmicmac]

I don't remember what rents are like down there (substantially lower than in San Francisco, but that applies to everything else short of Manhattan itself) but traffic is absolute HELL. And the cities are so big and spread-out that you have to have a car to get around. And then your life revolves around the car. You work to support your car, my brother (in L.A.) used to say.

Oh, and for teaching anything in San Diego schools, it would be advisable to become fluent in Spanish. Not for actual teaching, but to interact with the parents.