Job Discussion Forums

[ohahakehte]

is it?

what is the job market for ELT in Egypt as opposed to say, Korea, where the demand for teachers exceeds the supply of teachers and where a BA is all thats necessary to get a decent job?

and aside from that, what are the general working conditions for a job in Egypt? Salary? Do they provide accomodation? roundtrip airfare? 1/2 medical insurance? vacation pay?

[Al Waystryn]

The differences between Egypt and Korea are enormous, I know as I've taught in both.
There are private language institutes in Egypt that will sponsor teachers for residency visas, reimburse air-fares (partial), help find housing, contribute towards medical insurance and provide holiday pay. But, money-wise Egypt is in the developing world - salaries don't compare with Korea. Plus, the Egyptian pound has taken a real beating when it comes to exchange rates...
What do you need to teach? A BA? Not in many of the Egyptian secondary 'language schools' where they'll take (almost) anybody if you show up at the right place at the right time... (July/Aug to start in Sept)
For private language institutes, you have to have a CELTA or Trinity Certificate in teaching English. It's a 1 month intensive course - you can do it in Egypt, as it's probably cheaper there than anywhere else in the world.
Which country do I prefer? Egypt by far. Sure I made money in Korea, but I couldn't breathe because of the pollution in Seoul (now I live in Cairo and it doesn't bother me). Also the life in Korea was too stressful - even the holidays were stressful as everyone races to get away at the same times.
Here in Egypt we work 4 days a week, spend weekends scuba diving and swimming in the Red Sea, staying in 5 star hotels (we get the Egyptian prices with our residency cards), sightseeing, etc...Just had a week off and went on a fabulous a desert safari - never knew I could have so much fun playing in the sand! Egypt is a fascinating place and the people are great. I realize it's not for everyone, but I couldn't be happier.
Hope this info is helpful to you.
B-

[ohahakehte]

Al Waystryn,

egypt sounds like my cup of tea. im in seoul right now and although i cant complain too much, its true what you say about vacations and the stressfulness. my hagwan i think is better than most, but im certainly tired of having expectations heaped on me w/o sufficient support from my co-workers. and ive only been here a little over a month!

for various reasons i would rather teach in lebannon than egypt. and i want to learn arabic too, so i think that teaching in the middle east would be good for that.

however im not crazy about teaching english to people. im mainly in seoul now for the money, not for the experience of a different culture or anything. it sounds like that motivation for teaching english would be hard to fulfill in egypt or the middle east, so if i ever did do it i would have to be set on learning arabic

[Al Waystryn]

You don't like teaching English!? Well, we all have our bad days... but if you don't like it, then do something else! I am into experiencing different cultures and here in Cairo I get a lot out of my students - teaching them how to express themselves in English so I can learn about their lives and ways of thinking. I think it's great. And, at our school we get free Arabic lessons, so we can participate in the world around us. Get out of Korea and see how you feel. Don't know anything about Lebanon personally, but if you going to teach, try to find a school that gives lots of support and is committed to teacher development - it can make a world of difference. Good Luck.