Job Discussion Forums

[robot_kid]

Istanbul or Ho Chi Minh City? I'm not really expecting any answers here, but hoping that by typing this up it will make the options clearer in my mind - oh, and it's always useful/interesting to hear other people's opinions.

My wife (we just got married 3 weeks ago!) has been offered positions at international schools in Istanbul and in Saigon, and we have to decide which to take fairly quickly. The schools are both great and fit her perfectly, so the decision comes down to 1) living experience 2) savings potential 3) work for me.

We've been in Hong Kong for the last 3.5 years. In my first year I worked for a non-profit as an English Teaching Assistant in a local HK secondary school. Since then I have worked in the government's Primary NET scheme in a primary school, which has been an absolutely fantastic place to work. While working here I have been studying my M TESOL part-time, which I just finished last December.

So, my quals: CELTA, M.TESOL (but not a qualified teacher - 2 degrees in music and IT).

I take it that there would be many job opportunities in both Istanbul and Vietnam for me, but after working in a school, I don't really want to work in a language mill (although I have not closed this avenue off entirely).

I looks like we could save a *lot* more money in Saigon. I've visited both cities and while I loved them both I think I'd prefer living in Istanbul for various cultural reasons.

So, that's it. Any thoughts? Now that I have written this out, things don't seem any clearer! Aiyaaaahhh!!!

[Mike_2007]

Hey there,

I lived in Istanbul for 5 years and it was a fantastic experience. I think you'd find more to do there (depending on your hobbies, obviously). Turkish is an interesting language to learn - demanding, but logical and rewarding. With your wife's stable income taken into account you could add to the family account significantly with private lessons if you wanted to avoid the schools (they frequently get bad reviews here). When I was there I was earning more than enough to live comfortably through giving about 15-20 hours of private lessons weekly.

All the best!
Mike

[robot_kid]

Hey Mike - thanks for your insightful response. I think we're leaning towards Istanbul at the moment. Doing private lessons sounds intriguing. If you don't mind me asking, how did you go about finding students? Did they come to you or you to them?

I see that you're in Bucharest now. Are you still doing private lessons there?

Thanks again
Dan (robot_kid)

[Mike_2007]

Hi Dan,

I left Istanbul in 2004 so I'd get in touch with the guys on the Turkey board for more recent info.

I got my students initially through a site called 'sahibinden.com'. It seemed to be the most popular site around at the time although I'm sure there are many more copycat sites on the net now. The trick is to sign up to as many of these sites as possible (they're nearly always free) and refresh the advert every couple of weeks to keep it close to the top of the listings. I'd also recommend creating a new e-mail for use on these site unless you want your real e-mail bombarded with spam!

Approximately I had about 50% of my student from that site and 50% through word of mouth recommendation.

All my students came to me as I was living in quite a big flat at the time and had the space to work from home. This meant spending less time and money travelling around and allowed me to get more paid hours into the day. Of course, this was reflected in my fee which was cheaper than the teachers who were willing to travel to the student.

Now I am working mostly in-company. I'm still working for myself but as I have contracts and issue invoices I'm not sure they count as private lessons. I still do a few privates though, just for a bit of cash in the pocket.

Best,
Mike

[robot_kid]

Just as an update...

The Istanbul's school offer fell through at the last minute, so my wife's signed with the Saigon school.

Only 5 months left in Hong Kong now, and after 3.5 years here I think I'm going to feel a little homesick when I leave...