Job Discussion Forums

[passion4travel]

Hi all,

I am 27 year old female currently living in New Zealand and work in the recruitment industry but have come to a cross road in my life and need a change. I do not have any degrees. I have two options.
1.I complete a CELTA course in Jan of 2010. After this I want to go to an Asian country and teach English.
2. I study for a BA next year which will tie me up for three years and then go away.

I know that most countries prefer people with a degree at the moment, but I really want to go now. I want to know how easy it would be for me to find work with just the CELTA cert. Also which countries would be best? I am also doing home tutoring at the moment (ESOL) which may help?
I would like to go away for even just a year or two then I could come back to NZ and study.

Please if anyone has any advice they would like to give me would be much appreciated.

Kia Ora

[sojourner]

Hi Passion4travel !

You mentioned that you only want to go o'seas for 1 or 2 years, and then return to NZ for study purposes.But, after that . . . ? In other words, do you see EFL teaching as a long-term career move, or what ?

A degree is definitely seen as pretty much essential if you want to get a reasonable job o'seas.Even if many language schools might want to hire you, even without a degree, government regulations often stipulate that a degree is essential if you want to be issued with a work visa.

But try not to see a degree merely as a means of satisfying govt regulations. Many of the subjects covered in an Arts degree might also prove useful in your teaching.Thus, units in, say, Asian history or politics, will help you to understand the needs of your students much better - as well as possibly helping you to make some sense of your school's bureaucratic absurdities. Also, be aware that many students want to learn about Western culture, as well as the English language - thus, having studied English Literature, history, etc, would be most useful in that regard. Students expect their FTs to be well-educated individuals - not merely EFL technicians.

Which countries are you interested in ? I've been working in China for over 6 years, now. Although the regulations stipulate that a degree is required for visa purposes, many schools and recruiters "have ways" of getting over that hurdle ! I've come across a number of FTs, here in China, who don't have degrees - some of whom are even teaching at uni level ! I'm pretty sure that you would probably have very few difficulties in landing a job - although, probably not in the very large cities, such as Shanghai, because of the intense competition from other (often well-qualified) newbies. But, if you are keen to leave NZ ASAP, at least make sure that you have a few basic classroom/EFL skills - such as those that are covered in a CELTA course.


If you happen to land a job here, and like the place so much, rather than return to NZ to study, you might want to consider enrolling in an external studies or online degree programme through, say, Massey University (Palmerston North) or the University of New England (Armidale, Aust.).Even if you are keen to return to NZ for the purpose of enjoying real uni campus life, you could still make a headstart in your studies by doing 3 or 4 external units during your 1 or 2 years in China (or, wherever) and then having those courses cross-credited to a degree programme in NZ - thus, enabling you to complete your degree, "at home", in just 18 months or 2 years.

Apart from China, I have also heard of non-graduates who have landed teaching jobs in Vietnam. Check out the Vietnam forum. Another fascinating place is Indonesia - but I'm not sure whether they accept non-grads - if interested, check out that country's forum.

Please feel free to PM me should you have any queries re teaching in China, degree studies, etc.

Good luck with your CELTA course !

Regards,

Peter

[naturegirl321]

I'd say try to get the degree, you may find that you like teaching and it's harder to go back and study.

[MDDude]

Sojourner,

In your travels, do you know any ESL teachers who have non-liberal arts degrees? Such as engineering or science degrees?

[sojourner]

MDDude,

In China, I have HEARD of many cases of FTs with non-humanities degrees who have landed jobs. However, I have only actually MET two such teachers, here in China. Just under 4 years ago, I had a couple of colleagues, a Canadian man with a degree in science and his American wife with a psychology major. Both were teaching mainly Oral English. Soon afterwards, they moved to southern Thailand, where they taught in a private primary school, and then a Buddhist college.They then moved to Eucador, as volunteers, teaching English. The last that I heard of them was that they were teaching English (as volunteers, I think) somewhere in India.

Most countries have regulations that require that that FTs have attained a basic level of education, such as a Bachelor's degree - but, it would appear, that the regualtions often don't specify the preferred majors or areas of studies. But, I'd imagine that many employers might think that a degree in say, English, Education or Linguistics, might be "more relevant" than, say, a degree in some field of engineering, for jobs involving the teaching of Oral English. Nevertheless, someone with , say, an engineering degree might still be considered for such a job if there are problems in getting someone with an "appropriate" humanities degree.

But for some teaching jobs, a science or engineering degree might be seen as relevant; as not all jobs in our field involve merely the teaching of basic Oral English. In China, for example, some universities who want someone to teach Oral English to, say, engineering undergraduates, would be very happy to get someone who is familiar with the terminology and concepts used in the world of engineering. Apart from jobs involving the teaching of, say, "Oral English for Engineering Students", some top-level universities might have EAP (English for Academic Purposes) courses for graduate students who are hoping to be admitted to higher degree programmes in the US/Canada/UK/Aust/NZ. But for EAP jobs, you might be expected to not only have a Master's degree in the area in question, but possibly also one in Applied Linguistics.

Where are you hoping to find work ? I have noticed from your other postings that you are contemplating doing a CELTA course in Thailand.Do you intend to work in Thailand, or have you set your eyes on jobs in Vietnam, Cambodia, China, etc ?

As I have mentioned in other posts, before starting your CELTA training do some background reading, eg books by Jeremy Harmer and Jim Scrivener. Also, get hold of a good book on English grammar, and familiarise youself with terms such as "past simple", etc. In your research, take note of the concept called "time-lines", very useful for teaching students about verb tenses.

In your training, don't leave your written assignments and detailed lesson plans to the last moment ! For the duration of the course, try to avoid the "distractions" of Chiang Mai - remember, that it's only for 4 weeks of your life !

Good luck.

Peter

[nickpellatt]

The advice about starting some type of distance learning whilst teaching abroad is a good idea. As a non-degree teacher myself, I followed the path of studying and teaching, and completed my first year of Uni study whilst in China.

This has meant I was able to return home to finish my studies before leaving for China later this year ... having the first year completed made a huge difference to me.

You may well find you have lots of time on your hands whilst teaching, so using it to study is perfect!

[Blingcosa]

Tena koe Passion,

Get the degree. I was 29, just finished my computing degree and didn't know what to do, then studied ESOL, now I am a working English teacher (in H-town). It is an extremely difficult industry to work in. I would hate to try and do it without a degree. You are completely at the mercy of your boss.

Also, if having a degree and TESOL cert is standard, what kind of schools are going to take someone without this?
Answer: those that are dodgy, pay badly and treat their employees badly.

Good luck.

[Simplicity]

You didn't mention whether money was an issue. If you're looking for 2 year stint overseas with a job to cover costs then you can get work in many countries with just a CELTA. Don't quote me but I think you'd be fine in South America, a lot of SE Asia and other pars of Asia. You can make enough to live comfortably but not save much. If you want to work in the relatively high paying countries e.g. South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait etc then a BA is a minimum. For many of the better paying jobs especially in the Middle East and Korea/Japan you need MA + teaching experience +TESOL qualification.