Job Discussion Forums

[crooper]

Hey all, always thought I would want to spend a couple of years overseas, and teaching english seems the most suitable way I could support myself.
I finished my bachelor of arts degree; majoring in history, last year, i'm currently 21. This year i've been working full time, in a job unrelated to my degree, and by the end of the year will hopefully have about 20 000+ AUS saved up.

I've been on several trips throughout south east asia, maybe once a year for several weeks for the last several years, as well as about half a year in europe, so have a bit of experience with different cultures and lifestyles. Guess ive just become sick of travelling, in that you only ever get a small glimpse into the country you visit, so again teaching english seems to be a good way to base myself in a region for a while.

I originally had my sights set on working in Phnom Penh, Cambodia as this has been the city i've enjoyed the most in my travels, but from what i've researched work is getting a little harder to come by due to an exodus of TEFLers from Thailand.
So then i started thinking about perhaps starting off in East Asia somewhere; i guess Taiwan/China and Korea have the greatest range of available work?
As well Japan greatly interested me, and ive been considering applying for the JET programme this year.
Furthermore ive been distantly planning when i eventually return (though maybe not!) to Australia to do a post graduate degree in teaching; based i guess on how much i enjoy and cope with teaching overseas.

So I guess, the questions I was wondering, would you suggest I do my post grad degree before heading overseas?
I dont have a certificate for teaching english yet, though at the moment im planning on doing one of the CELTA courses in vietnam, they seem pretty credible, and similar in price to the in-country TEFL courses which seem to be all there are in Cambodia.

The second consideration I had was integrating into the country I choose to work in, obviously theres going to be a great culture shock for me wherever i go, but in your opinions would you say a place like Cambodia is easier to make friends, both expat and locals; as well as develop more intimate relationships with girls. And similarly, due to my inexperience in China, Korea and Japan - never visitied any of them, whats the situation with developing friendships and relationships in these countries? Ive read about the rather inherent xenophobia in Japan and Korea, which seems to put me off a fair amount.

Haha this is geting a bit incoherent, apoligies if the questions all over the place. I guess in summary -
1. - Out of the locations listed where would you suggest a newb to ESL would find it easiest?
2. Worth doing a post grad in teaching before heading overseas?
3. Developing friendships and relationships in the listed destinations?
4. Might not be much speciaslists on the JET programme here but would you think it would be better to apply for this program after say working throughout the region teaching english in schools, or apply for the program then continue teaching after the year on the JET programme.

Thanks heaps for any info

Cheers

Crooper

[Glenski]

[crooper]

Cheers for the info Gelnski, did a quick edit of my post for mistakes; i've become too lazy over the years with internet slang and the ability to disregard grammar!

In regards to Japan being flooded right now with teachers; in your opinion would you say this is an occurence across the region, for example in China/Taiwan/Korea, as I know it is starting to occur in parts of South East Asia. Quite disheartening considering that several years ago it seems that work was a lot more plentiful - Do you think the global economic situation is impacting upon the industry much?

In response to your thought about moving overseas for girls; i'd have to say it is a consideration of mine, considering the fact that i may be based in a certain country for a considerable length of time. The desire to develop relationships seems inherent in humans; so was just curious how this part of my life would work. For example i was recently in Cambodia and read in the newspaper that marriages between local Khmer's and Foreigners had been recently banned; this i guess was the sort of info I was after in terms of East Asia.

Cheers

Crooper

[Glenski]