Job Discussion Forums

[Rabbit81]

After hearing and reading about this for the last 4+ years, and attending school "meetings" about this, the inevitable is finally happening.

TEFL teachers without degrees and CELTAs//TEFL certs are now leaving, as they are at the last stages of their visa runs.

It has long been known that those English teachers without degrees and CELTAs could teach in Vietnam, but could never be hired in Thailand, Japan, Korea, and now China, or anywhere else, for that matter.

The party is over.

There are many "going away parties in Vietnam" by the "unqualified," now.

I don't think it's fair, but this is not a surprise.

If you want to teach TEFL, get a degree, preferably in ESL/EFL or a B.Ed.

Goodbye, my legions of friends.

[Bold As Love]

A little bit of schadenfreude there? Obviously, salaries are a function of supply and demand. If demand for English instruction stays the same and the pool of potential teachers gets smaller, one expects that salaries will rise. At least I hope so.

Having taught in Thailand for the past four years, I can say that there are many, many non-degreed teachers scraping a living in this country. Here, everyone is in a twist about teacher licensing requirements which have been on the books for several years, but are starting now to be enforced. But as in many Asian countries, there are lots of exemptions and work arounds to keep the pale faces toiling away in the language schools.

[hot_rock]

"toiling away". Get a grip, 20 hours a week at ten times the national average wage is hardly slave labour.

[Nexus II]

[Mattingly]

[gratefulgal]

Hi,

Thanks for the updates. I really appreciate any posts here as frankly, Dave's seems much much quieter than it used to be when I first started on here almost 7 years ago. There just seemed to be so many characters that posted here daily! I was hooked on that "craic" ( as they say in Ireland) long before I actually joined the fray myself and went to China on a lark, lol. I loved hearing all the stories and crazy adventures people shared.

Anyways, I am now just 3 weeks away from finishing my four year degree in Philosophy and Theology, and I already have a TESOL I did five years ago before I taught in China.
I taught in China for nearly a year, and then a month's barter in Thailand (back in 2004)---the Tsunami happened while I was there, so heartbreaking---. I did a bit of teaching in Mexico too.

After that I took the advice of people on Dave's and headed back to home to get a degree, as I knew I would never feel good about having a "fake" one, so I didn't bother going down that road. I can't say it wasn't tempting though, as the thought of having to go back to school was awful! Still, now I am glad I did the work on my own.

After reading the pros and cons of many places, I feel most attracted to Vietnam at this stage of my life (female late 30's), at least for a while. I will now work on getting a CELTA i think, as then I am in a better position to get a secure position (I hope). I might also look to doing an MA later on , perhaps more related to education directly, but I do a lot of research on my own using the internet as well.

Having said all that, what kind of salary could I hope for?

With all the people leaving, are the schools now in real need of teachers?

I would like to be working fairly soon after arrival if possible. When I went to China, they had me working the next day!

I enjoyed teaching and I met the most beautiful people and students while I was in Asia, I really did. The only thing I HATED in China was the spitting ....well....the air quality too somedays......but most everything else just worked quite well for me--especially the very affordable massages and beauty treatments For that alone, I can't wait to get back.

Thanks ahead of time for any responses, and I do wish all those who are leaving safe passage and a prosperous future.

[snollygoster]

Yes-the party is over. It has hit me in the face as I just witnessed one of my colleagues leave after he had done all the right things, jumped through all the hoops and more.
He had asked his school about getting the "right stuff" for his visa extension, and had been told by his Vietnamese Director "This is Vietnam-everything is possible-dont worry about it, it will be taken care of".

relax-Right? No, because the Director did nothing about it-every time he enquired it was "being organized".-the visa expired and when he asked about what had been done, answer "Oh its your problem- this is Vietnam- everything is possible".
Big comfort to him as he asked for visa extension and was refused.
Approach to the director resulted in a ticking off for bringing the school to the attention of the authorities- "now they will want me to get registered and pay taxes and all that other horrible stuff- why did you do that?"
Had he been informed truthfully from his director, he could have taken alternative steps, but it was too late.
Suggestion? Get it yourself where possible-after all "this is Vietnam and everything is possible".
Can you get your own? I did, but some question its validity. One government office issues it, another questions it. Confusing when each government department interprets the application of the "rules" in such vastly differing ways. Even one district to another has a different way of applying the "rules". Confusing? To put it mildly, yes. Life changing? I am sure my colleague is not the only one who will be leaving because of misinformation putting him/her in the "hot" seat.

[shanewarne]

[gratefulgal]

Sorry, I think I was a bit rude posting my questions in this thread.....I am sure many are sad about leaving.


M.