Job Discussion Forums

[iamnoble]

Salutations all! Hope all are well and well balanced. Before posting my question, I want to thank Dave and all the users of this board. I've heard so much about it & it has truly been informative. I appreciate all the information that has been shared on this site and wanted to express it.

Now, my dilemma. What do I do with my life?

Of course that's not the question, but in essence, that's the question. I'll try to explain as concisely as I can.

I have 33 fabulous years of life and have migrated from NYC to Berlin with a masters degree in Human Resource Management/MBA, credits towards a masters in Teaching, and a BA in English/ Mass Communications. I taught middle school English & Reading for a couple years at the earlier part of the decade, but did not receive a teaching license nor degree (via extended substitute teaching policy at the time). I've endured three layoffs in my life & realize that teaching was one of the most passionate and rewarding 'jobs' of which I've had the fortune. I would like to return to teaching as my main focus for the duration of my fabulous opportunity on this planet.

However, funds are nearly depleted and my German is lame at best. CELTA courses here are 1500 EUR while I can take TESOL courses online for 200 EUR & just spotted LinguaEdge which has an optional observed teaching component which would bring costs to $500 roughly (minus travel). Whilst I would love and had intended to remain in Berlin, work is scarce even for English teaching. Thus, I am willing to give somewhere else a go, and am comfortable with Spanish speaking countries, Asia, & eastern Europe (my partner is Serbian). However, just as short as money is time, as schools will be starting quite soon.

This being stated, as I have a couple years unlicensed teaching experience in a US public school & an unrelated graduate degree, will I be okay with the TESOL certificate or should I go all in for the CELTA? Friends have told me an assortment of tales, but all agree I should get something and possibly got to S. Korea or Thailand, Spain, France or Serbia. The first question therefore, is which certification? The where would be second inquiry, and all other mysteries of life would follow at the end. All help in steering me in the proper direction would be most wholly appreciated.

Please forgive my poor attempt at brevity. This just means a lot to me and I think it's best to try to give as much detail as possible when seeking help so that all angles may be examined. Thank you so very kindly.

[TeresaLopez]

I think your best bet would be to narrow it down to one or two countries, and post on their forums. If you are interested in Mexico, come on down, you can be working tomorrow. Even though you weren't certified to teach, your experience might be enough to get you into an international school. But you could certainly have a job tomorrow in a language school. Pay is not great, but it's livable, and you can supplement with private classes which pay quite well. You wouldn't need to do anything as far as qualifications, many schools will train you in their own method. If you decide you want more training, or want to move on to a country that offers more $$$ you can take a large variety of courses here, including a CELTA, a TESL certificate with observed training, which is roughly equivilent to a CELTA, even a Trinity course. You might benefit from an online course, just to have a rough idea of methods, etc. In most places it won't make a difference in whether they hire you or not, though in some places it will.

[denise]

I also recommend getting some sort of certification. Live, in-person classes are more highly regarded than on-line classes, and classes with 100-120ish hours that include supervised practice teaching sessions are more highly regarded than shorter classes.

It is possible, however, to get jobs with online certs (or no certification). Since you're still not sure where you want to go, take a look at the job ads here and on www.tefl.com for any/all of the countries you've listed and see what qualifications they ask for and what sort of salary & benefits they offer.

d

[tttompatz]

Can't answer the questions about your ability to LEGALLY work in Europe as a teacher or the requirements/additional certifications you would need but you are legally qualified to teach in Korea or Thailand with no further certification needed to obtain your visa or work permit (or a job).

If you are married then there is no problem to take your partner with you.

If you are NOT legally married then your partner will have problems obtaining a visa to stay with you in Korea or Thailand.

Korea has it's own job board and forum (separate registration required) and the Thailand forum is the place to look for some answers regarding employment there.

Also of note: The school year in Asia runs from spring to spring.
In Thailand the school year starts in early May with the mid year break in October. The Korean school year starts March 2. and they are on their summer break now and return to classes in about 3 weeks.

.

[Glenski]

Why are you looking in Germany? I didn't think Americans could get work permits for that country.

As for Asia, you'd be best to steer clear of Japan. Coming here as broke as you are, with the glut of teachers we have now, you wouldn't do well. As ttompatz wrote, this is not a hiring season in Japan anyway.

[iamnoble]

I've been able to get a lot of valuable information from this. I truly & thoroughly thank you all! Now I know to focus my energies on Latin and/or Asian countries. I'd love to teach everywhere I can and am thinking Asia may be a good place to start for a while and then take things from there. However, I wonder if it would be possible to start there in October/November?

Again, tremendous thanks all!

[spanglish]

Yeah, you're probably smart to begin your career in Asia, then move to Latin Ameria. This is coming from somebody who has begun their career in Latin America - it's a tough go here starting out.

[Glenski]