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Trinley
Joined: 29 Apr 2010
Posts: 144
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 Posted: Sat May 21, 2011 5:30 pm Post subject: Sort out my life for me? =) |
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I was just reading the really great thread on "what's next in life" and didn't want to hijack it with my personal dilemma, which is...
I came back to the US 6 months ago after teaching ESL abroad for 5 years. I came back mainly because I want to get out of teaching ESL and retrain for other paths. I'm training to be a yoga teacher, and I have 6 months left at this. The other thing is, I need to pay off my debt from my BA so that I can start my MA. Here's the dilemma: it has been very hard to find work here. I have been trying for 5 months, and I still have only 10 teaching hours a week. At my hourly wage, I need to work 25 hours a week to support myself and pay off my debts.
Given the difficulty in finding work, I'm tempted to go to Korea for a couple years after I finish the yoga certification, pay my debts, and then come back. But there were some interesting posts written about how it may be a wiser choice to stay in North America and try to rebuild -- that the longer we stay out, the harder it is to come back. Do you think that would be so in my case? Would it behoove me to stay here and keep plugging away at the job search? Please share your opinions on my better options, and ask any other info you need to know. Thank you! |
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MarkM
Joined: 28 Apr 2011
Posts: 55
Location: Lianyungang, China
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| Posted: Sat May 21, 2011 11:02 pm Post subject: |
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If you really want to get out of ESL and do something else, wouldn't going to Korea be a step backwards? Things could change quite suddenly, especially when you have finished your training. I would stick with it .  |
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Trinley
Joined: 29 Apr 2010
Posts: 144
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| Posted: Sat May 21, 2011 11:23 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks for your reply. I figured it would be a step forward if I could pay off my debts, because I'm certainly not doing that in the US at 10 hours a week. Then I could pay for grad school. But it would be a step back in the sense that I don't want to teach ESL anymore. I'm confused.  |
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MarkM
Joined: 28 Apr 2011
Posts: 55
Location: Lianyungang, China
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| Posted: Sat May 21, 2011 11:52 pm Post subject: |
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| You can earn a lot more in the US. You just have to wait for the right opportunity to come along. The problem with being away for a long time is that you lose your network, which gives you access to opportunities. Rebuilding that network takes time, a lot longer than 6 months. So make an effort to connect with people, and don't be in too much of a hurry. |
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Perilla
Joined: 09 Jul 2010
Posts: 792
Location: Hong Kong
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| Posted: Sun May 22, 2011 1:12 am Post subject: |
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| MarkM wrote: |
| You can earn a lot more in the US. You just have to wait for the right opportunity to come along. The problem with being away for a long time is that you lose your network, which gives you access to opportunities. Rebuilding that network takes time, a lot longer than 6 months. So make an effort to connect with people, and don't be in too much of a hurry. |
But ... it is very hard to find work in the US (or Europe!) at the moment, and there isn't much point in hanging around if it's not going to happen.
But I'm confused. Trinley, you say you want to escape TEFL, but it seems that you're still doing it, in the US? For sure, if you're going to carry on with TEFL to pay your debts, you'd be better off going to Korea. |
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hollysuel
Joined: 07 Oct 2007
Posts: 225
Location: Connecticut, USA
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| Posted: Sun May 22, 2011 5:00 pm Post subject: |
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I guess my question for you is: what are you going to study in grad school?
If it isn't TESOL or Linguistics, try to find an entry level job in the field that you are planning to study. I know it is easier said than done, but if you plan to stop teaching--then stop. There are plenty of customer service type jobs out there--we just don't know what you are aiming to study for your MA.
I returned to the USA after being abroad for 11 years and am doing quite well. I have stayed in TESOL/Linguistics and managed to find a good job within my field--so am working full time in linguistics and have a part-time business in English teaching online. If my case is typical, it is possible to return to the USA and do well--it just takes careful planning. |
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naturegirl321
Joined: 04 May 2003
Posts: 9041
Location: home sweet home
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| Posted: Mon May 23, 2011 5:36 am Post subject: |
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IN Korea, China, Thailand, what have you, there are good jobs. Try looking at intl school or university jobs. I know that coming back to ASia has helped my CV.
I know that the longer you're away, the harder it is to go back. That being said, I've had friends go back and buy houses in the US outright and start their own bsuinesses and be successful after 20 years away. |
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Trinley
Joined: 29 Apr 2010
Posts: 144
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| Posted: Mon May 23, 2011 1:38 pm Post subject: |
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| Perilla wrote: |
But I'm confused. Trinley, you say you want to escape TEFL, but it seems that you're still doing it, in the US? For sure, if you're going to carry on with TEFL to pay your debts, you'd be better off going to Korea. |
I'm confused too, Perilla. Yes, I am teaching ESL in the US to pay off my debts. That's all I'm trained for, so I can't escape it immediately. But the point of coming back to the US was to take the yoga training so that I could veer away from ESL and do something I love. I can't do this training abroad, so I would just be there teaching ESL and nothing else. I was hoping that I could teach ESL here to pay off my debts WHILE training for something else. Unfortunately I haven't found much work, so while I am training for yoga teaching, I'm not paying off my debts. |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
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| Posted: Mon May 23, 2011 1:47 pm Post subject: |
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Just a little detail... over the last 5 years, I know of three EFL teachers who went back to the US to be a yoga teacher. Not one of them has been able to support herself in that field. All of them ended up in the usual dead-end ESL jobs with no benefits or steady income hoping that if they stayed long enough, they might eventually get a contract job.
They all gave up and went back overseas.
VS |
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Trinley
Joined: 29 Apr 2010
Posts: 144
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| Posted: Mon May 23, 2011 1:48 pm Post subject: |
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| hollysuel wrote: |
I guess my question for you is: what are you going to study in grad school?
If it isn't TESOL or Linguistics, try to find an entry level job in the field that you are planning to study. I know it is easier said than done, but if you plan to stop teaching--then stop. There are plenty of customer service type jobs out there--we just don't know what you are aiming to study for your MA. |
Hi Holly,
The program I want to take is Voice Studies in Theater. It means that I would do something like accent training for actors, or maybe some voice acting myself. I can't think of an entry level job in this, but at least if I'm in the US, I can take some theater courses. That would help me prepare for this MA, and I'm guessing it would be hard to take English theater courses in Korea.
About customer service jobs, I'd really rather teach ESL than that. If I have to do a job I don't love, I'll do ESL. But I'm trying to transition from what I don't care much about into what I love -- not from what I don't care much about (ESL) into what means absolutely nothing to me (admin, customer service, waitressing, etc).
I appreciate all your responses. Your ideas are helping me get better perspective on my options! |
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Trinley
Joined: 29 Apr 2010
Posts: 144
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| Posted: Mon May 23, 2011 1:51 pm Post subject: |
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| veiledsentiments wrote: |
Just a little detail... over the last 5 years, I know of three EFL teachers who went back to the US to be a yoga teacher. Not one of them has been able to support herself in that field. All of them ended up in the usual dead-end ESL jobs with no benefits or steady income hoping that if they stayed long enough, they might eventually get a contract job.
They all gave up and went back overseas.
VS |
Sucks for them, but I didn't say that I was trying to support myself as a yoga teacher. You must have misunderstood. |
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AGoodStory
Joined: 26 Feb 2010
Posts: 738
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| Posted: Mon May 23, 2011 2:36 pm Post subject: Re: Sort out my life for me? =) |
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| Trinley wrote: |
I was just reading the really great thread on "what's next in life" and didn't want to hijack it with my personal dilemma, which is...
I came back to the US 6 months ago after teaching ESL abroad for 5 years. I came back mainly because I want to get out of teaching ESL and retrain for other paths. I'm training to be a yoga teacher, and I have 6 months left at this. The other thing is, I need to pay off my debt from my BA so that I can start my MA. Here's the dilemma: it has been very hard to find work here. I have been trying for 5 months, and I still have only 10 teaching hours a week. At my hourly wage, I need to work 25 hours a week to support myself and pay off my debts.
Given the difficulty in finding work, I'm tempted to go to Korea for a couple years after I finish the yoga certification, pay my debts, and then come back. . . . |
I understood this in the same way that VS apparently did. To clarify--you are training to be a yoga teacher, but not planning to earn your living from teaching yoga. Correct? |
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Zero
Joined: 08 Sep 2004
Posts: 1402
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| Posted: Mon May 23, 2011 2:47 pm Post subject: |
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| Trinley wrote: |
| hollysuel wrote: |
I guess my question for you is: what are you going to study in grad school?
If it isn't TESOL or Linguistics, try to find an entry level job in the field that you are planning to study. I know it is easier said than done, but if you plan to stop teaching--then stop. There are plenty of customer service type jobs out there--we just don't know what you are aiming to study for your MA. |
Hi Holly,
The program I want to take is Voice Studies in Theater. It means that I would do something like accent training for actors, or maybe some voice acting myself. I can't think of an entry level job in this, but at least if I'm in the US, I can take some theater courses. That would help me prepare for this MA, and I'm guessing it would be hard to take English theater courses in Korea.
About customer service jobs, I'd really rather teach ESL than that. If I have to do a job I don't love, I'll do ESL. But I'm trying to transition from what I don't care much about into what I love -- not from what I don't care much about (ESL) into what means absolutely nothing to me (admin, customer service, waitressing, etc).
I appreciate all your responses. Your ideas are helping me get better perspective on my options! |
I don't expect my advice to be too popular. But here goes anyway.
Do you want to make a living? Do you want to be out out debt and on solid financial footing? Do you want to take care of adult responsibilities like paying for your own housing, having medical insurance, having an emergency fund?
If so, then don't focus on doing what you "love." Choose a field that you can accept and that pays stable wages and has benefits. Choose a "boring" career and pursue what you love in your off hours. Teaching, nursing, accounting, middle management, civil service and such.
Do not do an MA in anything related to theater or acting with the idea of doing this for a career. You will never, ever recoup the investment. Your finances will be worse than ever.
Teaching yoga and voice acting are good ways to make extra income outside the normal hours of the stable career you choose. An arts-related MA can be an OK way to spend your money, if you have disposable income and can afford to do such a degree for enjoyment/enrichment purposes. |
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Trinley
Joined: 29 Apr 2010
Posts: 144
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| Posted: Mon May 23, 2011 3:16 pm Post subject: Re: Sort out my life for me? =) |
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| AGoodStory wrote: |
| I understood this in the same way that VS apparently did. To clarify--you are training to be a yoga teacher, but not planning to earn your living from teaching yoga. Correct? |
That is correct. |
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Trinley
Joined: 29 Apr 2010
Posts: 144
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| Posted: Mon May 23, 2011 3:25 pm Post subject: |
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| Zero wrote: |
| Teaching yoga and voice acting are good ways to make extra income outside the normal hours of the stable career you choose. An arts-related MA can be an OK way to spend your money, if you have disposable income and can afford to do such a degree for enjoyment/enrichment purposes. |
Hi Zero,
The other thing that I would be able to do with this Masters is accent modification. (Some call it accent reduction, but I don't like that term.) From my research, I have found that there is a need for this not only for actors but for businesspeople who feel that their accent (whether regional or foreign) is getting in the way of their success. It also seems to pay well. Here's a little article about it: http://money.usnews.com/money/careers/articles/2008/12/11/best-kept-secret-career-accent-reduction-specialist
My idea was to do that for stable income. I have done it before and I enjoy it, but I would like more training in that field (hence the MA) before I label myself as an Accent Modification Specialist.
Thanks for your input! |
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