Job Discussion Forums

KingofScotland · Joined: 01 Oct 2011 Posts: 9

Hello,
I'm about to get TEFL qualified (basic 20hr weekend course for now), have a degree and I'm a native English speaker, looking to go to Asia in the new year to land a job. Thinking the SE Asia region + China, Taiwan, Japan and Korea.

I've been looking in the different forums trying to get the information I need but I just get bogged down with masses of info. Was hoping that people could break down what (someone in my shoes) could expect.

Things I'm really needing to know are:
Average pay per month.
Average amount that could (potentially) be saved per month.
Whether flights / apartments are included.
Start up costs (apartments, visas, living cost till paid etc).
Any other benefits (if any such as free health insurance etc).

I know it's a lot to ask but if you've worked in one of these countries and have some information it would be well appreciated.

Thanks. Smile

sigmoid · Joined: 21 Jan 2003 Posts: 1276

This topic was covered not long ago:

Which Countries in Asia are the Best to Teach in?

http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=90445

KingofScotland · Joined: 01 Oct 2011 Posts: 9

That started out looking to be a good topic but quickly digressed into why the original poster was looking for jobs elsewhere and what he'd been up to in Japan, actual comparisons of the different Asian countries were scarce. Thanks for the link though, appreciated. Smile

sigmoid · Joined: 21 Jan 2003 Posts: 1276

Yeah, you're right. That thread didn't get too far. Still, it's better than nothing,

Anyway, basically in terms of salary, savings and benefits the countries that have the most to offer are the Pacific Rim Western (US)-aligned industrialized nations of South Korea (which as per rules of the site can only be discussed on the Korea forum; go to, register for and post on this forum for more details), Japan and Taiwan. As far as I know, Japan and Taiwan do not ordinarily offer flights and/or accommodation.

These are followed by the "newly-emerging"Communist crouching dragon/hidden tiger countries known as China and Viet Nam. Actually, both of their economies are starting to peak and cool off already. If you are clever and play your cards right, you can still make and save cash here. Both places are generally considered to be "difficult" in terms of the culture and conditions, especially bureaucracy and lack of transparency.

Then there are 3 primarily Muslim nations: Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei. I can't tell you much more than that about them, other than Indonesia and Brunei have oil.

Singapore is the financial hub of SE Asia and doesn't have much if any TEFL-type teaching as far as I know.

Thailand can be a very very enjoyable place, but good teaching opportunities are somewhat hard to come by. There are a lot of low-paid gigs for those who want to make a go of it. Again, if you play your cards right, you may be able to move up the ladder a bit.

Cambodia and Laos have more NGOs than schools and are heavily dependent on their neighbors, mostly Viet Nam and China.

Myanmar has some "international" schools and is expected by some optimistic folks to be opening up and normalizing soon, although it is too early to tell at this juncture.

That leaves Mongolia, which is a desert in the middle of nowhere.

KayuJati · Joined: 21 Feb 2010 Posts: 313

It would be nice to have a country-by-country comparison that could be made into a sticky post for the future posters asking the same questions.

I can speak for Malaysia.
You say you have a degree, but in what field?

Basically, there are some shop-lot "schools" that specialise in ESL but they are not as prevalent as in the NE Asian countries (Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan). A particular ethnic group places a high value upon education, but in Malaysia, this group makes up a percentage less than 25%. The major ethnic group does not value education as much, and pretty much gets most things free from the gov't, thus, less likely to pay for shop-lot tutorial type ESL courses.

So, that leaves the real school system, which consists of high schools, colleges, college-universities, and universities. The public ones are heavily politicised and, thus, difficult to get into and survive within since I doubt that you are a member of said privileged group. That leaves the privates.

In a private h.s./college/college-uni/uni, they are highly keen on academic (paper) qualifications that will look good when submitted to the gov't. So, how good do your qualifications look?

A Cert in ESL/EFL/ESOL (and other acronyms) should be at least 120 hours; that is the standard. Online, and anything less than 120 hours, looks spurious.

A bachelors degree in English is good enough to get a decent job, but a masters is much better. A bachelors in something other than English might not cut it anymore in Malaysia since many locals are graduating with BAs and MAs in TEFL/TESL. Still, there are those who get job offers as shown by this recent post: http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=91806

That's my take. Any questions about salary, how much can be saved, living accommodations and etc. really don't need to be answered until we discern whether you qualify at the basic level or not.

celtica · Joined: 29 Jun 2008 Posts: 137

Check out the thread 'thumbs up for brunei' ...heaps of info there re brunei

gloomyGumi · Joined: 29 Dec 2010 Posts: 353

KingofScotland · Joined: 01 Oct 2011 Posts: 9

My degree is in nothing teaching or English related. Events Management. Laughing

steki47 · Joined: 20 Apr 2008 Posts: 1029 Location: BFE Inaka

Mr. Kalgukshi · Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2011 2:14 am Post subject:

Found at the top of this forum:

http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=82496

Korea focused comments have just been deleted.

If they continue, there will be sanctions.

gloomyGumi · Joined: 29 Dec 2010 Posts: 353

anyway, anybody wanna comment on whether any kind of cert, i.e. celta, tesol, etc., is required in malaysia?

mongolmadness · Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2011 3:17 am Post subject:

cb400 · Joined: 27 Sep 2010 Posts: 274 Location: Vientiane, Laos

sigmoid · Joined: 21 Jan 2003 Posts: 1276

Dekadan · Joined: 09 Dec 2011 Posts: 95

I've recently returned from Viet Nam, Sai Gon to be specific. The schools I worked at wanted a CELTA or equivalent in order to work there. I'm not sure how far your course will take you there, however you can take the CELTA at ILA for around $1700. I didn't get mine there, however I talked to a few people that took it there and they were satisfied.

I'll try to answer your questions:
Average pay per month. - Roughly netting $1500/mth after taxes, but this all depends on what school you get into, your qualifications, as well as the number of hours you teach each month.

Average amount that could (potentially) be saved per month. - That's all determined by you. It's possible to get a shared house with three other people, this would cut down on your costs. I found rooms in boarding houses for $300/mth. You can eat meals for 50 cents, or you can eat meals for $15-$20. Alcohol is cheaper there, but if you're regularly going out and getting hammered, that starts to eat up your savings.

Whether flights / apartments are included. - Very rarely from what I've heard. My first school did give a relocation allowance, though.

Start up costs (apartments, visas, living cost till paid etc). - Everything is negotiable there. Usually they want three or four months rent initially. A good school will take care of your visas for you. Pay typically happens at the beginning every month, so make sure you can exist for a month or even two. At least $1000 should take care of you if you're careful with it.

Any other benefits (if any such as free health insurance etc). - My first school had insurance in case you were in an accident and had all the proper documents/licensing, but that's it. Weather's pretty nice there, if you like 35 Celsius in the day and 22 Celsius at night. Also, many schools offer a contract completion bonus.

Good luck with wherever you end up going!