Korean Job Discussion Forums

[A. K. Tern]

Hello,
I'd recently found out about teaching English abroad and fell in love with the idea. After doing some research, I was disappointed to learn that most employers are looking for people with passports issued by the English speaking countries. I am a citizen of the EU, but not the UK. At home, I'm a self-employed English teacher. I'm 24, white (I've been reading the forum and I'm getting the idea that matters), I have a BA and an MA from a one of the major local universities, although not in linguistics. I speak English fluently and without any noticeable accent and have good real-life experience in teaching English (including teaching kids), although not in a classroom.
I currently don't have any certificates in proficiency, but I am confident I could easily obtain any certificate if knew that'd help me.

So I'm asking you for a realistic estimation of my chances to be employed in the ESL industry today, provided I get TESL certified online or otherwise, and perhaps also get a TOEFL or something of the sort with a very high score. Getting certified entails considerable expenses for me, so I'd hate to waste all that money just to be blocked by the color of my passport. Korea would be my primary place of interest, but I'm also looking at in Germany/Austria or Russia (St. Petersburg), perhaps also Taiwan or China. If you have any info on what my chances are on that front, please let me know.

Please ask for any additional details! I really appreciate the help, I'm so lost.

PS: I tried searching the forum for info on the matter, but got pretty much nothing. Sorry if I'm asking something that's been covered before!

[newb]

Don't know about any other countries, but you must carry a golden passport from the listed English speaking countries to teach in Korea.

[wings]

I met and worked with several ESL teachers in Mexico who were not native speakers.

If you have a high level of English, which you seem to, and you get certification you should be able to find work in Latin America. It would most likely be under the table, but that is not to uncommon even for native speakers.

[ttompatz]

[edwardcatflap]

I know of lots of non native speaker teachers working in the EU. The British council, which is one of the best employers, will take non native speakers on but they generally need the DELTA to stand a a chance against native speakers with the CELTA. I'd suggest doing the CELTA first (don't waste any money on an online cert) getting a job in a less fashionable country and doing the DELTA after a couple of years. This will give you a much better chance of finding a good job where you want. Of course your best chance would be to get employed in your country of origin, wherever that may be. if it's a country where the BC have a big presence, for example, they'd be looking for people with the local language to move up into management positions and the like. you could then move to another country at a later stage

[A. K. Tern]

Thank you for replies everybody!

[edwardcatflap]

In most countries employers will want teachers to have a qualification which includes assessed practical teaching observations. The two most recognised starter level qualifications that give you this are the CELTA and Trinity. If you want to work in Europe at some stage this is a minimum requirement in most countries. In Korea, China and probably other Asian countries this type of qualification is not a requirement yet but seems to be becoming more and more desirable to employers. If you want to stay in TEFL for more than a couple of years and graduate from entry level type jobs, or work in Europe, I'd strongly recommend the CELTA or Trinity and not an online course. Lots of people do online courses on the cheap to start with and then find themslves in positions where they have to get the CELTA/Trinity at a later stage.

[jvalmer]

I once met a gentleman from Nigeria that was teaching at a hagwon under an E-2 visa. So I think it is possible to get a job in one of the many hagwons that dot the Korean landscape.

[adzee1]

[blm]

[alwaysbeclosing100]

[ttompatz]

[Captain Corea]

[Keeper]

That's news to me about the British Council taking anyone not from the UK. I was told by my British CELTA tutor that they only hired people from the UK. He has worked for them for decades.

I do know that if you want a DELTA you must first get the CELTA. That will cost you about 3k (including airfare/accomodations and course). Once you have the CELTA then you will need to teach adults for at least two years before they will accept you into a DELTA course.

I don't want to burst your bubble but I don't want you to get your hopes up either. There are much easier ways for you to get into teaching that going that route.

[edwardcatflap]