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Korean Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Teachers from Around the World!"
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edwardcatflap
Joined: 22 Mar 2009
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 Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2015 3:23 am Post subject: |
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Anyone teaching English in Singapore isn't going to have much disposable income.
It is the type of job (more a hobby) that the wives of international bankers or other expats do when they arrive.
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None of that's true for the people I know working there.
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If you take a look at Dave's Singapore section there is a post approximately once every two months.
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It's about the same for the Hong Kong section. Just because people in a certain country don't post on dave's cafe doesn't mean there aren't English teachers there.
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| Korea and Singapore are not comparable in any way whatsoever as an TEFL destination. |
For you maybe but there are some people working in Korea who have a bit more going for them than a BA and an online TEFL cert. |
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northway
Joined: 05 Jul 2010
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| Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2015 4:55 am Post subject: |
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| denverdeath wrote: |
Well, I've had the grand total of TWO individuals whom I've met in my life that have spent a lot of time in Singapore.
One, is a Korean "trade" dude who coughed ALL over my already sick kids in one of the apartment's elevators that I used to live in. GLAD I'm not his neighbour anymore. Hacking disease-ridden jerk.
Two, was an actual Singaporean. He was attending a movie and decided to break my friend's nose with a sucker-punch while we were watching a P/Biff film because he thought we were too boisterous. I walked around the cop shop while he and my friend were giving their own statements of what happened. Needless to say, Singaporeans, at least this one, are a bunch of liars. Anyway, glad that my friend didn't let him go after the sucker, and threw him down and pummeled him. Also, glad dude was a foreigner as the cops just told him and my friend to go home at the end of it all.
Yeah, so that, and the no chewing gum shit makes me NOT want to visit that craphole ever. |
In the long history of Dave's posts dripping with over the top hyperbole, this has to make the Hall of Fame. You met one Singaporean in your life and decided to judge a country on that basis? |
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denverdeath
Joined: 21 May 2005
Location: Boo-sahn
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| Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2015 5:24 am Post subject: |
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| Sure, why not? |
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tophatcat
Joined: 09 Aug 2006
Location: under the hat
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| Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2015 6:51 am Post subject: |
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I have a friend whose younger brother works in Singapore. He isn't a teacher. He works for an American shipping company. He has mentioned that he loves living in Singapore. That's all I know.
Adios |
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Chaparrastique
Joined: 01 Jan 2014
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| Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2015 8:49 am Post subject: |
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I only spent a weekend in Singapore. While the city is pleasantly clean and colourful, the people seemed a little cold and austere and everything was overpriced.
Would I want to live there? not particularly. |
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metalhead
Joined: 18 May 2010
Location: Toilet
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| Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2015 10:28 am Post subject: |
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| I doubt most people here have the qualifications to teach English in Singapore. While no great fan of Singapore myself, it's clearly superior to Korea for living in (like most nice places are), and you have the added of bonus of weekend trips to surrounding countries/areas. I can't think of many reasons besides not having a winter as to why anyone would stay in Korea over Singapore though. |
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TheUrbanMyth
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: Retired
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| Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2015 10:57 am Post subject: |
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| metalhead wrote: |
| I doubt most people here have the qualifications to teach English in Singapore. While no great fan of Singapore myself, it's clearly superior to Korea for living in (like most nice places are), and you have the added of bonus of weekend trips to surrounding countries/areas. I can't think of many reasons besides not having a winter as to why anyone would stay in Korea over Singapore though. |
According to this site the qualifications aren't that much stricter...besides a degree you need a TELF cert and some experience. There are quite a number of people here who have those.
http://www.icaltefl.com/singapore-tefl-in-singapore
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Most schools require a degree which is needed to get the necessary employment permit. There are few exceptions to this rule, notably if you have a job offer of more than 7,000 SGD or $5500 USD (€4352, £3500) per month which is very unlikely at a school.
As well as a degree to work at any decent school you will also need a TEFL Certificate and at least a year’s experience. On that note experience counts for a great deal and the more you have, the easier you will find it to get a good job. |
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Leon
Joined: 31 May 2010
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| Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2015 3:02 pm Post subject: |
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I lived in Singapore. My company covered my housing at the time- but I do hear it is outrageous. It is a great place. I chewed gum, as did others- the key is to not spit it out on the street or try and sneak a bunch in across the border. The food is incredible, very cheap to fly to Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, etc. The people were very friendly to me, it was very clean, practically no complaints about it. I did not see a single English teacher, and I can't imagine that there would be any real need for them, except perhaps as a private tutor for people newly arrived. All the other westerners were business men, different crowd than Korea.
I would not say that Singapore is better than Korea (Singaporeans adore Korean things), just different. |
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Neil
Joined: 02 Jan 2004
Location: Tokyo
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| Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2015 3:22 pm Post subject: |
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I think the competition for jobs would be very intense (its only 5 million people, many of whom already speak English and also quite an aging population) so that for ESL you'd need a DELTA or MA to make decent money.
For anyone with a teaching licence from their home country (PGCE ect) international schools would be the best bet, the large expat population means there would be loads of schools to apply for.
Not yet for me but I've heard it's a decent place for families so its on the list of places I'm thinking about. |
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Leon
Joined: 31 May 2010
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| Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2015 3:27 pm Post subject: |
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| Neil wrote: |
I think the competition for jobs would be very intense (its only 5 million people, many of whom already speak English and also quite an aging population) so that for ESL you'd need a DELTA or MA to make decent money.
For anyone with a teaching licence from their home country (PGCE ect) international schools would be the best bet, the large expat population means there would be loads of schools to apply for.
Not yet for me but I've heard it's a decent place for families so its on the list of places I'm thinking about. |
I did not meet a single person there who could not speak English who was a Singaporean citizen. Moreover, I spent a decent amount of time in the bar district and did not meet a single English teacher. There are however a decent amount of international teachers, so that would be the best route, however it might be hard to find a position for solely ESL as most of the Expats who can afford international school will already be good with English. |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2015 3:58 pm Post subject: |
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| I dated a Korean girl who studied English in Singapore for a while, and she said she studied there at an academy which employed foreign English teachers, so there's definitely at least some demand for foreign English teachers in Singapore. I'm sure it's no where near as high as Korea's, though, and they probably cater to "education tourists" like the woman I mentioned rather than natives. |
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edwardcatflap
Joined: 22 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2015 5:26 pm Post subject: |
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I lived in Singapore. My company covered my housing at the time- but I do hear it is outrageous. It is a great place. I chewed gum, as did others- the key is to not spit it out on the street or try and sneak a bunch in across the border. The food is incredible, very cheap to fly to Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, etc. The people were very friendly to me, it was very clean, practically no complaints about it. I did not see a single English teacher, and I can't imagine that there would be any real need for them, except perhaps as a private tutor for people newly arrived. All the other westerners were business men, different crowd than Korea.
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If it's anything like Hong Kong, teachers were probably just avoiding the kind of bars with big ex-pat banker/businessmen crowds. |
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Leon
Joined: 31 May 2010
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| Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2015 5:29 pm Post subject: |
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| edwardcatflap wrote: |
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I lived in Singapore. My company covered my housing at the time- but I do hear it is outrageous. It is a great place. I chewed gum, as did others- the key is to not spit it out on the street or try and sneak a bunch in across the border. The food is incredible, very cheap to fly to Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, etc. The people were very friendly to me, it was very clean, practically no complaints about it. I did not see a single English teacher, and I can't imagine that there would be any real need for them, except perhaps as a private tutor for people newly arrived. All the other westerners were business men, different crowd than Korea.
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If it's anything like Hong Kong, teachers were probably just avoiding the kind of bars with big ex-pat banker/businessmen crowds. |
Possibly, but I doubt it. Singapore is small and the best bars are all in the same area. Unless they stuck to strictly local bars, I would have ran into them. I'm sure there might have been a small handful, but I guess it would be for people like Fox's girl instead of locals. |
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cj1976
Joined: 26 Oct 2005
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| Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2015 5:32 pm Post subject: |
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Both countries have good and bad points. Singapore is a much more organized and competent place. People are generally very civilized and there is less uncouth behaviour than here. Women are treated with more respect than in Korea, and the men are generally more likeable there. The food in Singapore beats Korea by a long way.
Although I have never lived there, I have been connected to it my entire life through my mother and her family. The social pressure is immense there. All people do is work and there is little in the way of real fun to be had. At least Koreans know how to unwind and enjoy themselves.
Singaporean politics also leave a lot to be desired in terms of personal freedoms..
If there is a subversive or artistic youth culture expressing itself in Singapore, I haven't noticed it. It feels like a very glossy and well-presented city that is completely lacking a soul. I though Korea was dull, but Singapore makes Seoul look like Tokyo in comparison.
Also, most of the expats I met there were obnoxious right-wing financial types. There may be some oddballs here, but at least they have character.
My cousins and uncles always offer to put me up and help me find work there, but I don't think I could live there for long. I love visiting my family and hanging out for a few days. I get to see a side of Singapore most foreigners never see, and I get to hear their honest opinions about life there. |
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edwardcatflap
Joined: 22 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2015 5:45 pm Post subject: |
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| Leon wrote: |
| edwardcatflap wrote: |
| Quote: |
I lived in Singapore. My company covered my housing at the time- but I do hear it is outrageous. It is a great place. I chewed gum, as did others- the key is to not spit it out on the street or try and sneak a bunch in across the border. The food is incredible, very cheap to fly to Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, etc. The people were very friendly to me, it was very clean, practically no complaints about it. I did not see a single English teacher, and I can't imagine that there would be any real need for them, except perhaps as a private tutor for people newly arrived. All the other westerners were business men, different crowd than Korea.
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If it's anything like Hong Kong, teachers were probably just avoiding the kind of bars with big ex-pat banker/businessmen crowds. |
Possibly, but I doubt it. Singapore is small and the best bars are all in the same area. Unless they stuck to strictly local bars, I would have ran into them. I'm sure there might have been a small handful, but I guess it would be for people like Fox's girl instead of locals. |
The British Council employs over a hundred teachers there for starters. So I guess none of them must like drinking in bars, or talking to strangers. |
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