Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Dev]

I might have an opportunity to teach in Malaysia. However, I do not know more than the basics to me which are:

- It has great nature. Good for beaches and scuba diving.
- It's very multicultural. The populatuon is Maylay, Chinese and Indian mainly.
- The main religion is muslim, so getting alcohol can be a bit of a pain.

Beyond this, I don't have any idea how good living there is.

Any experiences you could tell me?

Thanks!

[Dave Chance]

What's the salary and conditions like?

My impression was that there wasn't much in the way of teaching opportunities there.

[nate1983]

Teaching ESL in Malaysia seems a bit strange...a lot of people I've met there, particularly ethnic Chinese, speak English as their first language, and a lot of the education is actually done in English.

Well, alcohol isn't too hard to find, and it's not terribly expensive (compared to like Singapore). Local Muslims actually aren't allowed to buy it though. Pork can be a bit tough to come by, on the other hand.

Are you supposed to be in KL? I stayed there six weeks and really enjoyed the city, it's pretty international and modern.

[creeper1]

Pork is readily available in Chinese restraunts. The same with beer. It is available in Chinese areas.

Malaysia seems pretty cool. I don't think there is a big TEFL scene there but cost is living is cheap.

[bucheon bum]

It also depends where you are. Alcohol and pork are very easy to find in KL, Melaka, Penang, Ipoh, etc but good luck finding them on the eastern coast in places like Kota Bharu.

The cost of living is lower than in Korea and Singapore, but higher than Thailand and probably the rest of SE Asia.

Oh, another upside is Air Asia's headquartered in KL, so air connections to other places are great.

[jinks]

I'm living in Malaysia now.

From what I understand, the teaching salaries are quite low (something like 3-4,000 RM / 1.2-1.6 KRW per month); though the OP's situation might be different - he didn't say. As another person said, it is cheap here (but not as cheap as Thailand, apparently), but the monthly bills for rent / power / Internet / phone etc. are going to eat into a low salary quite a bit. Air Asia is cheap, but if you are earning half to a third of what you might in Korea, or at home, then cut price flights to Chenai or Bali are not going to be much use to you.

It might be fun to teach and dive / surf / hang out for 6 months, but if it is going to be your only source of income then you might be better off looking for jobs in the 7,000 RM range.

The OP's initial summary is pretty much spot on;

- It has great nature. Good for beaches and scuba diving.
- It's very multicultural. The populatuon is Maylay, Chinese and Indian mainly.
- The main religion is muslim, so getting alcohol can be a bit of a pain.

Alcohol is not a big part of my life, so I can't say I miss it, but it is easy to get a drink if you want it. You can't drink beer with dinner unless you are eating in a Chinese restaurant, but you can pick up beer (and sometimes spirits) in any local supermarket. If you go to KL, you can drink anything you like - if you are prepared to pay Seoul prices at the bar!

[Dave Chance]

[jinks]

I'm a teacher trainer, and I'm working for a company contracted to the ministry of education. I think a lot of the teaching jobs here are in private tuition centres, and the fees are comparatively low because of parents' disposable incomes. The average salary in Malaysia is quite low, around 1 mil KRW per month, I believe. Therefore, the schools aren't turning over huge amounts in tuition, so the teachers are getting their cut out of a much smaller pie.

[Dave Chance]

I see.

So without the massive influx of foreign English teachers, how is the level of English proficiency impacted?

[jinks]

They have been doing quite nicely without us. Malaya (as it was then) was administered by the British from the 1870s to the 1940s, so there has been a long history of contact with English. The Malay language (Bahasa Malay, or BM) was introduced as a national language to promote unity in the 1970s, so English has been on the back foot a bit since then. Nonetheless, lots of older people speak English still, and many non-Malay Malaysians are quite keen on keeping English as a family language, or at least making sure their kids are proficient enough to study overseas, and schools have always taught some key subjects (like sciences) in English until quite recently.

Saying all that, some of the (English) teachers I work with are surprisingly low-level users of English. Most of the poor English-speakers trained to be sports or science or religion (or whatever) teachers, but circumstance causes the principal to force them into filling-in with English classes as well. I have also realised that I am going to need to learn BM if I want to get things done at the local level. I live 'up country' and while I naturally gravitate toward other English speakers, they are all equally proficient (usually) in at least one, but sometimes two or three other languages.

Despite a lot of English speakers, and a lively English language press - there are still A LOT of people who have little or no command of English. I'm not sure why these people need to learn English, but there is an appetite within the government for more proficiency in English at all levels of society in order to attract more foreign investment.

So it is about money

[Dave Chance]

Fascinating.

So at the local level, instructors are realizing they need a handle on the local lingo...is this more to negotitiate in the environment outside the classroom, or is there a need for it in local area instruction as well?

[jinks]

You don't need to speak BM in Kuala Limpur or any big city, but in the country areas (like where I live) it is definitely useful. Of course, it is always useful to know the language of the country you live in - even if you can 'get by' without it. I have just been in a few situations lately where my lack of BM has made things more difficult. I came home from KL yesterday and my water had been cut off - I wanted to ask my neighbours if they still had water, but they looked at me as if I was mad - I know the words for water - you - house - don't have, but I don't know how to 'speak' them in a way a BM speaker would if s/he wanted to ask the same question. I couldn't understand the reply which came with lots of pointing, either.

In the classroom it is always best to leave the L1 to the Malaysian teacher. I sometimes co-teach with the teachers I train, and my company has explicit rules about NOT using BM in the classroom, so no - I don't use Malay in the classroom, and not just because my level is too low for it to be of any use. I know a lot of foreign teachers like to show off their local language skills, but that is not why we are in the classroom. The students' 1st language is very useful for explaining grammar rules etc., but host countries don't spend big money importing L1 English teachers only to have them doing what an L1 Malay (or whatever the host country's language is) teacher would do - only not as well!