Teacher Discussion Forums

Hello,
I am new to teaching and of course have a number of things to learn but I would first like to get some input on whether or not I should start with a position in South America where I know a little of the language (very little) or Asia where I have no clue.
Any advice would be apreciated

This looks like it belongs in the jobs forum, not this one.

Yes I agree my message does not really pertain to this forum but this is the only forum I can log into so far.
Do you have any input for me on my question.
It would be appreciated.

It is only a matter of registering for the job forum like you did for this one and you can use the same password. There is so much great information on the job forum and it is free. You will find all the answers there I am sure.

You are young and have lots of time to do both. I would choose the one that the people who care about you feel the most comfortable with first and then expand my horizons to places I was interested in and are safe.

Thanks Sally and double thanks for the comment on my age. I am not young but love kids and adventure. I have had my career and now I am going for my second at an age where I am still young enough to have an impact.
I appreciate your input.

markkarina, if you're retired and have a decent pension, I'd recommend China. The work loads tend to be light and demands low. Pay scales are low by western standards but enough to live well on here. I usually bank my whole pension.

You didn't mention our qualifications but a university degree is a big help anywhere in Asia in getting a job teaching. It usually doesn't matter what the degree is in. I have one friend with a BSc in Physics teaching English .

Thanks for the advice Walrus. I have a BBA and am going through a TEFL course now. I am only semi retired as I am the silent partner for a small corp. I am just over 50 and really wondered how the lack of understanding the language would be a problem.
China does interest me though and thanks again

I would recommend Mongolia as well. Everyone will want to speak English to you so you won't have to worry much about the language. There is a good Mongolian course with cassettes that you can practice with beforehand and while you are there although it is more fun to take Mongolian lessons with one of the teachers in your school. Eagle English School in Erdenet is a wonderful place to start as they will treat you like family, provide an apartment, phone and Internet. Salary is $100 US a month which will allow you to live like a Queen or King. It is a small school with classes from 2 to 15 students grouped according to age and English ability. You can learn with the teachers and parents too. I had a wonderful year there.

only go to Mongolia if you like eating lamb or sheep meat.. go to Guangdong it's never cold and you can eat food like chicken or beef too

Funny, Barry 3000. They never eat lamb as they are mainly Buddhist and are not allowed to kill animals. So they wait for the grown sheep to die in their kitchen and have mutton. (Actually they aid the process along by making a small cut in the chest and pinching the heart artery. It leaves the blood in the meat and the sheep doesn't seem to protest that much.) You can get whatever you want to eat in the major towns if you have the money and at $100 US a month, you will have enough money for a reasonable diet. The trains bring in loads of goods from China and fish is usually fresh.

It is cold but that has its attractions as well if you like winter sports or come from the east coast or middle of North America (like Denver).

cutting a small cut in the chest and pinching the heart artery

funny way of killing it if you cut it open and pinch the artery... is it not? I would say this was effectively killing it wouldnt you?

anyway if you like sheep meat fine... but the poster said he was about 50 and not sure if many 50 year olds will like to go skiing or come from the east coast of north america

I agree that the language in the host country doesn't really matter, since you'll learn enough of it to survive (ordering in restaurants, shopping, asking directions, etc.) very quickly no matter what language it is. But if you want to learn or improve your non-English language skills, you may want to factor that into your decision. Do you have a desire to learn some Chinese, or would Spanish be more helpful and rewarding in the long run? In my own case, the German I'd learned in high school improved a great deal from teaching in Germany, but my Korean is still only at the survival level despite working there for a year. I'm sure I was more motivated to learn more German, since I was already comfortable with it and thought I could get more use out of it in the future if I improved my fluency.

You are a riot Barry 3000. I am 65 and come from Ottawa where the temperarute is almost the same day to day as Ulaan Baator. I ski, snow shoe and do the Mongolian slide. When they have freezing rain the sidewalks and sometimes roads are pure ice for the morning and you slide along like a skateboarder with one foot in front and the other pushing. There is so much ice because there are no drains in the roads because it rarely rains and it melts quickly because there are heat pipes from the hot water under the roads going to all the buildings. Very efficient.

I will be going there in a week and look forward to welcoming anyone else of any age who wants to come there to teach and learn.

Funny, I thought makkarina was a woman.

How would you get a balanced diet if you were Buddhist and a Mongolian with lots of animals around but only root vegetables?

well whatever... I still think that cutting a slit in an animals chest and pinching an artery is effectively killing it, be you a bhuddist, daoist taoist confucianist or agnostic, yes or no?