TEFL Thread.
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You are currently reading a thread in /trv/ - Travel
You are currently reading a thread in /trv/ - Travel
Its been awhile so I guess lets do this again. I am an American English teacher who lives in Thailand. I currently live in southern Thailand, not to far from Phuket in a small town. I also taught in Japan for one year. The school year is done and I'm not working until the school year starts again in May. So feel free to ask any questions or talk about your experience if you are/were a teacher.
How many years until TEFL crashes as a market?
>>951655
When people want to stop learning English so they can get higher paying jobs and improve their lives. Which isnt gonna be for a long while.
>>951655
At the same time as when the world economy goes to the shits. There are still countries with major shortages of TEFL instructors to market demands, don't let /trv/ fool you into believing otherwise.
>>951673
Yeah, the demand for teachers in most major tefl countries are high, with maybe the exception of Japan where the market is saturated with weeaboos and schools are closing down each year because of the demographics crisis and lack of children.
Did ESL for 3 years and Primary maths for 2 years up in CM. What made you stay in / around Phuket? I did my TEFL there in 2006 and got sick of it really fast. Currently looking for a 7-12 biology position in the US.
>>951676
I lived in Bangkok for a year and got tired of the big city, my friend taught in another area near Phuket and said it was very nice and quite. I applied to a job here and got it. Its really nice, I live 15 minutes from one of the best beaches in the world and its usually very quite without much tourists. I really enjoy it here.
>>951650
I've heard Vietnam and Thailand are good if you want to save a lot of money and live like a king, but my mum says if I have to go overseas I should go to Japan. What are some good recruiting agencies? I've heard about Jet, also I've got a B.A. and a TESOL cert. I teach at a small private school but the pay is shit and I want to go overseas so I can get a leg up when I come back and apply for a more stable position.
What's the best teaching acronym to add to your resume. I don't care what age I teach, little kids would probably be easiest.im looking to move to Beijing realistically but Tokyo would be great too.
>>951679
Ahh ok, if you had a friend it make a big difference. I'm a ginger so I prefer the mountains. I have fallen in love with Phayao and Nan. Sadly there is no worthwhile jobs there.
>>951683
No, the basic TEFL teacher will earn about 30,000B or roughly 1000usd. Now, you will live well on this, but you won't save much. If you are a certified teacher, there are jobs paying 60-160,000 Baht a month. Then you can easily live well on 30-50k and save the rest. Pay has been stagnant for 10+ years for these general jobs as there is a never ending supply of young people wanting to live in Thailand for a year or two. Vietnam pays more, I've only visited there but can say food etc is cheap, don't know about rent.
>>951689
BSed / Msed / etc etc
Not OP
>>951683
I wouldnt say saving money is great here, I save like $600 a month if I don't go on a trip that month. but yeah you will live very comfortably. My nice, european style 1 bedroom apartment 15 minutes from the beach costs $225 a month.
I didn't use Jet or any agencies to find a job, I just applied to like 25 schools until I got hired. The teaching market in Japan is not that easy to get into, although its not impossible if you really try.
>>951691
The friend didnt live there when I moved there but he is the one who told me about it convinced me to try living there.
>>951700
Don't take it as you can't. You are just going to be working a much lower job without a teaching degree. But honestly I think that's better. Go work the "crap" job and see if you like it before paying for another degree. After 3 years in ESL with 35 kids I realized I loved it and went back and got my BSED, totally worth it.
>>951695
what part of japan are you in? is 225 dollars a month normal? wtf i thought it would be at least 800 a month.
>>951819
He's in Thailand, not Japan.
>>951823
lol yeah that explains it.
>>951650
How hard is it? I mean, I am a foreigner myself. My English is definitely not perfect, but I am sure most people are able to understand me. (I'm a Dutchie)
I am pretty sure I will like teaching, but I don't know if I am really able to, because I am not a native speaker.
I never really asked this, but how does a teaching session go actually? I am curious.
It it possible to use TEFL as a stepping stone? To find more lucrative opportunities abroad? Or is it just a dead end. Are foreigners allowed to branch out? Lets say I go to China or Vietnam
I am currently working to get a basic TEFL qualification and have recently applied to the JET programme. I had an interview in January for JET, so hopefully I've been successful.
If I don't get in then I will finish my TEFL and start applying to countries such as Japan, China, S Korea, and Thailand. I would like to teach in all of these places eventulally.
I have been thinking of getting a masters degree in TEFL, to get better paying jobs. Has anyone gone this route? Is it a good idea?
Being an English teacher overseas is looking more and more like what I want to do for a career. I know of people who are in their forties and are still teaching in places like Japan.
>>952118
I used it as a test to see if I like teaching, then got a degree and now command a much higher salary. My friend dropped out of the teaching scene (he has a masters) and now travels Burma and Vietnam buying gemstones to sell back in the US. He is based out of Thailand but has 10+ years of experience and knowledge in the gemstone business. In Thailand, TEFL will not be a stepping stone, because the only reason it would lead to something else is because you already have that skill set. I can't say for China or Vietnam as I don't know their job restrictions or wants.
>>952118
TEFL can be a stepping stone towards teaching back home, teaching in private schools abroad (Usually much better paying since these private schools are for rich locals and expats) and for teaching English in Universities abroad. You might have to get a masters degree but the first 2 options can be done with an undergrad + teaching cert.
The reason it gets a bad rep as being a dead end job is that often people do it to live abroad and not because they want to teach. In that way it's a pretty terrible job cause it doesn't translate well to any other profession. It can however be a good way to see a country over a longer period as visas for these jobs are given out quite easily.
>>952121
Masters in TEFL is good if you want to progress but imo you should test the waters by teaching first. It's not for everyone.
>>952122
Can it be a stepping stone to teaching at an international school or college or the like? Better paying teaching positions? I like teaching,
>>952144
Any international school is going to require a proper teaching degree. So if you accept that you need to head back to school, the time in the classroom will be a bonus on your resume.
I am currently finishing up my bachelor of education program here in Toronto and looking for a teaching full gig in Thailand. Could you recommend any schools that might be hiring that I would be qualified for? and also what is the best time of year to apply?
>>952115
If you are not a native speaker of english you will have a difficult time finding any job, let alone a decent one. If you do find a job it will be in a really shitty school for aweful pay. I heard some Philippino people teach english in Thailand but they make like $300 a month.
>>952156
Best time of year to apply is before the school year begins in May, so right now.
Also just do some research about the school, I can't really recommend anything because I only have taught at 2 schools. Ajarn.com and daveseslcafe.com are a good place to start.
How do you apply to schools?
I mean, do you just Google a city and then scrounge for contact info?
I want to teach English, but not at some "English school", but as part of a real school staff.
>>952151
Actually, that is not true. There are plenty of people teaching in schools (international and otherwise) who aren't qualified teachers and many of them are good teachers, just like there are plenty of rubbish teachers who are fully qualified.
Admittedly, it's mostly science and maths teachers who can get away with not being qualified, as they are harder to find, but there is potential for getting around it everywhere.
Lots of top private schools don't care about official state teaching qualifications and some are fairly open about this.
Even government schools in Europe and the US who legally need you to be qualified will get around it if they like you (e.g. call you an "instructor" instead of a teacher on your contract or some other bureaucratic maneuver).
The only places where not being qualified seems to be an actual deal-breaker is the relatively small number of extremely expensive international schools in East Asia and the Middle East who pay very well so can always find people and (mindful of all the dodgy schools out there and the cynical attitudes of many of the parents) proudly boast on their prospectuses that "100% of our teachers are certified to work in North America or Europe".
So if you are openly saying you never got your teacher's licence back home or whatever, they won't want to hire you... although there are definitely of examples of people having incomplete teaching qualifications and still being hired by these outfits.
That said, being qualified definitely helps and definitely makes you a stronger candidate for any teaching position.
>>952186
eslcafe.com
They have loads of jobs where you're based at a school.
Good luck with it.
>>952206
Do you have any examples of these "extremely expensive international schools who pay very well"? I would love to get paid well since im qualified to teach.
I'm interested in doing this in Taiwan. I'm in the very early stages of planning and have a lot of questions about the schedules and commitment requirements.
I understand there's a scheduling component to the courses. When a school says there's 20-25 teaching hours per week, how many work hours would you say that amounts to? Would that be another 10-20 hours of prep? Do you get any assistance at this planning/prep stage? I haven't done a TESOL cert yet so I don't know how exactly it's done but it seems like it would be quite difficult initially knowing what exactly to teach the students.
I've had a look at some of the job postings on ESLCafe and some schools require participation in extra curricular activities, training programs and workshops, marketing activities and some other random shit. I've heard about this before but need some explanation, is this mandatory volunteering? Based on your experiences, how often does this happen and how many hours do you have to devote to this? If I were to teach Mon-Fri would they ask me to volunteer on the weekends?
Is anyone western China/Nepal here? I want to go to China to work and learn Chinese, then go to Nepal, and then see if it is at all possible to work into Tibet to teach. yes i am this naive, but idk it's something to do for a few years, and if I fail at least it's something to aspire towards. Surely, Tibetans are not without need of English teachers.
Anyone know what the deal is with China/Nepal?
>>952464
i know that nepal is cheap to live in but i don't think the Nepalese can afford to way you anything wage will probably be just enough to get by this is only coming from a guy who studies global issues no experience so maybe they can pay you decently i doubt it though.
>>952360
Not op but places like Harrow, Pattana etc.
If you're actually qualified they advertise back home. Harrow had a few jobs up in TES recently.
>>951675
I teach in Cambodia and while demand remains high, supply of new TEFL teachers is higher. Many seem to be economic refugees from the west and not the more entertaining fuckups of past years
>>952554
Do you think that's specifically a problem in Cambodia because of their lax education/experience requirements? I have a feeling that once you get past that stage and go to the likes of Taiwan, Korea, Japan, or the bigger cities in China the supply of qualified teachers is much lower than the demand...
>>952559
Its not so much the lack of qualification requirements to get a job as the ease of getting a long term visa. Thailand got a bit tougher on sketchy expats a few years back so a lot of them came here. At the moment some ministry is trying to enforce a work permit rule, but that's just about collecting money.
I've just about had enough of ever declining income so was thinking either China or the middle east (I can put up with any amount of shit if the money is good)
>>952478
Meh I'm not doing it to make money, I'm interested in the culture there and the languages, if I wanted money I'd do Japan, and God knows I might.
>>952559
Define qualified. If you mean with a proper teaching degree then the supply of qualified teachers is always lower than demand in almost every country on earth.
>>952601
Not even that, just being a native speaker with a passport of an English speaking country, a bachelors degree plus a legit TEFL or CELTA cert with 120 hours of practicum.
I've met people with the thickest Slavic accents teach English in South-East Asia. Some online purchased certificate in teaching English was their only qualification. You can still meet those people in China outside of the major cities but not in Korea, Japan or Taiwan(for the most part).
>>952574
SEA attracts the scummiest people in the world though because it's so cheap. All the failures in life from western countries who want an adventure end up there, it's how you get actual white bums in Thailand, people who don't have money to go back home but are also forced to live on the streets.
That's obviously not to say that there are no decent expats there and the locals are for the most part wonderful. It's just as you say with the easy visa regulations there's a lot of scum coming over as well.
So is it worth it to get the more expensive tefl ones like educator master or is basic all they care about.
What's the highest paying country for TEFL? UAE? Saudi Arabia? Oman? Hong Kong? Taiwan? South Korea? PRC? By that, I mean one of my degrees is in English. I could get a teacher's certification in my state, and could get a CELTA as well depending on what really helps land a job, preferably high paying.
I have a PGCE. Can I pretty much walk into a TEFL job? I want to travel but I also need money and not have a blank spot on my CV.
>>953078
>UAE and Saudi Arabia
I know for a fact that these two countries know exactly what immigration should be about. They take you in, give you a tax free salary, and attract you to those desolate boiling plates with great perks. This means they can get the best people in for the job.
>>953091
I've heard good things about UAE especially. Had a friend who taught in Dubai for a while.
What is the TEFL market for South America like? Does anybody do it? Please respond guys.
How much do you get paid per month in Thailand?
I don't know why anyone would work there when China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan (if you can get a job) pay much better.
>>953682
Thailand is a cheap country with a cool culture and cool architecture.
Starting salary is 30-40k baht which is $1000 to $1223 usd you can make as much as 115k baht($3530.93) with qualifications and working at the right schools
TEFL is not all about cash otherwise everyone would teach in the middle east
>>953682
Also Not everyone likes china , Thailand has better food
Taiwan has a supert small market
Korea is mostly better if you actually like koreans, i don't they are too conservative and they don't like seeing interracial relationships dating is hard and they eat too much pork.
Japan treats you like shit even if you make it in you will not last long cost of living will kill you.
