Post: #1

I've been stuck in a corporate job for some time now and am becoming increasingly interested in leaving it behind and relocate to greener pastures, i.e. Latin America or Asia

I was thinking of what to do for $ and teaching English to locals might be a good option, as I don't know enough about computers to do online marketing or set up a website or whatever

would be good to hear other people's experience who left the west to take up a teaching gig somewhere else; in particular on the following:

-looking back, do you think it was a good decision, i.e. has it worked out how you planned/hoped/thought
-how is the $; can you afford a good lifestyle or are you always scraping by
-where did you go and what was your reasoning behind this
-how are the girls, are you getting laid like a rock star
-any advice for someone considering doing this

cheers!

Post: #2

I've been considering it for a couple of years, I keep taking off travelling for a 4-6 months at a time then running out of money and having to come back home home to find work and save all over again. It's not sustainable so I want something more long term. Like you I don't have any great ideas about how to make money online so the teaching English route seems to be my only option.

The problem is I'm not cut out to be a teacher and my spelling and grammar isn't the best either. I think I'd find it all quite difficult and certainly wouldn't be doing the people I was teaching any justice. I don't really desire to do this job I just don't want to spend the rest of my life in this country I was born in. I don't see what other options I have though.

Be good to see some responses from people who are out there doing it at the moment.

Post: #3

There is two options/routes to take to "teach" in SA and Asia.

Option 1.

Get certified in teaching the English language through a language institute or some online certificate. CELTA is a good one. Then after getting that you need to go to the country you want to teach/live in and handout TONS of resumes and visit EVERY school in town looking for a job! The pay is not good with this option starting out with no connections and experience. Just enough to get by on most occasions.

Option 2.

Go to your local college and bust out an education degree then attend one of several International Teaching Fairs. If you really wanna move and live in SA or Asia for more than 2-3 years than this is the way to go as the pay and benefits will be MUCH better. Obviously if you just wanna do it for only a year or two than the time/money investment you put into college would not be worth it.

Post: #4

A friend of mine is teaching English in Shanghai right now.

-looking back, do you think it was a good decision, i.e. has it worked out how you planned/hoped/thought

English teaching is generally used by people my age (23-26) as a means to an end, which is transitioning into a "real job" in China. Tutoring almost always makes more dough than school teaching, although you have to get that gig through networking. As such, my friends who have done it have not regretted it, as it was a means for them to get a long term visa and start networking to get jobs with other companies.

-how is the $; can you afford a good lifestyle or are you always scraping by

In China, Japan, Taiwan, Bangkok, you will most likely be okay, although your definition of a "good lifestyle" might change that. However, you will unlikely be facing hard times unless you like rolling like G Manifesto.

-where did you go and what was your reasoning behind this

I only know about China really, but I've read up on other places. My friends' reasoning was that they wanted to get full time white collar jobs in Shanghai but needed to be physically on the ground in China for a period of 3+ months in order to land a legit job.

-how are the girls, are you getting laid like a rock star

Chicks in Shanghai are hot but if you don't speak Chinese you're banging the same crowd of English speaking cocksluts as Francois the Frenchman, Dirk the Dutchman, and Hans the German.

-any advice for someone considering doing this

Look at English teaching as a means of networking your way into a better job later on - unless you are an entrepreneur.

Post: #5

I should have clarified the difference between SA and Asia. I was mainly talking about SA.

You can make pretty good money with option 1 in Asia ie able to save a decent amount and still do alot of stuff (going out, mini trips ect)

As i said this is not the case in SA.

Post: #6

Think of it as casting off anchor into a rough sea with a small boat.

If you have a lot of support, on land, to help you if you should get into trouble than go for it. If you don't, then you can easily get stuck out there with no way to free yourself and return home. A lot of people become ensnared in the latter situation.

Of course, if your resigned to being at sea for the rest of your life than that's another story too. Although, leaving the analogy aside, its hard/almost impossible to work in ESL after 65. So, after being abroad for so long, and having nothing saved or set up to allow a return home, what will you do at that point in your life? No pension, no social security, no real savings.

Think of ESL as either a vacation or, if you go to a less than desirable place, a way to save money for a future venture. But its generally not a career in that it will provide enough financial security.

I find teaching to be somewhat fun, with the right class. If you like teaching, then you will likely always think about doing it at the expense of other careers. However, my experience was in a high school. I think that the private for-profit teaching environment would be different.

Post: #7

Yeah I doubt I would do it for life, more just for the next few years so I can have some fun abroad and travel to new places.

Post: #8

Not teaching anymore, but just finished up two years teaching in Colombia, some in an institute, some in a private school.

1. looking back, do you think it was a good decision, i.e. has it worked out how you planned/hoped/thought
It enabled me to stay in Colombia legally. There was ample time to travel (Colombia has a lot of three day weekends.) People that run educational facilities can be shady, but I learned a lot about the country and its culture through teaching gigs. I got tired of it eventually, but I don’t regret any of it, and in the end I found a non-teaching related job in the country once I got the lay of the land.

2. how is the $; can you afford a good lifestyle or are you always scraping by

I had to save some money for the TEFL degree, and it was a bit of a scrape in the beginning. But once I got enough hours (at least 20 a week) I could live quite comfortably. Enough for drinking, food, culture, dates, etc. and traveling to other regions of the country is fairly inexpensive.

3. -where did you go and what was your reasoning behind this

Colombia, wanted to learn Spanish, liked the music, hoped it would have less tourists and a little more rawness (it does), heard the girls were pretty and pleasant (they are).

4. how are the girls, are you getting laid like a rock star

No complaints whatsoever. Girls here are gorgeous, like a good time, and spoil men silly. Not nearly as many flakes or gold diggers as this forum would sometimes have you believe.

5. any advice for someone considering doing this

If you are thinking about it, do it. Learn to accept uncertainty; if you wanted everything to work out all the time you wouldn’t leave the safe haven of your tedious North American/European existence. Learn the language of the country you teach in.

Post: #9

I'm doing it in Bogotá

The money is OK, livable for sure but not lavvy, fine if you have any savings.

If you are the type to plan things, you could get a masters in teaching english as a foreign langauge and get hired at universities, which will actually pay like 3 times what language institutes do.

PM me if you have any questions

Post: #10

Listen to Hydro, he's right on with the example.
I talked to quite a lot of people doing it in Thailand, and I met others doing it in other parts of SE Asia. Basically it is not the easiest job, and you need to accept uncertainty as matter of life. You will live better than most locals, but your expenses gonna also be higher, so you are very unlikely to save any money - as soon as you made some savings, there is usually an emergency which requires spending them. It is difficult to advance in ranks unless you have teaching degree. With girls you will do much better than most tourists as you will be living in the country, and speaking the language, but this is definitely not a rock star kind of job.

Make sure you build some stash while here in US. You'll need it.

Post: #11

u can save a decent amount of green in Korea and China. not soo much Japan or Thailand

Post: #12

(04-06-2011 07:20 PM)Dash Global Wrote:  u can save a decent amount of green in Korea and China. not soo much Japan or Thailand

I've always heard you can save decent money in Japan. But start up costs for renting an apartment can cost quite a bit.

Taiwan's also supposed to be good. And Mexico's probably the best in Latin America, at least money wise.

Post: #13

I think that you have to go by what you can save, and not what they pay. In most countries, its a living wage. Meaning that you will have your expenses covered but very little else. Although, the salary can vary by as much as $1000 per month.

The only countries that I know of anyone consistently saving a significant amount by western standards are:

South Korea
Japan
Bahrain (No Americans allowed to teach - and its small with limited opportunities)
Hong Kong (technically, for teachers with real qualifications)
Taiwan (depending on the ability to procure work)
The Middle East (various countries)

I know for a fact that the ability to save in China is almost nil, at least for 98% of teachers. This is the place that I specifically had in mind when alluding to the fact that its common for teachers to get financially stranded when they have no support from home. Sure, you'll have outliers in any country that luck into choice jobs, but that's mostly a factor of luck. Also, sometimes you can manipulate the difference in living expenses and salary by living in a rural area, and therefore save more than average. I would be sure that I was in love with the country before I tried something like that though. You will need that love to make up for living in the sticks in a foreign country, especially a non-western one.

This is with no special qualifications. If you have a teaching license, then this all changes.

Post: #14

correction: I meant Brunei, not Bahrain.

Post: #15

I don’t know if the OP was originally talking about relocating and teaching somewhere for the rest of his life. The truth is, it is hard to get your foot in the door of another country with no connections, and your first job is probably going to be teaching English. Studying for a teaching degree at the university or post-grad level is a big commitment, in money and time, and I found that the people who are the best and happiest teachers actually like teaching and don’t see it as a means to some other end, like living abroad. When you are overwhelmed with lesson plans and grading homework and putting up with snotty little brats, you gotta love the job or else it is going to drive you nuts after a while. The extensive vacation time is nice though.

Saving money is certainly important, but I think a lot of people, at least in the beginning, are merely looking to travel and live somewhere else for a while and maybe break even or at least mitigate the giant expenditure that is travel, especially for those airplane tickets. Teaching is a good first step for figuring out a way to work and live in the country you want to stay in. But unless you would be a teacher if you lived in the states anyway, I would think long and hard before investing in some kind of degree more serious than a CELTA.

All that said, I know some people who made bank teaching in South Korea and the Middle East, but the downside is you actually have to live in those places. Well, maybe Korea could be okay, but the kind of people lurking on this forum do not seem like the type who are looking for a Saudi Arabian experience.

Post: #16

I am thinking about going to teach in S.Korea in August. I was originally planning on starting college this summer again to obtain a teaching license that would allow me to relocate and teach ANYWHERE with good pay/benefits with an International School. Only problem is I have exhausted my savings and would have to work ALOT and maybe take out a small loan to pay for school. I'd rather just spend a yr teaching in S.Korea that will allow me to save up money for school and allow me to explore some of Asia in the process for a yr or two.

If anyone has any advice on teaching in S.Korea id love to hear from ya. I have a college degree. If need be I might go and get a CELTA over the summer to make me more desirable.

Post: #17

(04-07-2011 09:41 PM)Dash Global Wrote:  I am thinking about going to teach in S.Korea in August. I was originally planning on starting college this summer again to obtain a teaching license that would allow me to relocate and teach ANYWHERE with good pay/benefits with an International School. Only problem is I have exhausted my savings and would have to work ALOT and maybe take out a small loan to pay for school. I'd rather just spend a yr teaching in S.Korea that will allow me to save up money for school and allow me to explore some of Asia in the process for a yr or two.

If anyone has any advice on teaching in S.Korea id love to hear from ya. I have a college degree. If need be I might go and get a CELTA over the summer to make me more desirable.

Here's the place to go though it'll take a while to wade through all the info.

http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/

Post: #18

(04-07-2011 09:41 PM)Dash Global Wrote:  I am thinking about going to teach in S.Korea in August. I was originally planning on starting college this summer again to obtain a teaching license that would allow me to relocate and teach ANYWHERE with good pay/benefits with an International School. Only problem is I have exhausted my savings and would have to work ALOT and maybe take out a small loan to pay for school. I'd rather just spend a yr teaching in S.Korea that will allow me to save up money for school and allow me to explore some of Asia in the process for a yr or two.

If anyone has any advice on teaching in S.Korea id love to hear from ya. I have a college degree. If need be I might go and get a CELTA over the summer to make me more desirable.

You don't need a Celta. Save your money.

If you can afford it, go without a job, find a hostel or love motel (negotiate with the owner for a month price - need an interpreter though, maybe the taxi driver?) and interview in-country. If you go after the summer, you can probably land a job in a public or private high school. Better politics, free lunch, and equivalent pay. Early hours, though.

If you can't swing the flight and a month of expenses, and need to sign a contract from overseas to get your expenses taken care of, its a crapshoot. Whatever you do, get in or very, very near (no more than 20 minutes by bus or metro) to a large city such as Seoul, Daegu, or Busan. Don't get caught int he sticks. S. Korea can be trying enough.

Feel free to pm me with any questions.

Post: #19

The main things I have to figure out and fast is

1. What are the things I need to get done prior to departure or getting hired (paperwork, ect)

2. What are the best jobs in S. Korea and what are the best way to go about getting them.

3. What are the important things that go into the "contract"

4. How much salary is needed to be able to save 800 -1000 a month.

Def have to teach in or VERY NEAR a large city with nightlife and ample supply of women.

Post: #20

Quote:You don't need a Celta. Save your money

Really? Most countries these days require you have some sort of teaching qualification, TEFL or CELTA, and would have thought S. Korea definitely would. I wouldn't think you could get a job without one.

Post: #21

A useful website I've been browsing today.

Job adverts: http://www.eslcafe.com/joblist/

Discussion on teaching abroad in various countries: http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/index.php

Second link is really good for any questions, loads of knowledgable people who are ESL teachers abroad and can provide answer to whatever you need to know. Gives you a good idea of what you do and don't need in terms of qualifications etc in each country, how much you'll be paid etc.

I was considering Brazil to teach English but seems a bit of a nightmare, impossible to get a working visa so means being illegal, really poor pay and high cost of livings, very few hours a week of work which is good because you have free time but the low wages means you have no money to enjoy it. Thailand seems a better option in terms of being easy to get working visas, lots of jobs, money is decent (enough to live and have fun and some travel) BUT apparently you'll get fucked around a lot from the schools etc and the kids are a nightmare to teach.

Think if I did it regardless of where I go I'd want to do one on one lessons with students or business types privately. Much harder to get those sorts of jobs though.

Post: #22

Quote:1. What are the things I need to get done prior to departure or getting hired (paperwork, ect)

your best bet for that info is eslcafe.com. Administrative details are easy to forget but also easy to discover. I went with no paperwork and no job. Everything was taken care of once I was hired in-country. Your employer or recruiter will aprise you of what needs to be done if you sign a contract from overseas. I believe that there might be an AIDS test required now, but I'm not entirely sure.

Quote:2. What are the best jobs in S. Korea and what are the best way to go about getting them.

See my previous post for my opinion. After a couple of years in, you can try to jockey for a Uni gig without a grad degree. Sometimes it happens.

Quote:3. What are the important things that go into the "contract"

Your not going to have to much sway here. All contracts are generally standard. Just make sure that your pay, overtime pay (important), days off, flight reimbursement, etc is included. Now whether a contract gets adhered to is another matter. In asia, contracts are more like suggestions. But in S. Korea, luckily the government tries its best to enforce legally mandated provisions such as your flight reimbursement. Again, though, it best to ask these legal/administrative questions with over at elscafe, where current teachers dwell.

Quote:4. How much salary is needed to be able to save 800 -1000 a month.

It varies with the exchange rate. At a 1:1, or thereabouts, you can generally save that that with a salary of around 2.0 million won per month. That will be around what you are offered, with it generally moving up around 100,000 won per month for every year of experience. You may get offered up to 2.2 million won per month. If you get offered more, find out what the catch is in terms of time or stress.

Make sure you are clear about whether or not you are expected to work weekends.

Make sure that you are cool with the hours. You can get jobs that start in the afternoon and go into the late evening, or jobs that start in the morning and go to mid afternoon.

Being near an airport is convenient in case you want to eventually do a runner.

PM me if you want my opinion on cities.

Post: #23

(04-08-2011 09:23 AM)Gringo Wrote:  

Quote:You don't need a Celta. Save your money

Really? Most countries these days require you have some sort of teaching qualification, TEFL or CELTA, and would have thought S. Korea definitely would. I wouldn't think you could get a job without one.

Nah... Not in North Asia.
In Japan, it couldn't matter less. It might even work against you because a Japanese employer might be annoyed that you know that it doesn't matter but you have it on your resume anyway (conjecture based on what I know). Plus, they want you to learn the Japanese way.
In Korea, it doesn't matter enough to make it worth it. Although some very specific school may offer you 100,00 more a month with it. But not most. These are businessmen, mostly, trying to squeeze profit margins.
In china, beggars can't be choosers (china being the beggar).

Southeast Asia and the rest of the world are a different story, but it also varies by location. For instance, in Mexico, the country's own certification is worth much more ( its required even, I believe) than a Celta. It is most definitely worth researching, in depth, the market of the specific location that you want to go to before you spend the money and time.

Now, getting a Celta might make you more comfortable teaching the verbal method of learning English if you've never taught before. That's an intangible value. Most new teachers in Korea wing it, however.

@Dashglobal
If you are thinking of doing a Celta, the very best option would be to go to Korea and get a job first, and then find a place in Korea to take it on the weekends, paying for it with the money that you make teaching. Its going to cost 10-15% of the money that you save in a year teaching, and so definitely make it first to mitigate the risk. After you start, you may decide that you either don't need it or don't like teaching enough to pursue it.

Post: #24

Thanks for that info, good to know.

AIDs test to be an English Teacher??

Post: #25

A few more things about teaching in Korea:

Pros:
1. Free plane ticket to Korea
2. Free housing while teaching in Korea.
3. Generally, it's very easy to find a job and requires little to no skill other than a bachelors degree from an English speaking country

Cons:
1. Housing can be a toss up, but generally not bad
2. You may end up having issues with your employer