Teaching abroad - anywhere! Where and what was your experience?

Rodar08

Given the current circumstances it would be great to know what teaching abroad is like and to get a collection of experinces from lots of different countries. I haven't taught outside of Ireland but I'm thinking of it. All those who have done it - tell us all about it! A lot of us might need the advice!;)

E.T.

I did some sub teaching in Australia a few years ago on a working holiday visa..Loads of red tape for each state (you've to register separately in most states), found it quite hard to get subbing a lot of the time. If you want to go out there full time, you should check out their immigration website, just google and you should get the address.

See Ye

It's not 100% clear from the thread title or OP what type of teaching you mean - EFL or other subjects - perhaps getting a mod to change the title might help your veiws to answer ratio

If you are looking to teach your own subject abroad within the state system then most places will probably want you to have a local qualification & be fluent in the local language. Your best bet would be working for a private "international" school - as an observer I'd say the advantages are a ready made support network, a feeling of cameraderie (among the younger staff members especially) and fewer discipline problems that at home. The downside then would be that it can be clique-y with lots of internal politics to negotiate and that you may end up stuck in the "expat" world and get detached from reality to a certain extent.

Some of the threads on EFL should give you an idea about that.

punky

Do you mean English language teaching? If so...

Japan is a great place to live and there are still plenty of jobs as far as I can tell. Check out the international jobs board on esl cafe dot com. If it's purely money you're after, you'd probably save more in Korea or Taiwan but Japan is a more interesting place to live in my humble opinion. I've also taught English in Toronto, Canada (oddly enough) but I wouldn't really recommend living there because it's really rather dull.

Beyond that, you could look at opportunities in some of the emerging powers like Brazil and China. Lots of English teaching jobs in those countries I'd imagine.

Rodar08

Thanks guys - you've been really helpful. Thanks for replying.

Well to clear things up I'm currently doing my PGDE and have subbed for a few years before that. My subject is English but I don't have TEFL or anything so hmm donno. Circumstance have changed with me and I'm just really interested to hear other peoples experiences and accounts of teaching in and movng to another country. I'm not planning on it immediately as I won't be qualified until May ... it's just on my mind.

I really was thinking of this thread as being a help for anyone (not just me) thinking of teaching abroad - due to the lack of jobs and current subbing situation I feel a collection of others experiences might be useful for us unemployed trees of wisdom :L

The mod can change the title of the thread if it might help.

lena-bell

I just got back last year from teaching in Japan on the JET Programme for 3 years which is run by the Japanese government. I was teaching in 2 public secondary schools and a special needs school.
It was amazing and the money is great! especially cause the Yen is so strong now and they pay for your flights there and back!!
The information is on the Embassy of Japan's website in Dublin
www.ie.emb-japan.go.jp
You need to have a bachelors degree in any field and apply by November and do an interview to go the following July.
also you can contact the JET Desk at the Embassy on jet@embjp.ie

delta_bravo

lena-bell wrote: »

I just got back last year from teaching in Japan on the JET Programme for 3 years which is run by the Japanese government. I was teaching in 2 public secondary schools and a special needs school.
It was amazing and the money is great! especially cause the Yen is so strong now and they pay for your flights there and back!!
The information is on the Embassy of Japan's website in Dublin
www.ie.emb-japan.go.jp
You need to have a bachelors degree in any field and apply by November and do an interview to go the following July.
also you can contact the JET Desk at the Embassy on jet@embjp.ie

My lecturer told me about this last week and i looked at the site and the programme looks great. Is it difficult to get in to and is there much demand, im aware i missed the deadline for this year but am thinking about it for next year?

Thanks

Coolio

Hi, I spent six months teaching science in NZ. Had to get all my qualifications certified and verified by their teaching council first and went over on a working holiday visa. Takes time!

I came across the job by trawling through NZ recruitment websites, emailed a cv and had a casual phone interview with principal and got offered job on the spot.

The school was in South Auckland, a bit wild but great staff with many from UK. Great thing about teaching over there is that they pay you a bonus once you have build up so many teaching days there. Don't know if that still exists. Think I got $2000.

Also worked a couple of weeks in Melbourne. Easy to register as they recognise all NZ-registered teachers. Fantastic school there would love to have stayed longer but were moving on to Asia.

There are teacher recruitment agencies that come over to the Uk and Ireland looking for and interviewing teachers for available positions.

My brother taught in Dubai and Qatar for a number of years in the Chouefait schools. Great ex-pat communities over there and tax free income too! They are always looking for teachers and pay flights over and back and pay for your accommodation also(normally in school compound)


Hope this helps!

EmerBaggott

Hi, Im am hoping to take a career break, do something different etc...But anyway as a nurse I am just wondering does the TEFL course alone allow me to teach abroad? Im very new to this so excuse the stupidity

kittex

I'm currently teaching in Australia (rural Western Oz) and love it.

Only been here a few weeks now and it took a long time planning, but I'm really glad I did it. There are fewer jobs here now as at the end of last year the number of people applying for teaching posts suddenly rocketed. This was due to some mine closures (many of the mine drivers and science workers were actually teachers originally) and to a big increase in the number of applicants getting a scholarship to train here.

Saying that, a lot of the new Australian teachers I've spoken to are plannign on working a couple of years then travelling, so there will always be turn around.

Rodar08

Looking good guys - we're building up a nice little sourse of info on teaching abroad now.

I'm still thinking of it but now is the time to plan in order to start in Sept 09. I've been looking at the British School in Rio in Brazil. Looks like they pay your flights and accommodation too. So far this is appealing to me most now - anyone know anything about teaching there?

This is the website http://www.britishschool.g12.br/default.asp. It doesnt give you info here about getting a job there but I read about it in a magazine and got the web address there. I've emailed my CV to them so I'll let you know. I'm looking at another one just today too called http://www.britannia.com.br/portal/content.asp?s=2&cc=6&id=33 - here you'll find lots of info.

population

My wife is doing the CELTA right now and I am looking to do it in August once I finish my BA (mature student) and then we are off to Europe for a couple of years (Italy) to teach English and then on to Oz (where she is originally from).

My OH is from an accounts background and my original career was in construction and we both decided we wanted to get into teaching a while ago.
We were a bit faffy in terms of really getting our skates on and doing it but with the economic collapse here it has really focused our minds and we are going to try be positive and treat this recession as an opportunity:)

For the record she is absolutely loving the course (includes a lot of teaching time) and thinks this might finally be a way out of the office scene. I am itching to get mine done now and get to Europe.

Anyway my two cents on teaching abroad comes from my old boss who taught in Ghana for 4 years. Said it was simply the best experience of his life and would recommend anyone to teach English there.

cavanmaniac

Hi all, I'm giving serious thought to emigrating and teaching english abroad to sustain myself and maybe even make some money.

I have a degree and did a TEFL course years ago, and taught for a few weeks in Dublin about seven or eight summers before getting the non-teaching job I'm in now.

I'm itching to get out of Ireland and the doom and gloom and experience something different for a few years before I'm too old (I'm in early thirties). I'm keen to give myself the best possible chance of getting the best job possible, so I'm wondering how to go about that?

I could do a short course but I'd want to be sure it's reputable and recognised, which ones are best for this in Dublin, I see all sorts out there? I don't think I can do a year-long course or anything but I'd want to have the best chance.

Where do I start? I'm thinking about Hong Kong by the way, if anyone can share their experience and advice I'd be very greatful.

Dionysus

Cavan:

For teaching English, go for the ACELS CELT courses (there is a thread here about it). It costs between €950 and €1100 for the full month/120hours. This is about €300 cheaper than the CELTA course run by Cambridge University. They are both of the same duration and same quality; CELTA is perhaps better known at the moment but you are really paying the extra for the Cambridge name. ACELS CELT, on the other hand, is the Department of Education body and therefore you can teach English as a FL in any secondary school if you do that ACELS course.

Avoid the weekend tefls, no good at all. Not serious. Oh, and the pressure and intensity of these 120 hour courses should not be underestimated.

Dionysus

Excellent idea for a thread. I, too, am also thinking about going away to teach for a while.

There are, by the way, more tefl jobs than qualified tefl teachers here in Ireland for the months of July and August. You don't need to go abroad. Money can be good also, between €20 and €25 p.h.

Would those of you who are/have been teaching abroad, give us an idea of how good the money and conditions are?

Like could you save €20,000 by teaching abroad in certain countries for a year?

cavanmaniac

Thank you Dionysus.

The courses I've found are in Dun Laoighre which doesn't suit logistically, unfortunately. There's one at the http://www.dse.ie/courses-one.php?id=43 Dublin School of English which is in Temple Bar and seems to do the same as the others but is a little cheaper? Has anyone done this course and what are their thoughts?

And I'd love to hear from someone who has teaching experience in Hong Kong or Japan etc.

lena-bell

The JET Programme is definitely the best way of going to Japan. Its government run so you have job security unlike private English schools (Nova went belly up not so long ago) They pay you flights there and back and the pay is 3, 600,000 yen per annum. This is around 27,000 euro a year. But it's loads of money to live comfortably in Japan and they subsidize your rent. Your accommadation is arranged before you arrive. You are working in a public school as an assistant language teacher so you start by helping out with classes and get more and more responsibility. They have a very strong support network when you are there and you have a supervisor to help you set up all your bills etc. There are thousands of JETs in Japan from all over the world. When I was there I was near Kiwis, Americans, a German girl, Canadians, South Africans, Australians... and I now have a bed to stay in whereever I want to go.

cavanmaniac

Nice work lena bell, now that's social networking at its best!

My brother is in Hong Kong at the moment though, so it's there I'll investigate first. I just need to work out what the best course is, or more specifically, where to do it!

cavanmaniac

One more question: Am I correct in saying that any of the schools on this list of centres in Dublin (Recognised Acels schools)...

http://acels.ie.somedomain.ie/Search.aspx?location=Dublin

...will provide me with the recognised best qualification for ESL teaching in Ireland, UK or abroad? Am I correct in saying that and if so, I'm assuming it's best to work off this list when selecting a course?

MrMiyagi

Dionysus wrote: »

Like could you save €20,000 by teaching abroad in certain countries for a year?

Are u for real

MrMiyagi

cavanmaniac wrote: »

Thank you Dionysus.

The courses I've found are in Dun Laoighre which doesn't suit logistically, unfortunately. There's one at the http://www.dse.ie/courses-one.php?id=43 Dublin School of English which is in Temple Bar and seems to do the same as the others but is a little cheaper? Has anyone done this course and what are their thoughts?

And I'd love to hear from someone who has teaching experience in Hong Kong or Japan etc.

I have recently done a CELT course. I would recommend it but do it over 2 months if you can cause its really intense.

leann

Hi all, thanks for the interesting thread!!

Am wondering if anyone has taught in the UK, am thinking of london? Have heard some horror stories but know there are also very good schools over there and would love to escape ireland for a while

thanks in advance!!

cavanmaniac

MrMiyagi wrote: »

I have recently done a CELT course. I would recommend it but do it over 2 months if you can cause its really intense.

So I keep hearing! I keep getting mental images of exhausted students slumped at desks fanning themselves to stay alive in the third week.

I actually plan on taking a month off work to do the course so I can dedicate myself to it totally and concentrate on it, so hopefully I'd get through it alright.

Can anyone comment on the quality of the course at DSE, www.dse.ie? The dates and location here are perfect but am just wondering if the course is as good as those at different colleges that start later...or should I just take the view that all ACELS accredited courses are good and pick any of them?

Mr. Miyagi, do these courses assume that the student already has an excellent grasp on grammar mechanics and terminology, yes?

MrMiyagi

cavanmaniac wrote: »

Mr. Miyagi, do these courses assume that the student already has an excellent grasp on grammar mechanics and terminology, yes?

No you dont need an excellent grasp on grammar. The course will cover some grammar. There is a lot of grammar to learn though but you will learn a lot of grammar preparing lessons for your teaching practices.

Sometimes you will find you are learning just before your students learn. It must be down to the way we learned English in school.

cleary.pj

hey, i am planning to go to Taiwan in a months time to teach english, i was planning on doing a TEFL course, probably the 120hrs weekend long course.
i dont actually have a degree but i have a diploma from a third level college, how would you rate my chances in getting some work over there? what TEFL course would you advise me on doing?

thesecretforme

Hi everyone, I'm 23 and will be doing a MA in History next year.

I am going to be doing a TEFL course during the summer.

I would like to do a PHD at some stage, but I do not want to go straight into after my masters, (plus I don't have the money!)
I would love to see abroad and work doing some type of teaching.

I've been following the discussion; what I don't understand is: is it vital to have a HDip from here to be a teaching assistant and will I be able to save a decent amount of money working on such jobs?

I'm not too fussy about where I go, as long as it's a safe environment and the people are nice and decent.

Thanks

deco05ie

Is it possible to teach somewhere without having a degree. I have to repeat my project next year but will not need to attend college and would like something to do for the year. All I have is a 2 year higher cert in computer programming.

clartharlear

Dionysus wrote: »

There are, by the way, more tefl jobs than qualified tefl teachers here in Ireland for the months of July and August. You don't need to go abroad. Money can be good also, between €20 and €25 p.h.

I don't suppose you'd be able to give any indications of names and addresses in Cork? I don't know where to start applying to! I've only tefled aboard.

Does anyone have any ideas about teaching in America with an Irish hdip (maths)? I'm about to go trawling for old threads, but I'd appreciate any fresh advice!