I to I Tefl

McIrish_

Hi guys,
I'm a current college graduate and recently started the i to i online course. I have done my weekend classes so I just have the online stuff to go I'm currently about 50 hours into the 140 hour online course. I was looking for advice as well as a few questions so here it goes

1. How easy is it to find work after finishing the course?

2. When is the best time of year to go teaching?

3. When does the academic year start in Asia?

4. Where is the best place to go teaching?

I would love to hear from anybody who has finished this course who has finished this course. I was hoping to start off by teaching children

R.D. aka MR.D

I felt bad that no one had replied so I thought i would!

Is it just something that you are thinking of doing for a couple of years?

What are your priorities in going? Money? Experience? want to make a career or it?

Do you want to teach privately or in a government school?

Is it Asia that you want to go to? Have you done much research into what country sounds most appealing to you?

fleet

McIrish_ wrote: »

1. How easy is it to find work after finishing the course?

2. When is the best time of year to go teaching?

3. When does the academic year start in Asia?

4. Where is the best place to go teaching?

1. Very, especially in the likes of China

2. Depends on the country

3. In China the schools run over 2 semesters, Sept - Feb and March - August

4. Depends again. I went to China. Money's not great (€800 a month for a 23 hours week, maybe €1000) but you typically get an apartment thrown in.

Children are probably harder to teach than adults. Teenagers are the hardest! I felt like a rock star going in to my 3-10 year olds, but try teaching a 15 year kid who's send to endless extra-curricular activities because her parents don't want her meeting boys...

McIrish_

R.D. aka MR.D wrote: »

I felt bad that no one had replied so I thought i would!

Is it just something that you are thinking of doing for a couple of years?

What are your priorities in going? Money? Experience? want to make a career or it?

Do you want to teach privately or in a government school?

Is it Asia that you want to go to? Have you done much
research into what country sounds most appealing to you?

I really want to get started ASAP. A lot of people are telling me to go to China or either Thailand. I'm looking to go away to make a career of it for a couple of years until things pick up here.....

Finding myself working in a coffee shop here in Ireland with a degree. Getting nowhere in life here with no jobs in my area of study.

Do you have any advice with getting started as a first timer?

R.D. aka MR.D

Well if money isn't your number one concern then i think Thailand or China would be good.

I'm in the middle of the whole China process right now, was told that it was going to take 2 weeks and it's been 8 so far so don't quit your job until you get the visa in your passport!!

I was in Korea for a year and half and it was hard work but the money was amazing! I would recommend it if money is what you're after. The visa process was actually faster than China and more organised!

I did a CELTA and everything before Korea because i plan on doing this travel and teach business until I get bored of it. I'm also white and female so i find fairly easy to get jobs anywhere. I think it is fairly easy in general to get jobs in asia though. just make sure that you do your research and that you're going into a good situation.

McIrish_

R.D. aka MR.D wrote: »

Well if money isn't your number one concern then i think Thailand or China would be good.

I'm in the middle of the whole China process right now, was told that it was going to take 2 weeks and it's been 8 so far so don't quit your job until you get the visa in your passport!!

I was in Korea for a year and half and it was hard work but the money was amazing! I would recommend it if money is what you're after. The visa process was actually faster than China and more organised!

I did a CELTA and everything before Korea because i plan on doing this travel and teach business until I get bored of it. I'm also white and female so i find fairly easy to get jobs anywhere. I think it is fairly easy in general to get jobs in asia though. just make sure that you do your research and that you're going into a good situation.

Hi again,
I'm strongly thinking about going to Korea early next year. Do me mind me asking if you went alone? I'm going solo so I was just wondering what you thought about the whole place and how easy it was to get around. Where you in Seoul? You mentioned that it was hard work? Could you elaborate?

This is my first time teaching so as ye can expect I'm a tad bit nervous :-o

R.D. aka MR.D

Yes, i went on my own. Seoul is really great for meeting people. Just go on meetup.com and join in on some activities and you'll meet people in no time.
The killer for the social life in seoul is the distances. In my first job, i lived quite far away from the main social areas. My second job i was in the middle of the main social area. Saying that, i probably went out and had more fun at my old job just drinking at soju tents and local hofs (kinda like a pub) and cheaper!

My first job wasn't really very hard! I didn't have many hours to teach. My second job was basically terrible. I had to work for 7 and a half hours 3 days a week without a break. On the other 2 days i was able to take a 30min break for lunch. So not very good! They also messed me around on wages.

But in general, the lifestyle can get pretty hard. But i would urge you to do it! It's great fun!

Getting around is really really easy. Just have some one show you how to get a t-money card for bus and subway and you'll be all set!

I'm heading to China in about a week (all going well) with my OH that i met in Korea and i think i'm more nervous about that than i ever was about going to korea on my own!

If you have any questions then feel free to ask me. there is also a really good thread about it in here, too. It seems to have gotten less popular lately but you usually get some good answers. Take everything you hear on Dave's esl with a pinch of salt but you can get some info there too.

Feel free to PM me if you are going to go for a job there and you want to know how it sounds. I had a friend come over to a terrible job and when I met up with her in seoul and she was in tears, the first thing i asked was; why didn't you ask me if it sounded okay?!? There are certain red flags to watch out for (way to many to mention right now).
Seriously, after having been in the job from hell, i would only be too happy to help some one avoid that.

But don't let that scare you. Korea can be great fun.

McIrish_

R.D. aka MR.D wrote: »

Yes, i went on my own. Seoul is really great for meeting people. Just go on meetup.com and join in on some activities and you'll meet people in no time.
The killer for the social life in seoul is the distances. In my first job, i lived quite far away from the main social areas. My second job i was in the middle of the main social area. Saying that, i probably went out and had more fun at my old job just drinking at soju tents and local hofs (kinda like a pub) and cheaper!

My first job wasn't really very hard! I didn't have many hours to teach. My second job was basically terrible. I had to work for 7 and a half hours 3 days a week without a break. On the other 2 days i was able to take a 30min break for lunch. So not very good! They also messed me around on wages.

But in general, the lifestyle can get pretty hard. But i would urge you to do it! It's great fun!



Getting around is really really easy. Just have some one show you how to get a t-money card for bus and subway and you'll be all set!

I'm heading to China in about a week (all going well) with my OH that i met in Korea and i think i'm more nervous about that than i ever was about going to korea on my own!

If you have any questions then feel free to ask me. there is also a really good thread about it in here, too. It seems to have gotten less popular lately but you usually get some good answers. Take everything you hear on Dave's esl with a pinch of salt but you can get some info there too.

Feel free to PM me if you are going to go for a job there and you want to know how it sounds. I had a friend come over to a terrible job and when I met up with her in seoul and she was in tears, the first thing i asked was; why didn't you ask me if it sounded okay?!? There are certain red flags to watch out for (way to many to mention right now).
Seriously, after having been in the job from hell, i would only be too happy to help some one avoid that.

But don't let that scare you. Korea can be great fun.

Thanks a lot for your feedback. I will most certainly be in contact when I find out if I have gotten the job :-)