Goodbye England, Hello...?

Sooooo me and my girlfriend have been kidding ourselves for long enough now and have decided to get out of England for a while.

My gf is a teacher and I am doing the TEFL course so we plan to teach for a year but where? I have met so many travellers abroad doing the same thing in different places - Korea, China, Malaysia, Indonesia. I love KL but the money isnt as good and it can be quite costly to live I have heard? I am not sure I am patient enough for the hustle and bustle of a Chinese city. Is this naive? Any help would be appreciated.

Also - we are travelling for a year after working. I have travelled through a lot of Asia but I have a hunger to get to places that I havnt had time to get to perviously - Togean Islands, Banda Islands, Palau, PNG, Alors, western Sumatra etc - any other recommendations?

Thanks, SC Reply to this

Hey

As Mell says, work permit issues will be important to consider. Do you both have degrees? You need them to get a work permit in many places. If you don't have one, you may have to work under the table and thus need to go somewhere where this is easy. Is your TEFL course a CELTA or a Trinity course? These are the most widely accepted certificates and will open the most doors to you.

What do you want to teach? There are many options, and some countries have more of one than another. Since your girlfriend is a teacher, does she want to work in an international school or similar, teaching kids/teens? Do you want to teach children or adults? Do you want to teach in a primary/secondary school, a university or in a language school? A language school is likely to be a variety of ages and levels, and potentially some weekend/evening work. Are you OK with that?

Are you looking to make a lot of money, or just make enough to live on. Do you need to save to go traveling for the year afterwards? Different countries pay differently, and the cost of living is also a factor to take into account. One of the best countries for wages compared to cost of living in Vietnam, followed by Korea.

You say you have travelled a lot of Asia, so I'm guessing you have an idea of what countries you would like to live in. Is it Asia you are thinking of? It's one of the best places to start out in terms of money. South and Central America don't pay very well, and the Middle East is restrictive if you have no experience. You mentioned KL, but there are few TEFL opportunities there and the cost of living to wages ratio is not great. Are you looking at wanting to live in a big city like KL e.g. Taipei, Tokyo, Beijing, Bangkok, Jakarta etc, or in a smaller place. Easy access to the beach/national parks?

Do you want to get a job before you go, or sort it out when over here? Would you like your school to provide housing or are you happy finding somewhere to live yourself? Have you found TEFL.COM and Daves ESL cafe There are a lot of ads on there that can give you an idea of the various jobs available.

Sorry for bombarding you with questions! It will help us all to give you some good advice.

Hope this helps

Kate


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Why not Shanghai? Reply to this

Thank you for all your help on this. I am now trying to get my head around what qualification to do and have become very confused. The Trinity College TESOL qualification has different level (e.g. a certTESOL and a dipTESOL). Some of these courses take up to a year and some are 4 week intensive courses. Do I really need something that takes this long? I thought a TEFL qualification could be done from home and was over 120hours or somethign similar. Will this not be enough to get me a teaching job in Asia?

Then there is the CELTA course which is much the same but is the Cambridge version. These both sound quite in depth and mor expensive than what I thought. I have read blogs of people doing 120 hour courses online costing aroun £250 and then going out to teach. Is it better to do a TESOL or CELTA to enhance my employability or will I be fine with an online certificate?

I have entered this question online and it seems that a lot of people have had the same worries. No real answers available though. Any ideas?

Many thanks
In response to: Msg #158670 Reply to this

That is very clear! Thank you very much for your help! You should be a teacher... :-)

Will the online course be suitable for places like Vietnam and Cambodia? We are edging toward an are like this or maybe KL - as we really love the city and there is a new international school open there for my girlfriend to teach at.

Many thanks againf or all your help.

SC Reply to this

Should I be paying you for this advice? :-) Have you got a CELTA ot a TESOL? If so - where did you get it? There are quite a few options...

Thanks,
SC
In response to: Msg #160688 Reply to this

Sorry to butt in here, but I am also thinking about doing a CELTA course to go to SE Asia to live and work for a few years . A question, to do a TEFL / CELTA course do I need to have a degree or teaching experience ? Some web sites say one thing and others say another thing.
And if I do one abroad (in Phuket for example) is this frowned upon by employers or does it not matter ?
Thanks
Simon Reply to this

Welcome Simon! Don't worry about butting in!

To do a TEFL or CELTA course you do not need any teaching experience and you do not need a degree. The requirements for a degree are usually with the work visa. Many countries work visa/permit requirements ask for teachers to have a degree. This doesn't have to be in teaching, but they have to have one.

Where you do your qualification does not matter one jot. The type of certificate it is is what matters.

Are you planning to work in Phuket?

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Cactus TEFL is not an TEFL course school, it's an independent website that advertises courses run by other companies.

You can do a course in Vietnam if you fancy that. ILA, Language Link and Apollo run them here - either Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh. Check them out! Reply to this

Hi again

Is it worth going direct to a school or do I have to go through a agent like Catcus ? Reply to this