[ATTA]

Forgive me if this has already been done, but I did a quick search of Teaching English to Speakers in Other Languages (TESOL) on the forum and it yielded some pretty sparse results.

For my benefit, I -- and I'm sure some of the less experienced world travelers here -- would like to know all we can about TESOL.

For example one of the questions I'm mauling over right now is where to get certified. For any of the folks here who have done TESOL, what company/certification did you go with? Did they guarantee a job? Did they set you up in a shit show situation? Et cetera.

Backgrounder: I'm looking to go teach English in Ecuador or Colombia. I can read and write Spanish, but my verbal fluency is dog shit. So I'll be getting a tutor sometime this winter.

[redneckpunk]

(09-30-2011 01:24 PM)ATTA Wrote:  

Forgive me if this has already been done, but I did a quick search of Teaching English to Speakers in Other Languages (TESOL) on the forum and it yielded some pretty sparse results.

For my benefit, I -- and I'm sure some of the less experienced world travelers here -- would like to know all we can about TESOL.

For example one of the questions I'm mauling over right now is where to get certified. For any of the folks here who have done TESOL, what company/certification did you go with? Did they guarantee a job? Did they set you up in a shit show situation? Et cetera.

Backgrounder: I'm looking to go teach English in Ecuador or Colombia. I can read and write Spanish, but my verbal fluency is dog shit. So I'll be getting a tutor sometime this winter.

http://www.eslcafe.com has everything you need.

I recommend getting certified 100+ hour course with actual classroom teaching not online. Online is cheaper but if you have any desire to be good at ur jobs then avoid it. The better you are at it the more enjoyable it is, you get more leverage with your employer, and more money.

Celta or any other is fine, some will claim Celta is the best..it doesn't matter.
You can possibly get certified in Ecuador.

TEFL/TESL/TESOL are the three terms you can search under, TESOL is the least common.

Spanish is a plus but you can definitely get a job without fluency or any knowledge of the local language.

Each country is different some require college degree, some teaching cert, some neither.

[Dash Global]

Thank me later..


http://www.rooshvforum.network/thread-5141.h...t=colombia

[ATTA]

Thanks guys.

I'll definitely look this all over. Much appreciated.

[hydrogonian]

Yeah, this is one area where a dedicated forum will definitely serve your information needs much better. There's just too much to it, in terms of the big picture. (as well as for any one location).

[Sourcecode]

Reviving this topic
I've seen sporadic talk of guys(including Roosh) Mentioning that they have done English Teaching jobs around the world.
I haven't seen any recent threads that consolidate experiences and whatnot (minus the English Teacher X book)

So has anyone pursued anything like this?
Of course I don't plan to make a living off of this. but as a possible way to supplement income, do something interesting, meet people...what are yalls experiences.

Some say online courses arent worth is some say you need a CELTA as opposed to a TESOL
TESOLS.com
has one price listed on their website.
But you can get their same 700 dollar course for 70 dollars through misc. coupons.

If its possible to do this. Is it even worth it?

What if you have already have done teaching type work or have degrees unrelated to teaching?

[lowbudgetballer]

The language institute, bushiban, hakwon, cram school is a private institution where school-age students go after school to study, learn, and practice English language and other skills. I did a language institute for 2-3 months, then jumped to a university. I was 26. I personally did it to escape from cubicle hell, but have since built a related career, of very modest success, on my experience. I worked at a nightclub which closed down and had a valueless degree. I went to work as subcontracted telephone customer service for an insurance company. I was making ok money, but the work was soulless: I didn't want to wake up there, 30, not having accomplished anything in life. My only pleasures at the time were a Chinese lunch special and a nightclub on the weekend. It was seeing Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon which threw me over the edge.

Celta = Cambridge, is generally considered a British certification
TESOL = Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages is generally considered a US certification. Depending on where you are they may require a specific certification. For example, I believe the Middle East usually advertises for CELTA.

You usually end up making a living wage for working 25-30 hours per week, weeknights and Saturdays. Many places also pay your rent and airfare. You don't normally get Summers off.

If someone were seriously going to do this, I'd recommend a teacher's certification or a year-long MA in a related field, as these would likely pay off.

Also, bear in mind, I'm pushing 40 and missed out on all those years of seniority, retirement, etc.

Finally, some ministries of education won't accept credentials earned online.

lowbudgetballer

[Scuba_Instructor]

I did a CELTA in Barcelona with International House in late 2009. With accomodation came to about £1200 (from memory).

Was an intensive six-week version - hard work but very enjoyable. Good mix of nationalities on the course too.

No real chance to game as you're working non-stop. But a few people stayed in Barcelona after the course for work and had fun (until their money ran out).

Teaching English anywhere in Europe can be a great experience. But as lowbudgetballer says you will only get paid a living wage - decent money can be made in the UAE and China, and to a decreasing extent Korea and Japan, but to stand out you'll need a related MA as well as the CELTA. In China you can do well with minimal qualifications but have to put up with a lot of underhand stuff.

As mentioned eslcafe.com is a good resource - personally I prefer http://www.tefl.com as it has a better country-specific job finder.

Best situation for teaching in Europe? Have teaching quals above a CELTA and additional income coming in from the side. Some classroom teachers in Barcelona I met were miserable - they were living in an awesome city but had no money to enjoy it.

[LeightonBlackstock]

Teaching English gets a bad rep, in my opinion. It should always be considered as an easy option for a location independent lifestyle. If you wanna live in a different country NOW, then it's the easiest way to turn up and not starve.

You'll never earn the salary of an International playboy, and you'll never get that nice house or cool car. Hence, for some people, it's a laughable option. But, it'll keep you away from British girls, will stick beers on the table and will put Asian girls in your bed. The career satisfies an immature man (like me) greatly.

The talk of English teaching is often the butt of many jokes. I can understand there are downsides. But really, there are a lot of positives.

Firstly, let's look at the potential motivations for doing it (as it isn't going to be money):

Sixteen months ago (aged 21) I was offered a starting salary of $37,000 from the Engineering company I was doing summer placements at.

This was a good salary compared to a lot of my friends, but I absolutely refused to take it. Why?

Well, I originally chose Civil Engineering as a career because I wanted to see the world and LIVE in the countries that I was travelling to. I hate being on vacation: You turn up, see a few sights, take a few photos, eat some food, then just when you start to get below the surface of tourism, you're pulled back over the Atlantic and are sat back at your computer in Swindon. One of my motivations is to live in as many countries as possible before I die (whilst taking it slowly and moving on when I want to. It's not about collecting passport stamps).

But, after a lot of research, I found that most engineers in my field only go abroad when they have achieved chartered status. This takes a minimum of four years to achieve, and that's only after you've done a fourth year at university.

In addition, the countries that I would've been be looking at would've likely been the U.A.E, Saudi Arabia or Qatar. It's incredibly unlikely that an inexperienced kid would get an engineering job in Thailand, Vietnam or Taiwan (i.e the fun places I wanted to go) without some extraordinarily good fortune.

Thus I would have burnt the best five years of my life sat in an office in Southern England, in the blind hope that it might all come good by the time I hit 27 (There's no guarantee it would have). The only respite I would've had would've been a two week holiday in Spain or something. Or one of those long weekends in Somerset.

Furthermore, I just fucking hate doing a 'proper' job, I hate sitting in a glass and metal cage all day in front of AutoCad software with a bunch of guys who are dead behind the eyes. Every summer I went back, these guys were in the same seat, doing the same thing. I'd ask them what they'd been doing the past year and never heard anything more than "Oh I moved to a new flat" or "I went to France six months ago".

And, I hate life in Britain. Gets dark at 5pm in the winter. And at 6pm everyone's locked up indoors, 'V for Vendetta'-style. Full of anger too. You walk to the pub at 9pm and everyone's ready to punch you in the face if you catch their eyes wrongly. I like a calm atmosphere, and I like to walk around without looking over my shoulder.

So, all things considered, I cancelled my fourth year at university, did a CELTA and hopped on a plane to South Korea.

South Korea: 2200 U.S Dollars a month, free apartment and a free plane ticket there. You can live comfortably on that wage, save some money and have a year in an Asian country. You can also take some cheap trips to Japan if you wish. This option should always be taken seriously.

You want to leave England? Well you can next month, with little hassle.

Though of course, there are downsides. The xenophobia will wear you down eventually (You'll get rejected from clubs for 'having a white face'). And the kids are little shitbags (So you'll need to learn how to control a classroom). Also, the women situation is well-documented as tough. Still, it's fun, and I'd love to return to Korea at some point. It's a great experience for any white guy.

I felt it was time to move on after seven months. So I landed in Taipei.

Taiwan: 2200 U.S Dollars a month. No free apartment. Whilst the salary isn't mind-blowing, Taiwan should still be taken seriously. There's not really many other ways to live there and integrate, and despite some negatives, be happy, you're living in freaking Taipei!

The weather's good, the girls are cute, there are barely any westerners, the food is fucking crap, some people have bad teeth, overall though, fun times, thoroughly enjoyed my time there.

And as a side-note: I was on 58,000NT a month for teaching 11 hours a week and working 3.30pm to 9.30pm. The NTU-educated office worker I dated was on 40,000NT a month for working longer hours. A shop worker I fucked was on 29,000NT despite working literally DOUBLE my hours. The middle-aged office worker guys who came in to pick-up their kids were also on less money than the 22 year-old British kid with the silly haircut.

So, for Korea and Taiwan. English teaching is a great way to live in the country and make OK money. You can also add Japan and China to that (though I haven't taught there). In addition, I've spoken to someone on here who earns 5,000 Dollars a month doing privates in Korea. And another making buck in China, so there are money opportunities if you push for them. (Me being a lazy, immature drunk with yellow fever, I don't bother trying). In summary, you'll always have enough money to live there and do fun stuff frequently.

In terms of other countries, you won't be saving money, and it shouldn't be taken as seriously. But hell, it could be worse. In Bangkok you'll earn 40,000Baht a month (Unless you're old and have shoddy qualifications, then you'll be on a very low wage of 30,000 a month). That's still enough money to go out pretty frequently and eat decent food. It'll keep you in the Tropics and will keep your dick in Thai girls. Much prefer that to English life.

Plus the work is bloody easy. Never met an English teacher who works hard (unless he likes money). You'll play a few games, get them to do a wordsearch then it's done.

Then when you get bored, you hop country. Luckily there's no 'building up your resume' in the world of TEFL. (Well there is, but you can just lie. No one in China is gonna know the difference between a real/fake resume from Mr Kim's English School in Seoul). The career allows you to be a perpetual traveller, in some sense. You'll always make enough money to hop to a new place twice a year.

So, in summary: Teaching English is the easiest way to get a pay-check in a foreign county. You can use it to live there, or you can just do it for a bit while you set up your online business.

Stuck in a glass-and-metal cage in America/England? Have yellow fever? Immensely immature like me? Teach English.

[Atlantic]

^ rep point buddy

[Kdog]

Wow. After a while in the oil sands when I have built up a nicer stash of money this is something I could really think about doing. Teaching isn't glamorous, neither is testing a pipeline in -40, difference is at the end of my day I could go eat a $3 meal and have an Asian babe cater to my every need . +1 From me buddy awesome information.

[lowbudgetballer]

I did well overseas in East Asia. I had the money and status of a doctor. Also, they consider an advanced degree in literature impressive over there. Life was far better than where I am now in the US, and I seriously considered moving back but instead plan on moving/career transitioning in the US instead.

Just remember: it's not all ass and alcohol. They openly talk about treating foreign English teachers like cheap foreign labor. They are actively trying to screw you over/make a profit at your expense. I've known people who were sent to immigration detention. Many times to make sure you're not moonlighting, they drag you to a sausage party bar full of old men every night. Threatening to revoke your visa if you do anything they don't like, such as not working overtime, possibly unpaid. Not exactly what you red-pillers refer to as an alpha lifestyle. Things do get better, however, the longer you are there.

lowbudgetballer