Has anyone taught English

I just finished the 40 hour course, not online but at a college nearby. According to the teachers its all you need to go overseas for a year or two. You basically live off what you make, but you are usually forced to sign contracts.

lynsey - i wouldnt worry so much about the sex trade rather than the contract they make you sign. Look out, do some research before you go, and find a decent company to work with. Many times they will give you a contracts that is just jibberish to you but you are forced to sign it when you get there (out of nowhere to go).
The contracts are very regularly illegal (no overtime, no days off, no stat, no sick days, etc)
one more thing..... hold on to your passport! they might try to take it so that you fulfill your contract before they give it back. Make sure you dont let anybody get their hands on it.
Good luck teaching abroad to all maybe see you out there

 

hah I learned that after checking it out and I foun out that asia is a diver's dream. The school called me for a phone interview...now I just have to think of a way to tell my mom and ask my grandparents to borrow enough money to live of off the first month. The school said if I went to the consulate and got my transcripts notarized and all my paperwork in place and started the visa process that they will provide the plane ticket up front instead of reimbursing me and it's a private school so they would also pay for my housing and the contract states it's 30 k a year or 3 mil won. Is this a good amount for somone who is certified and has a BA?

Also, how much will I need to bring with me to get by on if my first paycheck wouldn't come for 6 weeks?
Okay and one more, how does the employer paid health insurance work and how difficult is it to open a Korean bank account?

 

Spacer, I did my tefl at community college and the state of california paid for it because I agreed to teach in a low income school. It's a program called apple I think it may be federal

 

Spacer:
well it's 140 hours..I think it's very similar. You still get the advanced TEFL certificate at the end.
i-to-i sent me a letter with the details. Just e-mail them at advancedtefl.com and they'll probably send you one if you ask.

 

I wouldn't be going until September if I get it. I just need to get out of here everything, everyone is getting on my nerves, same old, same old;ya know?

Is it better to teach at a public school or private school? I've noticed that the private schools pay more but with the public schools you get 5 weeks of vacation to travel and all I can think is 5 weeks to dive i thailand!!!! The phone itnerview I have is for a school in seoul but I really would like to live in Busan but apparently everyone else does too.

 

^^Oh yeah I know how you feel lynsey... Things haven't been the same since I got back a couple of months ago, I don't think they ever can be the same again, hence my decision to come up with an escape plan off this island...

Thanks for the information Bruschetta.

And not to put anyone off teaching english in asia but this is pretty funny I found it a while ago whilst randomly browsing the

net;http://www.roadjunky.com/korea/teaching.shtml

I think the coolest people to teach would be the novice monks in Laos...I ended up helping one in Luang Prabang with his English for a few days in exchange for using their Wat for my meditation, they even asked if my friend and I wanted to join in with their daily chanting but I didn't feel as comfortable with that! Still, they'd be the best students.

I'm also aiming for September...just need to get the money together.

 

Pete, you and I seem to be in the exact same boat. It's good to know someone out there is feeling my pain as it's a waste of time explaining to most people in Ireland! Where you from in England?

 

Wiltshire, near Stonehendge...The land of druids, crop circles, farms, squaddies, roman forts and um, hobbits...

And yeah it's a waste of time explaining it to most people in general! Except to those that have been travelling...

 

The "roadjunky" link Peterness provided at the top is pretty accurate, Koreans are like robots. Their goal in life is to study. That's pretty much all the students are brainwashed to do. If you are not a good student you are worth nothing in life. In America the students disrespect their teachers and think they're pretty worthless. In Korea, Teaching is one of the most honorable professions and they are very highly regarded.

It's not very expensive there if you don't have to pay rent, I dont know too much about banks or anything like that but i would imagine a few hundred dollars would be enough to live off for 6 weeks if you don't go out much. I hear the English teachers there have a lot of other foreign teachers to party with so you may want some money for entertainment. I would take at least $500, possibly less if you don't plan on doing much the first few weeks.

A place like Thailand is a different story. They have more free spirit and enjoy life as opposed to Koreans who are taught to just study and work. But stay away from the hookers. Most of them are probably men anyway and they're notorious for having aids. THailand is very well known for their transexuals. They're not uptight about them like they are in the US and they have many drag clubs that are enjoyed by both locals and tourists. Be careful, most times it's hard to tell them apart from the real women. ;-) My sisters spent some time in Thailand and just loved it.

I'm Korean and personally would never live in korea longer then a couple weeks but I don't enjoy the foreign experience as much as others do. My sisters lived there for 3 years and one of them almost went crazy. I've heard some Teachers come back who just loved it and can't wait to go back, others I'm sure had the same experience as described above. The hierarchy system is correct, you don't talk back to your elders. But I'm sure they understand foreigners have different customs.

Just something to think about when you all decide where you want to teach English. Good luck to you all!

 

Thanks.

This is actually what I heard about teaching in Korea though saying that all the Koreans I met whilst travelling were really really nice people. Very sweet.

I never liked Thailand but i confess I didn't give it any sort of chance. I got to bangkok after spending 4 months in India and Nepal and I was getting culture shock all over again! I went from half-naked Saddhus hobbling around with small rocks attached to their testciles to the 'magic' of Khao San Road with its tacky neon lights, and hordes of drunk falang sex-tourists...This was enough to put me off Thailand for the rest of my journey and buy a coach ticket straight to the Laotian border within an hour of arrival....

Lao though was magical...

 

I did the same (5months India and Nepal) but I was amazed and got culture shock at how clean and tidy Bangkok was in comparison to the sub-continent.

 

That’s too true. I was checking out this hot chick at the bus station trying to figure out if she was a lady boy or not. Just after spotting “her” adams apple, I looked him in the eyes and he gave me a wink and a smile. I nodded knowingly and smiled back.

 

To be honest when I got to Bangkok from Calcutta I couldn't believe it. I thought I was in Toyko with all the modern buildings. I preceeded to get drunk for the next 3 days solid, morning til night type of thing with a siesta during the day to break up the days drinking. T'was a great three days. It's a good city to party in, I was drinking with a Canadian guy from my guesthouse a Belgian guy and this English couple. We had an asbolute ball. It's not Thailand and I wouldn't like to live there, but after India it was a bit of a relief to be able to let lose in that way, which you can't really do in India.
The thing that shocked me the most was all the football jerseys people were wearing, I thought it was a bit like the Cosat Del Sol. All the same in the 2 weeks I spent in Bangkok I met some really cool people and didn't drink on the Khao San after the first few days. Spent my time down by Chana Songkram. There was a great bar there (well few tables and chairs on the street place) called Geckos, plenty of drunken late nights there, the crowd was mainly ex-pats (teachers and guys with thai wives) and other fellow crusty travellers!
In Ireland alot of people say the best way to get to know a city is find the 'real' drinking spots. I think Geckos came under that. Met some hardcore drinkers there and heard lots of good tales.

And the BUCKETS. Somsung (sp?) and that thai redbull!! God they gave you nasty hangovers.

India for life changin experiences.
Bangkok for a session before you go home!

 

"one night in bangkok makes a bold man humble"

 

The rotting street dogs in Bangkok were much more disturbing than the questionable lady boys.

 

Bangkok from Calcutta...

I can't imagine how totally surreal that would be.

I can relate to the feeling of being in 'Tokyo'!

Yeah Bangkok is sure good for drinking but thats exactly what I was attempting to get away from! So yeah, not for me.

 

well they had an applicant with a masters in english so he ot she got the job ): If I don't get something I love in the states soon I am going to reapply and not be so picky about it now that I found out how low the cost of living is there.
Has anyone been diving out there?

 

well I got a tight job in the US so I am staying in the country of great intellectual hunger for the time being

 

huge mistake

 

True.