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teaching english overseas


Jakis

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has anyone on the board ever applied or taught english over seas. Me and friend really want to do this once we graduate and are wondering where to look to get info. Anyhelp would be greatly appreciated. Thanks..also if anyone has share your thoughts.

Thanks,

Jake

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my ex-girlfriend is leaving for Bali next month.. I was supposed to go through it as well but decided against it. The course is pretty cheap but you pay for all kinds of crazy stuff like nearly $1000 in vaccinations. I think hamilton and maybe someone else from this board have done it before they would probably have better insight than me.

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One big worry is that if you go over-seas, it can become a trap. The money is good and tough to give-up. Also, while there, you can easily alienate yourself from making work-related connections in Canada.

My cousin has been " stuck " in Japan for 11 years, but my friend parlayed his teaching experiences in Korea into a job in Ottawa. Just be smart.

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I've taught in South Korea and Australia. A great experience that I would recommend for anyone. Save a bit of money and get to travel the world. What more can you ask for? Do you have concrete plans on where to go, where to teach etc? What's your degree in?

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I've taught in Taiwan and my friend Jojo has taught in Japan, Taiwan, Hungary, South Korea, etc. Lots of places don't require that you take a course.

I recommend it, but there is some downsides. My ex girlfriend was under contract in South Korea when their money crashed. When she started she was making the equivelent of $1600 a month or so, and she was saving it up. Then the money crashed, but her contract of course didn't change. Her pay and all her savings was chopped to about a third of what it used to be.

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I'm currently working right here in Ontario teaching english to Jared... man, it's difficult!

bwahahahaahaha, you crack me up, aaron

what qualifications do you need to do this?

you just need to have your grade 10

Is that in decimal or binary?

Aloha,

Brad

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I spent just over a year in South Korea, and would recommend it to anyone... if you think you might enjoy that sort of thing, you probably will. The most important thing is to get yourself in with a reputable company - there are a lot of fly-by-night operations out there.

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I agree with Hamilton. Be careful who you set up with, or you might get screwed. The universities are best, but generally you need an MA or at least a degree in Linguistics/ESL education. Two good sites to check out are www.eslcafe.com (they have good discussion boards on the topic) and www.ohayosensei.com for Japan. At Ohayo Sensei you need to download the list of jobs for the month or week or whatever it is.

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another good program for japan is the JET programme, i have a friend who's been over there for a year with JET and she's planning on staying for a quite a while longer, i know the money is pretty awesome. it's a long application process but definitely worth looking into. i've been looking into teaching english overseas too, i really want to go to latin america and shore up my spanish. the money is in asia, though. best of luck!

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I too am considering teaching abroad in the not so distant future.. There are a few places in Japan where I can make good money and also surf when I`m not working, which sounds perfect! Anyhoo, a friend of a friend`s sister wrote this and I got a hold of it.. For what its worth....

Well first and foremost it is impossible to get the

best teaching position over the internet. While I am

sure this does not surprise you, I mention because you

should get into the idea of fighting for getting the

most you can. Anywhere in Asia is about money money

money. They will give you peanuts if they can even

though you are qualified and pay someone with no

experience more just because they told them what they

wanted to hear.

I don't suggest that money is everything, but if you

are working your ass off and some dumbass who yells at

the kids all day because he / she doesn't know sh!t

about sh!t, then you want to be making more than them.

You are North American. Interviewing means nothing to

them. They will hire you off the plane with no

experience. Having said that I don't knock you getting

practice, I just want you to know that you don't have

to.

Some easy things to say:

college or university graduated

TESL, TEFL, TOEIC, TOEFL, IELTS, etc. etc. trained

experience teaching English as a second language

love working with kids (most work is teaching kids)

I think (insert Asian culture here) is very

interesting

and THE MOST important thing you plan to be here for

several years

Anything else doesn't really matter to them, they just

want to see your white face.

Over the internet ot phone they will probably offer

you around $20 CAN an hour (because you have

credentials), anyone ANYONE who steps off the plane

looking for a job will immediately be offered $30 CAN

an hour, even some redneck trailer park reject who

can't feed himself would be scooped up.

I believe Korea is around the same, but it is more

expensive to live there.

Anything else you tell them, they will say: wow! What

a good idea. I can see you really care about children.

You must be a very good teacher. You are very pretty.

I think you will like working here. We can help you

find a place to live. You should meet my family, etc.

etc.

They only care about hooking you in. From what I have

seen and heard, all of Asia is this way. I assure it

is nothing personal, most of them see schools as

another form of McDonald's and they just have to wait

for the money to flow in... and it will.

Once you have the game figured out it's easy to play.

The difficulty is getting past the fact that everyone

lies to you. Losing face is just a nice way of saying

I'm not mature enough to deal a situation where I have

made a mistake.

Don't let me change your ideals. I'll let Taiwan do

that. Overall Asia is a good place. I hope that you

guys can save some money, show up and relax for a bit,

before getting work. Most people get here and find a

job immediately, understandably. If you can wait it

out, you will be much happier with your situation.

And that ends living in Asia pt.1 Please join us again

for pt.2 coping with pollution and other foul smells.

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