donnie Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 Anyone done this?? What were your experiences and did it harm your employment opportunities in the uk after?? Something ive always fancied doing but never have for some reason. Wouldn't mind doing it for a year or two. I have a degree too although my gf doesnt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wainy316 Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 I did 19 months in Korea and absolutely loved it. Would recommend to anyone although shop around for a good school because there are some horror stories. In Korea a degree is required for visa purposes but no TEFL is needed. Not sure what the job market is like out there now as it did hit a bit of a slump recently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leviramsey Posted November 1, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted November 1, 2013 Wouldn't teaching abroad imply, you know, dealing with foreigners? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donnie Posted November 1, 2013 Author Share Posted November 1, 2013 Wouldn't teaching abroad imply, you know, dealing with foreigners? You seem like a strange fella Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donnie Posted November 1, 2013 Author Share Posted November 1, 2013 I did 19 months in Korea and absolutely loved it. Would recommend to anyone although shop around for a good school because there are some horror stories. In Korea a degree is required for visa purposes but no TEFL is needed. Not sure what the job market is like out there now as it did hit a bit of a slump recently. Yeah I know a few people teaching in Korea who love it. Decent wage as well considering they only work 20 hour weeks. I know one guy who has been there 3 years and managed to save 10k a year from his wages. Did it harm your job prospects when you got back as hear employers get put off by it (in terms of seeing it as a doss abroad for a year or two) ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leviramsey Posted November 1, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted November 1, 2013 (edited) Wouldn't teaching abroad imply, you know, dealing with foreigners?You seem like a strange fellaFrom your previous posts on this site, one could certainly draw the conclusion that you're xenophobic, which makes your desire to teach foreigners rather strange. Edited November 1, 2013 by leviramsey 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wainy316 Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 Well Korea is one of the best places to go to become a victim of xenophobia. I don't think it's hindered me on my CV, in some fields it could certainly be an asset. Generally though I think it is ignored rather than seen as a negative. The pay is good relative to cost of living and your accommodation is paid for, but your friend must have saved hard to put 10K back a year. I did about 9k in my 19 months whilst living relatively comfortably. You'll usually be at work more than 20 hours a week too, that figure will probably be contact hours. Korea is notorious for desk warming (racking up your VT post count). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFC_Hitz Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 Well I'm on my 4th year in Istanbul as an ESL teacher. If I wasn't such a lazy bar stool I could easily earn £2500, tax free, a month and still have time to go to pub and get obliterated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ponky Posted November 2, 2013 Share Posted November 2, 2013 So would you try to teach them in a Brummy accent? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StefanAVFC Posted November 2, 2013 Share Posted November 2, 2013 Wouldn't teaching abroad imply, you know, dealing with foreigners? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donnie Posted November 2, 2013 Author Share Posted November 2, 2013 Well I'm on my 4th year in Istanbul as an ESL teacher. If I wasn't such a lazy bar stool I could easily earn £2500, tax free, a month and still have time to go to pub and get obliterated. Bloody heck didnt realise you could earn that type of money in turkey...do you think you'll ever come back to the uk?? Earning that money for the hours you do, no way would I come back. I wanted to go korea but as gf doesnt have a degree she will struggle. China seems to be the only place you dont need a degree Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wainy316 Posted November 2, 2013 Share Posted November 2, 2013 So would you try to teach them in a Brummy accent? I did. But found myself doing a ghey forced American accent in order for them to understand. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villaguy Posted November 2, 2013 Share Posted November 2, 2013 Well I'm on my 4th year in Istanbul as an ESL teacher. If I wasn't such a lazy bar stool I could easily earn £2500, tax free, a month and still have time to go to pub and get obliterated. Bloody heck didnt realise you could earn that type of money in turkey...do you think you'll ever come back to the uk?? Earning that money for the hours you do, no way would I come back. I wanted to go korea but as gf doesnt have a degree she will struggle. China seems to be the only place you dont need a degree I didn't realise that either, that's decent money by English standards, you'd live like a king there on that. I did do some research on this actually and from what I found is that Korea, Japan and the Middle East are the best paid places for ESL teachers, I think that Istanbul is a higher wage than the far east wages though. In the Middle East healthcare and accomodation comes free as part of the job making it more attractive but I personally wouldn't want to live in an urban area surrounded by desert, doesn't appeal to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFC_Hitz Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 Well I'm on my 4th year in Istanbul as an ESL teacher. If I wasn't such a lazy bar stool I could easily earn £2500, tax free, a month and still have time to go to pub and get obliterated. Bloody heck didnt realise you could earn that type of money in turkey...do you think you'll ever come back to the uk?? Earning that money for the hours you do, no way would I come back. I wanted to go korea but as gf doesnt have a degree she will struggle. China seems to be the only place you dont need a degree I didn't realise that either, that's decent money by English standards, you'd live like a king there on that. I did do some research on this actually and from what I found is that Korea, Japan and the Middle East are the best paid places for ESL teachers, I think that Istanbul is a higher wage than the far east wages though. In the Middle East healthcare and accomodation comes free as part of the job making it more attractive but I personally wouldn't want to live in an urban area surrounded by desert, doesn't appeal to me. In the top private schools in Istanbul, you can get up to $4400 dollars a month. With a housing allowance, medical insurance, food card and return flights home, twice a year. Although I'm 2-3 years off being experienced enough for these positions. I'm topping up my £1200 a month wage with private lessons and other side projects, such as audio guides and business English courses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Burgundy Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 Someone I know went to China and ended up teaching their for almost 10 years, he loved it! It was part of a TEFL placement. He’s just chipped off to Canada now. My other mate is just doing a weekend course at Aston at the moment too so I expect he will be off travelling around teaching in the not too distant future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetrees Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 My cousin teaches abroad and has done so, on and off, for the last 20 years. In between she has held positions at a couple of good schools in England. As an aside I have just hired a young guy as a bit of a punt. One of the things that he has going for him is that he worked abroad for 6 months to gain some experience, which proves to me that he is prepared to get off his arse and go out in the world. Good job, as I am sending him out of the country to build some more experience! In short, in this day and age, I don't think that prospective employers look negatively at people who have travelled and worked, quite the opposite. And we older people also appreciate that work and fun are mixed together at that age! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts