Anyone done tefl?

Ahleckz said:
There are jobs out there. I want to live in South America though and there aren't a great deal of jobs out there nor a particularly well established EFL/ESL community like there is in Asia & Spain.

People seem to think it's an easy gig, but it's really not. During the CELTA course you have to teach students (whereas a lot of the others you don't) and it can be quite hard work. Hell, some lessons I was teaching them something that none of my friends or even myself could explain. However, you'll get better with time. Plus, the money is generally terrible in schools. Enough to live on sure, but you won't save anything. Fifiov will be able to comment more on that though.

Finally, do you have a degree? You'll struggle to get a visa in a lot of places without one unless you have extensive experience in another field. You say that you're in your 30s. Perhaps have a look at business English if you've been in business for some time? I'm looking at ways to teach legal English but there's not a great demand in it.

I put myself through the course with the intention of getting a job pretty quickly but that's been delayed a wee bit. However, I think it's worth while doing it and seeing if you like it. It's a great way to see the World and do something worthwhile.
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I do have a degree and i actually have about 5 years of teaching experience - after school teaching through a tutoring company. But not in business studies or languages. But still i know a thing or two about preparation and what to expect from the people your teaching.

But could i up sticks and move somewhere else if as you say you get paid peanuts. Think i would plan on doing it for a year maximum and see how went from there.
 
jsmoke said:
I do have a degree and i actually have about 5 years of teaching experience - after school teaching through a tutoring company. But not in business studies or languages. But still i know a thing or two about preparation and what to expect from the people your teaching.

But could i up sticks and move somewhere else if as you say you get paid peanuts. Think i would plan on doing it for a year maximum and see how went from there.
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Ah right, I see. There is money to be made out there (two options really - the Gulf/Middle East or private tutoring), but most of the school pay is on the low side.

That's my plan, get my first job and do it for a year or so and see what I think. I might end up hating it, might get the bug and want to carry it on forever. You don't know unless you try.
 
Wow it's cheap living in China, a can of pop costs 2p, a macdonalds cost 21p a beer 3p. Obviously salaries will be relative though.
 
jsmoke said:
Wow it's cheap living in China, a can of pop costs 2p, a macdonalds cost 21p a beer 3p. Obviously salaries will be relative though.
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But if salaries are relative, what controls the exchange rate? I thought it was a general cost of living and wages comparison so they levelled out kind of thing.
 
Ahleckz said:
Plus, the money is generally terrible in schools. Enough to live on sure, but you won't save anything. Fifiov will be able to comment more on that though.
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whoops, I totally missed this at the time, so sorry for the bump. I can't actually add all that much- after finishing my CELTA, I did private tutoring in Edinburgh for a while, which is very profitable, but can be a lot of work juggling multiple students. I've been looking for a job for ages, but keep finding that schools (understandably) prefer to recruit people already on the ground. With that in mind, I'm flying out to Taiwan on Monday to try my luck going around schools in person. I also have a friend who runs a pizza restaurant there, who's offered to take me on as his bar manager until I get sorted. Result!

Jobs there tend to pay £10-£18/hour, in a private school, which is actually pretty good compared to the cost of housing etc anywhere outside of Taipei. As said, wages vary depending on the country, but even in China I picked up £10/hour doing private tutoring, which is silly money relative to cost of living- though, 3p for a beer is a little low, you'd be doing well to get one for under 25p in a shop. Still not bad mind :p

So, just starting my proper adventure really, but I do love teaching- just have to see how well that holds up when faced with the issues of dodgy schools and exploited teachers...
 
I've been teaching in Glasgow for the last week and a bit. Just covering work, but did 25 odd hours last week. £14ph.

As for my next (first) move, I'm not sure. I'm pretty keen to get to South America and suspect the best thing to do would be to just get over there and see how I get on. I'm going on holiday to Barcelona later this week so might see how I like the place as it's pretty easy to get a job there.
 
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