Teaching English abroad

[Royce_aus]

Hi,
I really like the idea of teaching English in another country, and i'd love to hear if anyone here has any experience with this.
The only language i know is English, other then a couple phrases in Japanese.
So i'd really be interested to hear from people who have had the experience of not knowing the native language.

1 - Did you find the experience enjoyable?
2 - was there anything you did which helped you get the most out of it?

Personally i find the idea of landing in a country where i don't speak the language would be a tremendous opportunity to learn and develop. as well as to meet new people.

just to let you know a little about me, I'm 21 I live in Australia and want to see the wonders of the world, without spending years saving up the money.
This is something I've been thinking about a lot but never looked into it seriously till this year.

I greatly appreciate everyone's potential input

[Conan Stevens]

Do a search for the ajarn forums - it is the english teachers forums in Thailand.

[Susie]

You absolutely do not need to speak a second language in order to teach English-- typically you will not be teaching absolute beginners but learners who have an English foundation to build on; speaking with them in their native tongue isn't necessary and in many cases is forbidden during English lessons.

Even many absolute-beginner lessons are taught only in the target language (in this case, English). So again, second language not required.

It's possible to teach English without certification but it's easier to find work if you have it-- usually the places that offer certification will help you to find a job, and usually the place where you will work will help you out with finding accomodation, etc. Many times they will also provide you with lessons in the language of the country where you are teaching, though that varies from school to school.

I've been teaching English in Eastern Europe for a little while now, if you have some specific questions I'd be glad to try to help. I do find the experience enjoyable-- I'm interested in the structure of language and I enjoy working with the students in my classes (mostly adults who are motivated to learn). That said language schools are often disorganized and they sometimes try to take advantage of teachers, from my point of view, but language schools vary so it can be hard to generalize. I went into teaching with no certification and it was a lot tougher than I'd imagined, but now that I've been doing it for a while it's fun.

[Royce_aus]

wow it sounds great. just to let you know where i'm coming from, i've graduated college and have a diploma (however its unrelated to teaching) I'm young 22 this year, and eager to try this out.

I was wondering is teaching something that you have had an interest or any experience in before you started teaching?
It's an interest of mine but i like to learn on the job so thats a plus.
when you say hard do you mean in terms of your workload, or something more like getting by in on those wages or even just in a foreign country.

have you ever found it difficult to get a job, and are there certain skills(especially easily attainable ones ) that they seek?

thanks for your reply i think you've got a lot of interesting insight on this subject so i don't mind if you don't answer any of those questions i would like to hear more about your experience.

[travelhappy]

Hi Royce_aus

you might find these three articles useful. They cover teaching English in Japan, Korea and Thailand. They are all written by my girlfriend, who spent 2 years living in Japan while teaching, and also did several teaching camps in Korea and now teaches in Thailand. There is a lot of practical advice about what you need, how to locate a job, visa requirements etc etc.

All three articles are listed at
Teaching TEFL · Thailand Backpacking: Travelhappy.info

Hope they help

Best
Chris

[Royce_aus]

wow those articles were a great read, very interesting.
I had a chat with a women today who told me that without a uni degree Japan, Thailand and hmm some other place would not accept me.

however she did just come back from China and recommended some places to see, and this company OWH | Welcome | Overseas Working Holidays, Australia and said that they are crying for English teachers at the moment.

I'm going to look into this and see what opportunities may arise