ESL Teaching Overseas - Which country?

[thelionking]

I thought many people on here might have experience teaching ESL overseas and I wanted to ask this simple question: Which country would you recommend I go to?

Considerations: 

-have a bachelor's and a master's degree (humanities)

-I don't have a TESL diploma and can't afford one right now

-have 2 yrs ESL teaching experience (from more than 10 yrs ago) that will be difficult to prove but not impossible, if needed

-need to pay back student loans, therefore must make and save as much money as I can!!

-Asia and Middle East pay the best. I'd prefer a Chinese or Arabic speaking country (because I like learning popular, widespread languages that I might be able to use for work) but everything is pointing to Korea right now in terms of free housing, free airfare, low cost of living, good pay, no TESL certificate needed, and no teaching experience needed. Not to mention, my friend is there right now teaching ESL and keeps encouraging me to go there. Having a friend from back home while overseas would be great while I make the transition of living in another country.

-As a woman, I'm not sure about the middle east because I'd likely have to wear a headscarf all of the time to cover my neck and hair (depending on the country) and these countries get hot, would have difficulty renting an apartment on my own as a female, and might not get paid as much as the men. Although, as a social worker, it would be more useful for my career to learn Arabic these days due to the influx of refugees. Lots of settlement jobs in Canada and speaking even basic Arabic would make it easier to get those jobs after I return back home. Or if I live in BC one day, knowing a little Mandarin or Cantonese could come in handy in terms of my career. But Korean... not so much. 

Please suggest any suitable countries and why you think I should go there. If you can recommend any good cities or employers too, please let me know!! thanks  

[rockrmoose]

Have you thought about teaching abroad through Fulbright? I taught English abroad in Taiwan and it was great, no TESL needed for that program. I also know others who taught in cram schools and didn't need a TESL.

[thelionking]

Thanks for the suggestions! I've heard good things about it, but I am Canadian and Fulbright is only available to Americans.

[sofi]

Hey there,

I'm from Turkey and in the university I work we've had a couple of Americans work for us (three of them still do). Depending on the universities you apply, having a master's in humanities might not matter. The good thing about Turkey is that because of the massive (i mean, in my opinion) currency difference ( $1 = 3.64TL ) you can lead a reeeeally comfortable life and still be able to pay your debts. That's what two of my American friends did anyway. Again, it depends on the policy of the school, but in my university, natives are paid in US dollars. The headscarf thing does not apply for Turkey so don't worry about that the city mentioned here is Ankara (the capital). If you're looking to work for universities I would recommend checking out Middle East Technical University (public) and Bilkent University (private) (they're both very reputable and seek out natives often). Bilkent also has a K-12 school called BLIS. Those are highly international universities/schools and they do help with relocation and accommodation. 

After my friends were done in Turkey, they moved to China, and they say they're having a good time there - although one of them fell pretty hard for Turkey and had a hard time adapting to China in the first couple of months (i guess our food, customs and stuff are easier to get used to) There is also another friend in Korea (she's Turkish, married to an American) They say it's also quite nice. They work for the Incheon campus of the University of Utah though. 

Hope these give some ideas!

[sofi]

Forgot to mention: also we regularly have Canadian co-op students from Waterloo for our conversation classes/extracurricular clubs in my workplace

[thelionking]

Thanks Sofi!

Are you still in touch with your friends who used to work in Turkey? I'm interested in working at a university because I really like teaching adults of all ages. I'd like to find out if it's customary to get airfare and accommodations covered, or if you generally have to pay for that on your own. (I have a small budger so any start up costs they could cover would go a long way). I'm also wondering how much I could realistically save (in other words, pay back my loan) per month while living a comfortable yet modest lifestyle. (I don't have any expensive habits like smoking or drinking and a simple apartment will do). Do you think $15,000+ US per year would be unrealistic for Turkey? Do people in Turkey speak Arabic slowly and clearly compared to other countries? Just wondering, as I'm sure it will be a lot of work to learn the language and communicate as a beginner. lol

Edited April 4, 2017 by thelionking

[sofi]

Hello again thelionking,

Not to shock you or anything but we don't speak Arabic here our official language is Turkish and many of my international friends (American, British, Russian...) learned the basics in a couple of months. We LOVE teaching Turkish to internationals and you'll be hearing a lot of it anyway. All people in your workplace will be speaking English fluently as well, so no worries there. I'm in touch with one of them but as he's in China  (and well, Facebook is banned over there) there is a lag in our communication but I can ask some questions for you when I get a hold of him. The airfare and accommodation is really dependent on your contract but I hear most universities cover relocation and give you an additional fund (not too much but still goes a long way) for housing. You get paid here over summer as well and two years ago the salary for internationals in my university was $2000 per month (which makes $48000 per year for you). Once you have your working permit here, the school pays for your insurance as well. At least it's like that in most places I've heard of. You'll also find that if you do decide to come here and go to Istanbul, Ankara, or Izmir (three major cities in Turkey) we have a much more urban lifestyle going on the districts in these cities are a whole other story though! 

If i can provide any additional info, pm me

[thelionking]

haha... I feel a little foolish right now. I know it's a multi-cultural country so I thought... I should have known the official language is Turkish.

I will PM you. Turkey wasn't on my radar, but it does sound appealing when I hear you talk about it.