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I appreciate the heads up, Cil. I'd actually seen that thread before, which deals more with traveling/living abroad in general terms, but my questions are specifically regarding teaching English abroad. (I'm foreign born, myself, incidentally, so I've lived outside of the U.S.)
I taught english in Taejon, South Korea. It isn't anywhere as crazy there as it is in Seoul and Pusan despite being a town of over one million souls. Taejon is actually really spread out and very quiet. I usually got around by bus. I loved the town, the parents of the kids I taught as well as my adult students were all cool to me. The kids are mellower than their U.S. counterparts. Korean radio is also good. Not much on television.
Unfortunately, at least at the time (mid-1990's), they didn't have any english language book stores. I was trying to learn Korean, but I was making slow progress because I was teaching a lot of hours during the week and didn't really get out much to try to practice it on the natives.
The food was killer. I like spicy food and it is particularly great on those bone chilling zero degree days (it keeps getting colder until about 9 a.m. and then begins to warm up).
Korean women are gorgeous, but there is a hardness to them that is emblematic of the Korean people as a whole. They are very passionate and smart, but also very materialistic.
Okay, now here's the unpleasant side: the english language academy industry in Korea is rather dirty. Lots of flouting of immigration regulations, school owners being poor managers, cheating teachers out of pay, even sexual harassment of female staff. They also have it in for blacks because of the Rodney King riots and so it is tough sledding for black folks to get hired there. I had one of my adult female students, a Phd, by the way, ask me if all blacks in the U.S. were criminals. And that is despite the fact that she has been around the block more than most Koreans (speaks three languages well, has lived in Japan, husband has an advance degree).
I have also seen some teachers have problems in Taiwan, but not on the scale that you do in Korea.
The place to teach is in Japan. It is much more foreigner friendly (though the rural areas are more trying unless you speak Japanese), there is a boatload more to do, more foreigners and more Japanese who want to hang out with you and it pays the best. NOVA, which is one of the largest chain schools, is to be avoided at all costs if the government hasn't shut them down yet. AEON is better and you might also look into Kevin's English schools, which are run by a Canadian and his Japanese wife.
The main thing about teaching in Asia is to remember that they are top down, paternalistic societies where nobody is equal. Somebody is either higher or lower in status depending on a whole panoply of factors. So the people who run the schools pretty much expect you to blindly obey them. The Japanese also strongly believe in doing things according to forms and the textbooks they will force you to use often times suck. You just have to deal with it and do the best you can. Also remember that these are cultures that tend to prize indirectness, so directly criticizing your boss could make him lose face. So there is some diplomacy involved. Bosses feel like they can say anything to you because, under the Asian moral system, you owe them for them hiring you. It might sound condescending, but to them it is a natural way of thinking. Japanese society is based on a seemingly unending exchange of favors. So have lots of patience, take things gradually and prod rather than push.
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I taught English in Jordan for two years. It was too long ago to be of any relevance today as to the requirements and the hiring procedures. But I will say that I loved every minute of it. I had no prior experience, no training, and I had never even thought about doing it. I was asked if I wanted to do it, I said Sure, and it took about a minute to get over life-long stage-fright in front of a wonderful class. On my days off, I actually looked forward to getting back to my classes. It's just one of the experiences that make me think I've lived a charmed life.
I left Jordan with the intent of picking up the same line of work in Madagascar, where I'd been promised a position. But when I got there overland, I discovered that while I was en route, the revolutionary government had decided not to grant any work visas to foreigners, and to not renew any already in effect. So that ended a short career. Had I known that, I'd have accepted a job offer in Sudan while passing through. In most countries, in the '70s, all that was required was to be a reasonably articulate native speaker of English. The few people who had TEFL degrees or even credits were simply way overqualified.
Perhaps I might also add that when I was in Korea 15 years ago, I talked to quite a few Americans who were on teaching contracts. Quite a few of them (by no means all) were very disappointed with the way things turned out, many of them saying that what they got (wages, housing, hours, benefits, etc.) were quite different from what they had been promised. So check carefully, if you accept a job sight unseen.
Last edited by jtur88; 03-28-2011 at 11:48 PM..
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Thanks, RobE and regivar
