In which countries is it easiest to live a relaxed life as an english teacher? Which countries require that you be a native speaker?
Getting the CELTA soon but I'm not sure I want to go to Thailand like everyone else seems to do
In which countries is it easiest to live a relaxed life as an english teacher?
Is there really any place to live a relaxed lifestyle as an English teacher? The Middle East, China and Vietnam pay the most but they're not exactly 'relaxing countries' imo.
I care more about quality of life than pay
Everyone I know who does this sort of thing prefers Japan. Decent pay and good quality of life, at least for a short term trip.
China will pay more, and might even be one of the easier places to set up. My hyper autistic mate said his 6 months over there was amazing and now he shills for China like no one else.
He’s being paid by the ccp
Japan is expensive as frick though. And as far as I know they want you to be a native speaker
Fair enough. Honestly I have never done it but I am based in Australia and I have 4 friends that went to Japan without knowing the language and taught English to kids for 6+ months. They earned enough to live and enjoy themselves. Very little in terms of savings though. Don't know the exact details.
My mate that went to China however did manage to save. He said his unit was dirt cheap, and all his groceries, grog, etc was cheap too. He did not speak any mandarin before he left. They did want him to have a bachelors degree however. Again I dont know specific details.
I guess Australias location to these counties made it a little easier. If you are a seppo South America is probably your best bet.
I dont know if that sort of shit unironically happens but if it does he would be the mate to get roped into that sort of shit without realising it.
>South America
Sounds like a good place for a chill life, though I assume you'd have to be on the lookout security-wise
Same thing with Africa
>bachelors degree
Is this a requirement for teachers in every country?
>bachelors degree
>Is this a requirement for teachers in every country?
I know one person who taught in Cambodia for a few years with no degree, but this was a few years ago. Degrees are required virtually everywhere (aforementioned Thailand included) in order to secure work permits, so while it may still sometimes be possible to find work without one, the work will probably be under the table/not strictly legal, which is not a relaxing way to live IMO. My Cambodian dropout teacher friend had neither work permit nor, for a period of about two years, any valid visa at all, and ended up getting deported. But he was a complete frickup on a lot of levels, independent of his career as a half-assed teacher.
Friend of mine really enjoyed teaching small kids in Korea. Pay was OK, housing was subsidized, and it was daytime hours rather than hagwon/cram school/night school.
And I enjoyed teaching in Thailand, personally, but I think it depends a lot on the kind of place you end up teaching. Private language schools can be hit or miss; I had three friends teaching at those kinds of places, two of whom had not-great experiences, the third of whom loved it. But he was seconded to a 5-star hotel, teaching the staff, and I guess they treated him particularly well. The other two mostly just didn’t like working nights; one found a job at a bilingual private kindergarten that she ended up loving, and for which she was off the clock by early afternoon.
>native speaker
Natives are definitely strongly preferred all over Asia, but some places in Thailand will settle for degreed/credentialed non-natives who can provide sufficient proficiency test scores.
And I don’t know where you are from/where you are already legally allowed to work, but there are non-native speaker teachers working all over Europe. I know several here in Switzerland, where I live and teach. But the non-natives I know who teach here in CH were all legally allowed in already.
>Degrees are required virtually everywhere
Is that a standard bachelor's degree, or any degree from a higher education institution? I have a degree but it's quite specialized, in a niche field, and not a BSc/BA
>Is that a standard bachelor's degree, or any degree from a higher education institution? I have a degree but it's quite specialized, in a niche field, and not a BSc/BA
It doesn't matter what your degree is in, it could be nursing or catering hospitality. Degree + CELTA is all you need.
Oh so anything "above" a high school diploma is fine then. Good
As long as it's a Bachelor of ______ it's good. An associate's degree will pass sometimes when they don't know what it is - happens in China.
No it's not a bachelor's. It's a professional degree in a specific field. Oh well, I'll figure it out
If it took you 3 or more years to get it and you attended university, you're good
Should be difficult then. Then again I can just lie.
It's odd though, I read so many things about CELTA and trinity certs being sufficient to teach ESL but I wasn't aware of the prereqs (except for Japan)
>Is that a standard bachelor's degree, or any degree from a higher education institution? I have a degree but it's quite specialized, in a niche field, and not a BSc/BA
I’m not sure and I suppose it will vary, but most job listings I have seen specifically ask for a Bachelor’s degree. My guess is that whatever degree you earned would be OK in any country that recognizes or offers that or a similar qualification—does your home country have a former colony you could work in, for example?—but that more places won’t understand what it is, and will throw out your application just because your degree doesn’t have a B at the beginning of it.
CELTA is widely respected, for sure, but more often than not in addition to a degree, not used as a substitute for one.
>but that more places won’t understand what it is, and will throw out your application just because your degree doesn’t have a B at the beginning of it.
Some countries you can still work in with just a highschool education and a TEFL. AFAIK
>Cambodia
>China
>Laos
>Most of Africa and some Lat Am
I see. So basically what I'm getting from this is, some countries are more lenient than others and I should try it out anyway. I'd be down for teaching in Latin America or whichever parts of SEA are easy to get into
I started with just a TEFL and not even a HS Diploma (was expelled). Have an M.Ed and teaching license now. Make 6 figures. I started at the bottom and didn't like people looking down on me so kept upskilling.
Just jump straight into it and enjoy some wild experiences.
How did you get a master's in the meantime? Distance learning while working?
>wild experiences
Got anything fun to share?
>Europe
I'm from western europe so I'm looking to leave.
I thought the CELTA was a good way to secure employment in most countries but apparently not. Is it still valuable for stuff like working in hotels and other jobs that require english proficiency?
>Japan
>decent pay
Not for the amount of hours you're expected to work. Japanese economy is turbo fricked right now, the yen in worthless so you will be going backwards essentially. You'll also probably get posted to the middle of buttfrick nowhere with nothing to do. Rural Japanese towns are soviet tier.
My mate lived in Cambodia as a teacher for about 8 years and he's a complete fricking idiot. The kids were correcting his spelling apparently.
how about indonesia?
i feel like thats a bit of an untapped market compared to the other SEA countries when it comes to teaching English. standards will be a bit lower meaning not as much pressure on you as a teacher. the off-set is the pay will be lower but, indonesia is one of the cheapest places to live in SEA. Go to one of the smaller cities in indonesia and you will find a much slower pace of life- somewhere like Manado in north Sulawesi.
I'm just throwing this out there off the top of my head, i've done no research and could be absolutely wrong.
>how about indonesia?
The only big school is EF and although it is run very differently on every island it's fricking awful - terrible hours, 6 days a week and you have to be a monkey for the business marketing. Go to malls, be in commercials, do everything for maximum profit.
There are ofc other schools but it's very much the kid of place you turn up to with your CV rather than try to find a job online. That is, if you are just starting out like OP
i was thinking actual schools, where you teach kids.
i've no idea what EF is.
>i was thinking actual schools, where you teach kids.
>i've no idea what EF is.
It's English First, a franchise language school. They are on every big island including Indo Papau.
>english teacher
Oh you mean, "professional sex tourist"?
If you don't care about money and only want a chill lifestyle go work in a public school in Thailand. Don't choose Bangkok, go out into the provinces in the North East. You'll only make about $1k pm max (30 - 35k THB) but you have long holidays, you can do whatever you want in the class, you'll never get fired and you'll be one of the few young farangs in the town, or maybe the only one, and you'll get a frick ton of hot women after you. It's also really chill and laid back, lots of nature and lazing around. Look in ajarn.com for jobs. GL.