TEFLWatch Pulls the Plug on ESL Forums

TEFL Watch, a website dedicated to aiding ESL teachers make informed decisions about employment, has shut down its forum. After weeks of intense pressure and backhanded tactics from Thailand private language school owners to remove their names from the site's forum blacklist...
For further information please see the following link to our new website:
http://blog.esldaily.org/2008/03/26/teflwatch-pulls-the-plug-on-esl-forums.aspx

New Regulations: Thailand

The Thai Ministry of Education has declared that all foreign teachers must have a Teacher Profession Certificate in order to legally teach in the country. The non-immigrant B visa needed for work permits for foreign teachers will no longer be enough to obtain a work permit. To receive a certificate, teachers will have to...

To view the full article please see:

http://blog.esldaily.org/2008/03/17/new-regulations-thailand.aspx

Neil On Trail: Thailand

Five months after his October 19th 2007 arrest, Christopher Paul Neil, a 32-year-old Canadian schoolteacher charged with sexually abusing a 9-year-old Thai boy, has begun his trail in Bangkok, Thailand...

View the full article at:
http://blog.esldaily.org/2008/03/11/neil-on-trail-thailand.aspx

ESL Suicide

A British man has fallen to his death in Thailand. Paul Hollen, a 31-year-old English teacher at Siriwitthaya School in Samut Prakan, fell from the window of his 19th floor condominium in the Phra Pradaeng district...

To view full article click the following link:
http://blog.esldaily.org/2008/03/07/esl-suicide.aspx

A Bad Way to Spend Valentine's Day

This would be a bad way to spend Valentine's Day: in the custody of Thai police in Bangkok on charges of child sex abuse charges in the United States. Such was the case for Earl R. Bonds, a 42 year-old Missouri man working as an English tutor in Phuket. He was arrested at his apartment in Phuket Wednesday night after the FBI and Thai authorities cooperated to arrest and detain him. It is expected he will be extradited to the United States before the end of the week.

Thailand continues to be a hotspot for pedophiles and sexual deviants to find employment as ESL teachers. But with continued coordination and cooperation of international police agencies and the Thai authorities, perhaps 2008 will be another successful year of arrests following a very successful 2007. It's a good start to the year, anyway. And maybe someone will finally give Bonds some chocolate in prison.

Happy Valentine's Day!

For full details, refer to:

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23158508/

For a full google search on articles pertaining to this story, refer to:

http://www.google.co.kr/search?hl=en&q=%22An+American+English+teacher+facing+child+sex+charges+%22&aq=f

By Spencer McCall

Getting Started in Thailand

The majority of nationalities entering Thailand are granted a 30-day Tourist Visa. This visa usually gives teachers enough time to receive a work permit and extended visa and allows you flexibility on deciding where to work. However, it is a good idea to know where in Thailand you would like to look for work and perhaps, if possible, already be in contact with institutions.

Once you enter on a tourist visa you can travel to the area of your work and determine if the job is right for you. If you take the position, your employer will gather the required paperwork for your extended visa. If they are timely in this and you can get to the visa office in Bangkok with 20 days remaining on your visa the in-country office will be able to process your extension. However, if you have less than 20 days remaining on your visa, it will be necessary to leave the country for the paperwork.

Make sure to double-check all the paperwork for correct spelling, especially of your name. The visa office allows no leeway in this.

Things to bring with you:
- an official copy of your university diploma
- a certified copy of your transcripts
- several passport photos (preferably all of the same picture)

Things you will probably have to do for work:
- get a health certificate (this needs to be from a Thai hospital and it is very inexpensive. They just check your blood pressure/weight/temperature and give you a paper)
- sign every document you copy for the visa paperwork to certify that they are real copies

Katherine Whitton

katherinewhitton@gmail.com

Am I qualified to teach English?

If you graduated from University with a Bachelor’s degree in Arts and Sciences then the answer to that question is yes, you are qualified, in certain countries. Korea, Japan and even Taiwan in certain cases are countries that are accepting of almost any degree and who pay their teachers a competitive salary. And if you have previous teaching experience then you are also qualified. But this is misleading. Many employers choose to ignore previous teaching experience because of the higher salary it entails. Schools in some countries are specific about the experience you have, i.e. If you have taught in Korea for several years, and wish to move to Taiwan, you are highly unlikely to receive additional pay for a new job because the experience wasn’t in Taiwan.

Just because a school is willing to hire you does not necessarily make you qualified to teach either. This is aggravating if you accept a new job thousands of miles from home and discover only after you arrive you are being paid less and working for a disreputable school because you lacked the proper qualifications. ESL teachers are hired for many reasons (James, article reference to experiments article)

There were many instances in 2007 where, in both in local and foreign online magazines, it was reported that English as a Second Language education was generally poor in quality. The list of complaints stretched anywhere from a lack of experience in the classroom, to the education of the teachers not pertaining to English teaching.

On one website it was reported that in Korea, “Only 3 percent [of current English teachers] have a teaching qualification, while 2 percent have a qualification that relate to the teaching of English in a foreign language setting” http://www.tesol-law.com/Vol_1_2006_rk.php

And there have been recent cases of foreign teachers illegally teaching with fake degrees. On another website it was reported “A Canadian English instructor who was arrested for using a forged bachelor's degree to get a visa and a job in Korea has been sentenced to jail.” http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200707/200707160021.html

But Korea is not the only country currently experiencing negative feedback about the quality and qualifications of its English teachers. The Thai government has had many of the country’s English language and other educational institutions investigated to ensure their teachers are adequately certified. Many EFL teachers in Thailand are now required to take special modules in Education to retain and maintain a legal teaching job.

As mentioned in a previous article in http://www.esldaily.org/, even Saudi Arabia is now questioning the qualifications of its ESL teachers. http://esldaily.blogspot.com/2007/12/speaking-english-doesnt-mean-you-can.html

“What is a qualified English teacher?” It’s a very difficult question to answer because the word “qualified” has many definitions. If you have a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature or Education, a TESOL certificate, or even a Masters degree you will be considered a qualified teacher depending upon the country in which you teach. Not all degrees are considered equal.

There are also teachers who have obtained a PhD in TESOL. These teachers should by all accounts be deemed the most qualified to teach English as a Second Language. And although this is true, over qualification actually decreases your chances of finding employment in many sectors of the ESL market. A private study published on the web last year showed that English job seekers who possessed post-graduate education and teaching experience had less opportunity for employment.
http://korean-school.blogspot.com/2007/04/korean-trends-education-vs-experience.html

In the report, a Bachelor of Education was the degree that showed the greatest potential and success in finding employment. Nonetheless, a degree in English literature had a higher chance of success than a Masters degree in TESOL. Experience was also shown to decrease the amount of job options.

Returning to the original question, are “we” qualified to teach English? One must first look at what are we being hired for. Many experienced and inexperienced teachers alike are now being regarded as unqualified because of their degrees. At the same time legitimately qualified teachers are being overlooked and denied employment because they are overqualified. On occasion they are even discriminated against because of their age, sex, race, etc.

Perhaps it is the responsibility of the educational institutes to properly train teachers. The demand is there for teachers and the teachers are willing to teach. Are the educational institutes ready to accept the responsibility to guide and train its teachers? An international job in high demand should set up programs to deal with its new teachers. I have been an ESL teacher for seven years and have been to many “professional conferences” designed to enhance teaching abilities. However, the majority of these conferences tend to focus less on improving the quality of a teacher’s abilities and more on “cultural adaptation” to the host country.

In a personal opinion, I believe there is no such thing as a REAL qualified ESL teacher. Nothing can prepare someone for the classroom more than experience itself, and if the educational institutes do not appreciate experience, they are always going to have problems with finding a “qualified teacher.”

Korea Jim

ESL Jobs: When To Go Where? (Part 2)

By Spencer McCall

ESL Jobs: When To Go Where? (Part 1)

In Part 1, I provided you with some general timelines of when you should apply for jobs in certain countries in Asia . In Part 2, I am offering some complimentary advice on two more things you should be aware of when searching for a job in Asia . Again, please feel free to comment on anything you read, whether it is to provide further advice based on your experiences or if you have found this article to be of any help to you.

International Schools: These schools can be a good option for qualified teachers or someone with a Bachelor’s of Education. But don’t judge a book by its cover. These schools are sometimes nothing more than glorified private academies. Although International schools pay higher salaries on average than most private academies and boast prestige because of their “international” staff, they also require longer hours and more work that is often times incommensurate with their salaries. International schools can be affiliated with Universities as well as government-run programs, but this is not always the case. Bottom line, do your research and don’t assume from the title of the school that you will be working for a reputable company. In terms of the best times to teach at one of these institutions, their semesters follow the same pattern as most Universities. January and September are the months when most new teachers are hired. That means teachers should apply at least a month before, in December and August.

Countries: Every country in Asia has at least a few International schools. If you are interested in working for them, try directly contacting someone at the school if possible. Don’t rely on what a recruiter has to say.

Calendars: If you were planning on teaching in Asia , it would be wise to consult a lunar calendar as most holidays that affect ESL hiring dates are based upon it. It’s a good idea to always check out a local calendar of the country in which you intend to teach for special events and festivals. All of them are available from government and tourist homepages.

If Asia is not the place for you, please stay in touch in the coming weeks as we will also be covering the best times to teach in Europe and South America .

ESL Jobs: When to Go Where (Part 1)

By Spencer McCall

Are you looking to start teaching ESL in 2008? Then timing is critical in finding a job that suits you. Before you begin your search on the Internet or over the phone, determine which ages and grades you want to teach. Once you have decided on whom you would like to teach, next choose where you would like to teach. You need to find out as much as possible concerning the school systems in the country of your choice. Almost all countries run their public and private schools on semester systems, but the months and days are usually quite different from North American and European school calendars. Religious holidays in Asia and the Middle East dictate vacations and semester lengths just as much as Easter and Christmas do in the West.

So where does this leave you? Well, in Korea and Japan, where hiring goes on year-round, the new school semester for University and public schools has already begun, which means finding the highest paying job in a reputable school will be very difficult if you’re starting your search today. But not to fear! Asia and many markets around the world have teaching positions available for inexperienced and experienced teachers alike throughout the year. You just can’t be that picky about certain things like city location, apartment size or the extra hundred dollars of salary you want.

So if you’re desperate to start teaching today, or if you’re looking for a position in a few months time, check out the list below for a brief guide to the hottest-times of the year to head to these countries. Remember, private schools hire year-round. But if you want a very good job, then be patient and wait for the right time to visit these countries.

If anyone has any further dates, additions or comments to add please feel free to do so at the end of the article.

When To Go:

January / September: The two biggest international starting months for school semesters. Never forget to watch these months for job offers. Usually the best positions at the most reputable, well-established schools become available for these months. Start looking at least two months earlier for these positions, as they are very competitive. There are also many winter camps in Korea and Japan which provide month-long gigs to teachers looking for extra income.

Countries: Korea , Japan , Hong Kong , China , Taiwan

When Not To Go:

Late-January/February: Only travel to Asia in late-January or February if you already have a signed contract and a visa with a school. The Chinese New Year in 2008 begins on February 8th. The vacation time for this festival stretches from days to weeks depending upon the country and few jobs are available at this time. As well, there is the major Tet festival in Vietnam that coincides with the Chinese New Year in Late January and Early February. In general, it is a poor time to travel Asia looking for ESL work.

Countries: China , Hong Kong , Taiwan , Thailand , Vietnam .

When to Go:

May – August: This is a good time to find teaching positions in private academies. There are summer camps in Korea and part-time work in Japan and Taiwan . Schools often extend teaching hours and add more staff in the summer as full-time teachers and students go on vacation and parents send their children to more academies. If you are hired during the summer for a short contract, available in countries such as Taiwan , Thailand, China and at the present time Korea, there is a good chance you could sign-on for the fall. Also being in the country allows you the opportunity to network and interview with other schools to find a position that suits you.

Countries: China , Thailand , Taiwan , Vietnam , Cambodia , Laos , Korea , Japan

When Not to Go:

March, April/ October-December: These months are usually the off-seasons for most ESL markets. The semesters for Universities, public and private schools are only mid-way through. Generally, only private language academies hire teachers during these months and even then the jobs available will not be the best ones. However, if you are desperate for a job, it is still possible to find teaching positions in a select few countries during these times.

Countries: China, Korea , Taiwan

Part 2

2007’s Most Infamous ESL Teacher: Christopher Paul Neil (One Man Can Make a Difference)

By Jim Korea

2007 will most likely be remembered in the ESL world as the year Christopher Paul Neil was arrested. Neal will be remembered not only as being a terrible pedophile, but also as the individual responsible for governments across the Asia Pacific region changing and tightening their restrictions in regards to foreigners and working visas.

Neil, an English teacher who taught for the past few years in South Korea, instigated a huge Interpol manhunt this year under charges of pedophilia. Numerous disturbing photos of Neal with young children from Vietnam and Cambodia surfaced on the Internet more than 4 years ago, but Neal’s face had been purposefully distorted in all the photographs. It wasn’t until this year when German police reconstructed one of the images using modern software that Neal’s face was finally identified and arrested in Thailand on October 19, 2007.

Since the arrest of Neil, officials from around the world have been tightening their laws. Korea, the country in which Neil last taught, has decided to stiffen laws for all teachers. Visas now require (A slight delay to March 15th 2008) a police check, a criminal check and verification of degrees by the teacher’s university. In the near future, teachers may also have to undergo interviews with the nearest Korean Embassy. Thailand Police have posted 50 other photos of Western pedophilia suspects and they have cracked down on over 1000 teachers, verifying their documents and making sure they are abiding by the rules of their visas. In November, Japan began fingerprinting all foreigners entering the country. Japanese immigration officials claim that it is not a direct result of the Christopher Neil incident, but the timing of the law change makes many visitors question the motive behind it. China has always had strict laws regarding foreign English teachers, but they have certainly raised their awareness this year of the international community of teachers and earlier this year charged an ESL teacher under similar charges as those of Neil. Taiwan, Cambodia, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and even Mexico have been hard hit by the news of Neal’s actions and subsequent arrest.

Many ESL teachers feel angry about the shame Neil has brought on the international ESL teaching community and in some situations teachers find the finger pointing to them. Discrimination for some is at an all time high.

Currently Neil is facing numerous charges that can land him over 20 years in Thai prison. Thai police are conducting further forensic testing and Neal’s court date has been extended: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5g8qdIstGdTbpAUxvxeDJETLe7-Xw Little else is known about the infamous Canadian who proved in 2007 that “One man can make a difference.”

A Look Ahead for 2008: ESL Hotspots

By Spencer McCall

Looking to teach ESL in 2008? Asia is still the largest market in the world for teaching English. But the ESL market in Asia has changed a lot in the past year. More changes are promised for the New Year. Knowing what those changes are and where they're happening is vital for the inexperienced teacher to make an educated choice of where to find the teaching job that will best suit them. (ESL Reform).

Japan is Asia's largest and longest established ESL market, but the country is tightening its security measures on foreigners entering the country and the job market has been dealt a major blow with the closure of Nova, a franchise that had at its peak close to a 50% share of the marketplace. The wages for teachers are still higher in Japan, but the cost of living (especially in rent and food) outweighs most of the benefits from the high salary.

Tainted with fake-degree scandals and new restrictions on E2 visas amid a run-up to presidential elections, Korea is certainly not as attractive an ESL market as it was a year ago. Wages here are still quite high and the cost of living is manageable in comparison with monthly salaries. This is the country many teachers still come to with the intent to pay off student loans or save for graduate school. But this will likely change in the coming months, at least in terms of the influx of teachers common to Korea. Visas will take longer to process in the New Year and fewer private schools will be able to meet the demand of increased wages for experienced teachers. Regardless, for most of 2008, Korea will still be the place to go for many teachers because of the relatively high salaries.

Taiwan is gaining more attention these days as teachers are looking for alternatives to Japan and Korea, but to be sure, the country's ESL market is past its prime. It's illegal to teach kindergarten as a foreigner in Taiwan. This doesn't stop almost every private institution from running one and hiring foreigners for it. Also the visa process now requires a bank statement showing $2,000 or more in available funds. Yet, even with this statement, there's no guarantee the consulate will approve a teacher for the extended visa necessary to get an ARC card (Alien Registration Card). Wages are competitive, but lower than Korea and the cost of living is slightly higher than Korea as well. Taiwan is still a viable option for many teachers, but do the homework before moving there.

Southeast Asia has several countries that will likely surpass the ESL markets of Korea, Japan and Taiwan combined in the coming years. Wages are still relatively low in most of Southeast Asia, the highest being somewhere between a $1000 and $1500 US in Thailand for a reputable school. But the most attractive thing about Southeast Asia right now is the low-cost of living. Vietnam gained a lot of attention in 2007 for its competitive wages and cheap living costs. Laos is poised for the same attention in 2008. Teachers who are tired of the hectic, expensive lifestyles of Japan, Korea and even Taiwan are leaving the long-established ESL markets. Expect 2008 to bring many changes in foreign employment in Asia.

English Teacher Brain Drain

By Korea Jim

With news of NOVA in Japan closing its doors (an English language academy chain) and the changes in Korean immigration policy, foreigners are flooding to new areas of Asia. Japan and South Korea, known to be the most lucrative English teaching countries, are now loosing many of their more experienced foreign teachers. Nova has let go of hundreds of their foreign teachers and now the teachers are faced with either returning home unemployed, or trying to quickly find a job in another country. Some distressed teachers have responded to Nova’s closing in online forums. One teacher stated “Originally I had my heart set on Japan, however, with the news of a major school like NOVA closing shop, with little or no warning to its employees, think again. How can such a large school just let all its students and employees go without any form of protection…” Granted, not every Language school in Japan is having financial difficulty, but news like NOVA is not giving a good name to Japan’s ESL market.

Next to Japan sits Korea, known for hiring thousands of ESL teachers every year. However, with new strict visa procedures hiring teachers in Korea will be more difficult. For expatriates of some countries it will take over a month to organize the appropriate documents, i.e. Police Check, Medical History Check, University degree, transcripts and proof of alumni. Further, teachers who have not taught for more than 8 months are required to have an in-person interview at the nearest Korean embassy nearest to their hometown. Experienced teachers with years of teaching will unlikely want return to their home country and wait for anywhere from a week to a month or more for the appropriate documents. Few will also want to wait unemployed. Public schools and smaller private institutes will not be able to afford sending these experienced teachers to their native countries and pay for hotel or rent plus their monthly salaries. Schools will find it more feasible to let the experienced teachers leave and find new inexperienced teachers to replace them, or refuse to hire foreign teachers in general.

If you now look through the Internet online job boards you can see such a variation in teachers. However, one distinction that differs from just months ago, where people use to write “absolutely no China” or “Only Korea/Japan” you now see people requesting Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Taiwan and other countries. One teacher wrote in his application “Looking for work that will sponsor new visa process and salary over 3 million won.” Countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, and Taiwan may not pay as much in monthly salaries, however, teachers can find work without having to return to their home country and can easily change jobs if their employment becomes endangered.

Asian English Language School Salary Comparison

Coming to Asia to teach English has a lot to offer. Each country has different Salary and benefits. Keep in mind that the benefits and salary varies depending on what city you are in. Some of the major Countries are as follows (money is in US dollars).

South Korea: Average Salary: $1900 - $2500, Housing: included,
Health Care: 50/50 Airfare: included.

Thailand: Average Salary: $400 – $700, Housing: Sometimes,
Health Care: Usually Not, Airfare: Usually Not.

Japan: Average Salary: $2000 - $3000 Housing: Sometimes,
Health Care: Usually, Airfare: Sometimes or partial.

China: Average Salary: $400 – $700, Housing: Included,
Health Care: Included, Airfare: Partial.

Vietnam: Average Salary: $800 up, Housing: Most include,
Health Care: Partial, Airfare: Sometimes or Partial.

Taiwan: Average Salary: $1500 - $2000 Housing: Most places,
Health Care: Most, Airfare: Partial or in full.

Hong Kong: Average Salary: $1200 - $1700, Housing: Included,
Health Care: Sometimes, Airfare: Partial.

Laos: Average Salary: $200 - $400, Housing: No,
Health Care: No, Airfare: No

There are many other Asian countries offering ESL jobs such as Malaysia and Cambodia. Each country has it’s own pay rate. Some countries have higher expectations of it’s teachers than others, be aware of the criteria. You can find jobs and their criteria through websites like eslcafe.com or ajarn.com. Many contracts now require you to send a copy of your university degree (if not the original) and other documents to process your work visa. Visa work can take up to or more than a month, it is best to start your search early.