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

Invest while teaching in 2008

By Jim Korea

Previously we talked about saving money (http://esldaily.blogspot.com/2008/01/saving-money.html). However, there are ways to make money while teaching ESL overseas. There are the obvious solutions like asking for a raise, do some overtime, and teaching privates classes. However, these solutions may not be for you. Perhaps you are not in a position to ask for a raise. Your school does not offer overtime, or pays even less than your regular pay. Teaching privates may be illegal in your host country or the school frowns upon it. Instead, we will focus on how to invest your money while teaching.

Previously we talked about exchanging money into other currencies. Not only does this prevent you from spending your money, but if done properly, can make you money as well. For example, if you converted $1000 US into Euro one year ago, you would have received € 769 Euro. Today it would be worth $1132 US. That's 13% growth in one year; no bank offers such an interest rate. The American Dollar did fall this year, but it did not fall by 13%. One thing to consider is in the past currencies have risen and fallen due to large events like the Olympics. China is hosting the summer Olympics this year. Chinese currency COULD rise significantly during the Olympics. You may consider investing a little money into Chinese RMB prior to the summer and then convert it back before the Olympics are over. One thing to keep in mind, banks charge a percentage of the money converted for every transaction. Expect to loose about 2.5% each time you convert. (you can track currency history through the following site: http://www.oanda.com/convert/fxhistory

Perhaps banking is not your thing and you prefer something you can touch. Perhaps you are a gold lover? Gold and silver are climbing on a daily basis. As of today, gold is at $862 US per Oz, up from about $620 US per Oz a year ago. Roughly a 40% increase in one year is better than keeping your money in the bank collecting dust. Gold is easy to carry from one country to another as well. Silver is also expected to climb in price. Unfortunately, silver is quite heavy and not as easy to transfer from country to country. (See conversions here http://www.thebulliondesk.com/)

Okay, so converting money and buying gold is not your thing. But before you start investing in the stock market, there are other ways of making money to consider. You can earn extra money on the Internet. Ever thought about starting a Blog or website? For setting up a Blog check out http://www.blogger.com/ or http://wordpress.com/, it’s completely free and easy. To make some money you can sign up for https://www.google.com/adsense/login/en_US/. And the best part is the minimal investment: zero.

You can also try Recruiting. Some countries pay up to and even over $1000 US per English teacher. Try contacting a recruiter and ask to become a “sub-recruiter” or simply ask if can help them find a teacher. Generally the recruiters will pay you half the rate they charge the school. You find the teacher, and they find the school. You can network with your friends to find new teachers or you can look on the Internet on job data bases.

These are just some ideas for investing or making additional income. If you have any other ideas post a comment after this article. We would love to hear your ideas and feedback.

Saving money

By Korea Jim

Most new ESL teachers are often living abroad for their first time. And for many it is also their first time earning a steady income. If one considers that many ESL teachers around the world earn enough money to be regarded as middle-class in their host countries, it is a wonder why saving money never ceases to be a difficult task for new teachers. It is far too easy to fall into the trap of living paycheck to paycheck. The new teacher must be diligent this does not happen to them or it could ruin their experience. So here are some basic ways to save money while living abroad and teaching. Let us know if this advice is helpful to you by adding a comment at the end of the article.

1. Use public transportation. Taxis are cheap in many foreign countries, but the fares add up over time. Use the bus or other public transportation when possible.

2. Pay your bills first or set money aside for when the bills come.

3. Keep your money in the bank, or perhaps even send money to another bank in either your home country or open a second account in your host country.

4. Convert a percentage of your money into another currency like $US or Euro. This does three very convenient things: First, it adds a measure of security to your money because of the stability of these currencies; second, it can also reduce the physical bulk of currencies that lack large denominations such as $50 or $100 dollar bills. When you're traveling with a lot of money, this can make a big difference; third, it prevents your from spending the money and thus helping you save.

5. Every penny counts, literally. Remember to save your loose change. I've been able to pay for plane tickets to my favorite vacation spots with the change from my jar of coins.

6. Learn how to cook at home and try to eat the local food. Western food is imported and sold at outrageous prices, especially at restaurants. If you're really dying for a steak or an imported beer, go grocery shopping and cook at home. This can save you a lot of money while satisfying your craving.

7. Budget yourself when going out. Leave your cards at home and bring just what you need.

8. Try to save enough money for emergencies. A good rule to live by: always have enough money for an airplane ticket home. Living abroad can be unpredictable and you never know when something will come up where you have to leave your host country. Airplane ticket money provides a measure of personal security as well as peace of mind.

By following these simple rules, your teaching experience will improve and you will have something more to go home to and not just an empty bank account.

Benefits and Pitfalls of Freelance English Teaching: Part 2

By Jim Korea

The benefit of freelance English teaching is obvious, great pay. But the primary drawback of freelance teaching is its unpredictability. Freelance work of any kind, whether it is in teaching, photography or writing, is an unstable profession. It takes a certain personality to withstand the ups and downs of such work.

There are several circumstances that make freelance teaching unstable. One of the most common circumstances is a student quitting without warning. Freelance teaching can be very financially unstable. As well, freelance work can be emotionally stressful because students often don’t provide teachers with reasons why they have quit. Students call in sick and expect not to pay for the class, five minutes before the start of it. Most students want to be tutored in the evening, which makes scheduling very difficult if a teacher is working for a private institution because they often operate from afternoon to night. Finding time for friends is difficult and scheduling new students can be frustrating. Students also sometimes quit and don’t pay for lessons they owe.

But these are just some things to be aware of. Don’t be too discouraged when students quit. As long as the teacher is financially secure, they should be alright. Students always quit, and it is impossible to make every student happy. The average life of a private class is generally no longer than six months. It is common for students to quit before entering a different level of education or for a vacation period.

Avoid the problem of last minute cancellations by making it very clear to the family and the student that if they cancel they must call at least one hour before class so they don’t waste the teacher’s time. If they fail to cancel an hour beforehand they must pay for at least half of the class if not all of it. A teacher must remember that what they are doing is still a business and it should be respected as such by both the student and the teacher.

Rumors are hard to avoid and if they get out of control they can really have an impact on a teacher’s career. Just remember that it is just a rumor and in most cases it will go away. But the best thing to do is to avoid situations that start rumors. Teacher’s shouldn’t get involved with any problematic families and decline to volunteer personal information. Be the “happy” English teacher and talk about your family back home and your cute little puppy when you where six years old. Don’t talk about going out on Saturday. As well, if the teacher has the choice, they should try to avoid living too close to their students. A teacher’s private life should remain private.

It is difficult to avoid a crowded nighttime schedule. A fact of life is most people have to work or go to school during the day. The only time to learn English is in the evening or at night. In some cases, early mornings can work well for both the teacher and the student. One should remember to keep track of cancelled classes and changed times, i.e. don’t just loosely write a schedule on a calendar. If a teacher is teaching more than 15 hours a week they must be well organized. Using a diary to keep track of payments is a good idea. Or perhaps typing out a schedule in MS Excel will allow the teacher to save it for future reference.

It is quite common for teachers to have taught a student for a month and then have them disappear or refuse to return phone calls. This can be very stressful when trying to collect payment for a class. Ways to avoid this are to have the student pay at the beginning of each month, not the end, unless the teacher knows the family. If the family refuses to pay at the beginning of the month, request to be paid at the end of each week.

Freelance work has its benefits and pitfalls. If a teacher decides to undertake freelance work, they must be a strong and motivated person. But they shouldn’t forget to take at least a day off every week or two to relax and socialize with friends. And teachers should always keep up their health by exercising and eating properly. When there is a chance to take a vacation, they shouldn’t let the money go to their heads. Private tutoring can make teachers greedy because of the benefit of the supplementary income it provides, but it often costs them precious downtime for socializing or exercising. Don’t let this happen to you.

Benefits and Pitfalls of Freelance English Teaching: Part 1

By Korea Jim

Many ESL teachers practice freelance English teaching, also known as “private” tutoring. But before a teacher decides to engage in freelance work, they should consider the laws of the country in which they reside. Countries such as South Korea have laws punishable by deportation and high fines for working without a proper visa. And there are countries such as Japan and Taiwan where freelance work in encouraged and legal. There are still hundreds of teachers that continue to teach illegally in countries around the world, but they have made the conscious, albeit risky, decision the remunerations of freelance work outweigh the punishments.

The first thing a teacher should consider when engaging in freelance work is their schedule. Tutoring can have dry spells, when schools are on holiday or students cancel classes. Freelance work as a supplement to full-time income is the best situation to be in when these dry spells occur. It is inadvisable for a teacher to rely on freelance work as their primary income. Rent is expensive and with damage deposits, as well as first and last month’s rent, getting an apartment can be a large burden for a first-time English teacher. You should have enough money to continue with your daily routine without having to rely on income for a few months. You should also keep emergency flight money on hand, just in case you have to leave. You should also know your host country very well and understand the laws and risks you take by engaging in freelance work.

The second thing that you must keep in mind, you must be social and have many friends. You cannot make the transition into freelance work and expect many students without having a social network, because a teacher can find many students based on referrals by other teachers and their students. You should also socialize the local people of your host country when possible. Perhaps even have a “home stay” family to help you out for a few months.

Third, depending on your legal situation, you should advertise. Yes, word of mouth works best, but it can be slow in the beginning. Posting advertisements at local schools may help a little, but it’s the parents you need to focus on; they are the ones with the money. Leave a little leaflet with your information and experience in both your language and the local language, with little tear off sheets at the bottom with your phone number. You may even consider placing your picture in the local paper to help grab the eye of parents. Do not forget to ask permission before placing the advertisement.

Fourth, how much should you charge? You must consider your student and his/her financial situation and the local going rate. Check out the different Internet forums in your host country and ask what the going rate is. You don’t want to under-charge or over-charge your clients; this can upset other teachers or students. It is also wise to keep your dealings quiet and confidential. Only discuss your freelance work with those people you feel you can trust.