ESL Scams Part 2: Exotic Locations

In Part 1 of this series, we examined the "The Money Up Front" scam. In this scam, a school asks the potential teacher for 'commitment' or 'processing' fees before the commencement date of employment. In part 2, we explore the use of Exotic Locations in explaining the attraction and success of teaching scams through the example of my own personal experience with a scam two years ago in Valencia, Spain. Scams that use exotic locations such as Valencia, which is not a popular city for English as Second Language, convolute the first kind of scam by offering these "money up front" fees as refundable. They also locate their scams in exotic locations, by which I mean a city or a country with small ESL markets and in a location where research into the school or their offers is difficult to ascertain.

To read full article please see:
http://blog.esldaily.org/2008/03/15/esl-scams-part-2-exotic-locations.aspx

ESL Scams Part 1: Money Up Front

The global ESL industry is ripe with scams, schemes and frauds. As an industry that primarily relies on long-distance communication via the Internet and telephone to conduct its business, verifying the authenticity of employment opportunities is extremely important. If you have questions an employer can't or won't answer, that's usually the first sign something is wrong. If a job looks to good to be true, i.e. an outrageous salary and great benefits, then it probably is. If an employer asks you for something you shouldn't have to provide, like money for processing papers or an airfare through their company, then you may have stumbled upon a scam.

Full article can now be seen on the new website:
http://blog.esldaily.org/2008/02/25/esl-scams-part-1-money-up-front.aspx

More stories at: www.esldaily.org

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.