Newbie looking for first country to start
Posted: 07 Mar 2010, 20:09
I have been doing some research on my own and I am getting preparing myself for tefl. There is a lot of great information on this forum thanks to the veterans and I hope to learn a lot from you.
I am trying to decide on the best course of action for my current position. Mainly I want to know which are the best places for a tefl newbie to go first for jobs and to gain experience. I have a few places/countries in mind but also I want to be realistic about my chances of success wherever I do decide to go first.
I am a 29yo male with no degree from the Bahamas and I am looking to take either TEFL or CELTA (not sure which yet). I have worked in the IT field for a number of years and some of that time has involved training users, though usually on a one on one basis. I speak some spanish but I am not fluent at this time.
Here are my concerns at this point:
1. I know that not having a degree will be a problem in some places.
2. I have read that some places do turn down applications from black teachers or they are treated differently either on the job or within the society they choose to take up residence. I would rather not waste an expensive plane ticket to a place just to be turned down everywhere (korea?) and to avoid putting myself in a possibly dangerous situation (russia?). If I'm being too paranoid don't be afraid to smack me upside the head :lol:
3. I would like to go some place with a good social environment outside of classes, possibly where there are a fair amount of other english speakers.
4. The age groups I am thinking of at this point would be either young children or adults.
5. With my previous background I would be very interested in private tutoring since I do well in that type of teaching environment already (also the pay is better).
6. Hopefully being a citizen of a commonwealth nation counts for something in terms of getting work visas and other travel/work essentials in fellow commonwealth nations?
The countries that I have considered range from south america to southeast asia to europe (mainly western). As you can see I'm all over the place lol.
I am trying to decide on the best course of action for my current position. Mainly I want to know which are the best places for a tefl newbie to go first for jobs and to gain experience. I have a few places/countries in mind but also I want to be realistic about my chances of success wherever I do decide to go first.
I am a 29yo male with no degree from the Bahamas and I am looking to take either TEFL or CELTA (not sure which yet). I have worked in the IT field for a number of years and some of that time has involved training users, though usually on a one on one basis. I speak some spanish but I am not fluent at this time.
Here are my concerns at this point:
1. I know that not having a degree will be a problem in some places.
2. I have read that some places do turn down applications from black teachers or they are treated differently either on the job or within the society they choose to take up residence. I would rather not waste an expensive plane ticket to a place just to be turned down everywhere (korea?) and to avoid putting myself in a possibly dangerous situation (russia?). If I'm being too paranoid don't be afraid to smack me upside the head :lol:
3. I would like to go some place with a good social environment outside of classes, possibly where there are a fair amount of other english speakers.
4. The age groups I am thinking of at this point would be either young children or adults.
5. With my previous background I would be very interested in private tutoring since I do well in that type of teaching environment already (also the pay is better).
6. Hopefully being a citizen of a commonwealth nation counts for something in terms of getting work visas and other travel/work essentials in fellow commonwealth nations?
The countries that I have considered range from south america to southeast asia to europe (mainly western). As you can see I'm all over the place lol.