New to TEFL, country advice please... possibly China?

[CharlieO]

Hello,

I have just joined this forum so apologies if this topic has been discussed many times before :)

I am considering teaching English in Asia, I do not have a TEFL certificate but I am a native english speaker with a degree. I am in the process of weighing up different potential countries and their pros and cons with regards to teaching, countries I have been looking at so far include: Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, China, Korea, Japan (any other suggestions are welcome).

After travelling in SE Asia for 6 months a while ago I became enamoured with Thailand and the thought of spending some time living and working there is very appealing. However, doing some research made me think that Thailand may not be the most practical place for me at the moment, though I haven't given up on it entirely. The main reason that Thailand is out for now is that unfortunately I will be setting off with a more limited budget than hoped for.

So I have been looking at countries that are somewhat more financially rewarding, these seem to be China, Korea and Japan. I believe that there are teaching opportunities in these countries where a return flight is included as well as payed for accomodation and reasonable wages. I am thinking of ruling out Japan due to high cost of living, Korea is tempting but I have read that this is not the most beginner friendly teaching environment, which leads me to China.

My reasoning is that if I go to China I will be more financially stable and after having spent some time there I should have more flexibility to move on to other countries in the region at a future date should I choose.

Any advice would be very welcome,

Thanks for reading

[CharlieO]

anyone?

[Alex Case]

I wouldn't say that China is the easiest place to teach for a beginner with no training either (if indeed there is such a place), unless you go through Wall Street where you are just a supplement to the computer programme and very little planning is needed. Financially, Korea is almost always better than China for starting teachers, with Taiwan second and in terms of savings, China and Japan about equal nowadays.

Might I suggest that wherever you go a little training in your future job might make life a bit easier?

[gentleben]

Good question; I've done 6 months of teaching in Eastern Europe already but am relatively new to TEFL myself. I really advise that you should think about getting a qualification before you go. Not only will it help you as a teacher but it will mean you can apply to better schools.

As for where to go; Japan - good money but hard to find a job. Korea - very good money and a lot of demmand but I have friends there who say it's very hard work, Vietnam - beautiful but a relatively poor country, Thailand - beautiful but very hot!! China is a good balance between all of them and there is huge demand for teachers.

I applied for a job and was contacted by a company called Gold Star TEFL Recruitment and they organised all of the interviews with the school for me so it was an easy process for me to get hired. I do have a CELTA qualification though and I think that made it a lot easier, which is why I recommend doing some study before you go.

Good luck!