Oh forget it, I'm fed up with this prejudice industry

[Boooooon]

I was really excited when I read about TEFL and the adventures and experiences my friend (who was in China) got to experience.

I researched a lot. In total it'd be 20 hours or more on just googling.

I found out a lot about immigration laws, visas, conditions, etc.

Now after reading about the job ads, I'm getting very sick of this racist and prejudict industry.

I was born in Germany with a German mother and an American dad. Since the town was a former US Air Defense base, almost everyone was either of American descent or spoke English. I knew German, too, but it was only used when I had to go to other parts of Germany (it was compulsory to learn). Even then, I preferred English. I don't have an accent, mind you.

So after checking out the ads, they said NATIVE speakers. I said, well ok, I'm sort of native. But no, I don't work like that, if I'm not a passport holder of the English speaking countries, I can't teach due to "immigration" laws. And again, due to "immigration" laws, I can't teach without bachelor degree and even having rocket science degree would be OK with teaching English! What the hell? Not to mention the only degree worth taking is healthcare since majoring in English will result in a very limited career options, so unless I plan to TEFL all my life, why should I major in English? Useless. And 4 years is a waste if you only need it to gain visa.

Not only that, the places where they don't require bachelor like Indonesia require that, of course, you hold a passport of an English speaking country because, hey, if you don't come from an English speaking country, you can't possibly teach English.


So whatever. I'm probably not gonna visit South Korea, Thailand, Japan, Indonesea or whatever to teach, but I'm probably gonna try and get the TEFL certificate. Atleast some countries in EU don't require bachelor degree.

[nickb]

If your dad is American and lived here at least 5 years after his fourteenth birthday and was an American citizen at the time of your birth, then by American law you are an American citizen, at least that's my understanding of it. My cousin was born abroad and because my uncle was a US Citizen, his child holds dual citizenship. It's something you can look into, though there may be a cutoff-age of claiming it. I would contact the USCIS or an American consulate/embassy, let them know of your situation. You might find out that you've been an American citizen all along and can just get a US passport.

[Alex Case]

You had my sympathy at the point where you were complaining about a passport being used as proof of language and teaching ability, but when you then went on to claim it was an imposition demanding a degree and you were PROBABLY going to get a TEFL certificate, all sympathy was lost- plenty of whingers with a sense of entitlement in the industry already, thank you very much!

[systematic]

So what Boooooon? The last thing I am interested in when I interview a job candidate is his passport. It will soon come out inthe interview whether or not s/he is a native speaker. There is still no workaround for the academic qualifications though.

[nstodi]

Booon, I am german myself and am not happy with the situation either. I have lived in the US since I was 10 and then moved to England. I have just recently graduated with a degree in ELT and am now doing the CELTA. I gave up on finding a job in the UK a long time ago but many other EU countries are less anal about native-speakers as long as you can prove mother tongue language abilities in the language you want to teach. However, I have to agree with the posters before me: not having a degree in any field these days is nearly suicidal. The TEFL course will not get you very far without a proper degree.
Maybe you should rethink your strategy