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Hello everyone from every part of the world. I'm a 21 year old female student from Istanbul University, Turkey and I'm majoring in ELT. I have been reading this forum for so long and I saw many people's questions answered really kindly, therefore, I decided to ask for my own specific suggestions since this desperation is detrimenting my health.

As a woman, atheist and feminist, I really suffer in my own family and country. I love them but being forced to practise a religion that I don't believe in, staying at home all the time except for school and even marrying as soon as I graduate is really unbearable. I have to work somewhere else, and I have been working hard on it.

I'm not a native speaker or EU passport holder but I have a university degree in ELT and I think I can get a grade about 7.0 at IELTS.I have about 2 years experience in teaching and I will intern in Europe for one year with Erasmus+ program. The thing I'm asking is, which country or even city would you recommend to me? I know it depends on the country, city, school and even the students I have but I will try to narrow it down.

The thing is, I will get around 500 Euro per month for the internship and I will try to find an internship that pays around the same because I will have to support myself all the way. I will have around 2,500 Euros beforehand since I'm saving for years. Since most of the Europe jobs require in-land applications, I want to go to a country where I have the most chance to land a job/sponsor for a job.

I want to be in a city where I feel safe as a single woman, walk home alone at night and have a few beers in the evenings with friends yet don't have to fear these to be a reason to be raped. I'm not really a party-goer or drinker anyway but I'm sick of being frowned upon these things.

I want to master after interning so if the country is affordable in that sense, it would be great. However, it is not the most crucial thing because going somewhere to study is easier.

I know A2 level Spanish and A1 level German and Dutch, I believe I can learn pretty fast if I have to but the countries with these languages would be easier.

I'm also majoring in International Relationships but I have one more year to go and I don't know if I have time to finish it here, there are exam centers in Europe of it so I might be able to give it a shot.

I'm very confused as you can see. I will try to update if I remember some other things. Thank you so much in advance, looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

Hi Rabia, and welcome to the forum,

Wow, there's quite a lot to answer here! First, as a non-native English-speaker, to maximise your chances of finding work, you will need a university degree (which can be in anything, but a related degree will definitely look good), official proof of your level of English, and, if your degree is unrelated, a TEFL certificate.

Rabia wrote:I'm a 21 year old female student from Istanbul University, Turkey and I'm majoring in ELT.

The first step on the road to TEFL is completing your degree. Without this, your options will be very limited. Although a degree is not an official requirement for teaching in the EU, most employers will insist on you having one. Furthermore, in countries such as Spain or Poland where third-level education is highly-prized, students tend to look down on those without a degree.

Rabia wrote:I think I can get a grade about 7.0 at IELTS.

As a non-native English-speaker, employers will look more kindly on your applications if you can show official proof of your level of English. Therefore, I would definitely recommend taking an exam that does just that. Consider IELTS, TOEFL or Cambridge Advanced.

Rabia wrote:I have about 2 years experience in teaching and I will intern in Europe for one year with Erasmus+ program.

Ordinarily, I would also recommend investing in a TEFL qualification. However, a completed degree in ELT combined with experience should suffice. Be prepared to explain exactly what your degree entailed and how much real teaching practice you did.

Rabia wrote:I'm not a native speaker or EU passport holder... The thing I'm asking is, which country or even city would you recommend to me? I know it depends on the country, city, school and even the students I have but I will try to narrow it down.

The stumbling block will undoubtedly be the lack of EU citizenship. Employers in the EU cannot just hire a non-EU citizen; they first have to prove that there were no suitably-qualified EU citizens who could do the job. And when it comes to TEFL, this is not a very likely proposition. This means that your chances of being granted a work visa are slim to none.

Rabia wrote:I want to master after interning so if the country is affordable in that sense, it would be great. However, it is not the most crucial thing because going somewhere to study is easier.

To do a Master's you would need a student visa, and a one-year student visa allows you to work for up to 20hrs a week (which is ideal for TEFL). Unless you are married to an EU citizen or have a claim to a passport from an EU member state (either through birth or ancestry), a student visa is really your only option for finding legal work.

If you can't afford to a do Master's immediately, you can apply to do a language course in your chosen country instead. Many course providers can help with or advise on the visa process.

Rabia wrote:I want to be in a city where I feel safe as a single woman, walk home alone at night and have a few beers in the evenings with friends yet don't have to fear these to be a reason to be raped. I'm not really a party-goer or drinker anyway but I'm sick of being frowned upon these things.

There are many cities that would fit the bill. For example, I live in Barcelona, and although it strikes me as being a little less safe than some of the other cities I've lived in, mainly due to petty crime (theft, pickpocketing, etc., rather than serious crimes such as rape), Spain is, generally speaking, a safe country. However, it has several downsides, such as an over-saturated teaching market, overpriced accommodation and mass tourism.

My advice, therefore, is to consider everything that's important to you, for example, cost of living, safety for women, crime rate, opportunities to do a Master's, multiculturalism, weather, transport links, ease of learning the language, etc.

Hope that helps, and if you have any other questions, please ask.

Briona

Hi Rabia,

I think you have a long list of requirements and it won't be easy to achieve everything you want immediately. I think you need to decide what your priorities are and decide what you want to achieve within a year, within two years etc. This plan isn't going to happen overnight.

You already have some TEFL qualifications and some teaching experience. I think you need to build on that. Generally, it's easiest to do that in one's own country. There are many places in Turkey where you could get more teaching experience. Basically, the more teaching experience you have when you start applying for jobs abroad, the better.

You're going to be limited in where you can work, partly because of the visa situation and partly because of your own requirements. I can't think of a country other than Turkey where you could easily find a job. I'm sorry, I know that's not what you want to hear.

I hope you succeed, it sounds as if you deserve that. Do let us know how you get on.

Lucy

Rabia,

I've also replied to your private message.

Lucy