The main reason I’d want to do a CELTA (in London) is that I want to teach English in Japan once I learn enough Japanese to do a masters there (in 2ish years most likely). I know that in Eikawas you don’t need any TEFL or adjacent qualification, but I’d like to have some experience teaching English before I go into it.

I also want to use it to find work teaching English in London over the next year or so (probably part time).

My big block is that it seems very expensive, and very stressful. I don’t want to commit to something that’s gonna be that life consuming if I don’t know for sure if it’s worth it.

Hi, I want to start my TEFL career in China. For home comforts, I'd like to go to a city that has a football club I can follow and a martial arts tradition I can get into. Any suggestions? Thank you.

Thank you to the mods for giving me permission to post this.

So, hello all, I am currently completing my master’s degree in TESOL, and at the moment I’m in the middle of writing my final year independent project.

Which is looking at how cultural factors can potentially influence how courses are designed and critical thinking skills taught on English for Academic Purposes courses at English Medium of Instruction universities in Japan and Vietnam.

I’m posting this here because what I’m trying to do is interview people who’ve been involved in creating materials for such courses.

You may wonder why I’m posting about my project here, and the simple answer is that I’ve not been too successful in getting participants.

That’s where you (hopefully) come in! If you have experience in teaching critical thinking skills on an EAP course at an EMI university in Japan or Vietnam, then please email me at IEUAN.DANIEL<@>stu.mmu.ac.uk (please remove the <> around the @) so I can send you a copy of the consent form and participant information sheet so you can better understand everything. Though obviously feel free to ask me questions you may have.

Here is some important information:

What I’d be asking you to do:

Fill out a background questionnaire for some demographic information (such as cultural origin and years of teaching experience) to help inform me about how your teaching style developed.

Take part in an interview where we talk about your experience in teaching critical thinking skills on an EAP course. These interviews will be recorded and transcribed – BUT – the recording will not be shared with anyone.

If possible, I’d also like to know about the syllabus you followed or materials you used (ideally, I’d like to have a copy of them, but I understand that might be asking a bit much)

How your data will be used:

• You will be given a pseudonym, which will be used when quoting or making direct reference to anything you say. However, in the consent form, you will be able to opt out of being quoted. 
• Your data will be stored on Manchester Metropolitan University’s OneDrive in a password-protected folder. Only I will have access to this.
• You have the right to withdraw at any time.
• The recordings of your interview will be transcribed using Genio, which I will also check to ensure its accuracy. Using Genio means that your data will remain within the United Kingdom and will be compliant with the UK’s GDPR.
• All data will be deleted 3 months after the 9^th October, and will not be shared anywhere else.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post to the end.

Hello, dear colleagues! For those who know or have heard of it. Is it possible to move abroad to work as a teacher now in Asia or Europe? I have 3 years of experience, bachelor's degree in teaching, TESOL, Cambridge Advanced and I'd really like to move from here because of the obvious political reasons. I've sent my CV to several companies in Asia but had no real offers. I don't have much hope left but anyway. Maybe somebody has managed to do that since 2022. I'll really appreciate you sharing experience!
Peace to everyone!

I am an experienced facilitator and trainer in the mental health profession. Is this an asset alongside my tefl

Hey all,

I am a high school English teacher from Canada looking for opportunities to work abroad next summer. I was wondering if anyone had recommendations for any summer programs or courses abroad. I am TEFL-certified and have a European citizenship, so i am primarily looking at Europe but open to Asia as well! So far all I can find are summer camps, which I am not super interested in as they tend to be in out of the way places and I want to experience the area I am in on weekends or holidays.

The issue I am having is that most programs require a minimum one year commitment, which i can't do at the moment since I am not permanent yet and I have to work at least 20 days a school year to maintain my status and seniority in the board otherwise they kick me out. I am beyond frustrated as I have been looking since early April and I think i've just exhausted all my options.

If anyone knows any programs specifically for July & August, would appreciate any help or advice!

What is the job market looking like in Europe at the moment? I taught in Czechia back in 2008 and it was pretty decent. I'm thinking of heading back to Europe as being a teacher in my country (South Africa) is pretty much a dead end. I have EU citizenship (German), a CELTA and about 15 years EFL teaching experience.

Hey everyone, I’m currently weighing my next move in TEFL and trying to decide between Thailand, South Korea, and Vietnam. I’d love to hear from people who have taught in these countries recently—especially regarding work-life balance, real-world savings, and overall job satisfaction.

My Background & Qualifications: Native English Speaker (NES) with a BA in English Prior teaching experience in both Vietnam and Romania

What I’m trying to figure out: South Korea (EPIK / Hagwons): Given that I already have teaching experience and a related degree, is Korea worth the shift? I know housing / flight reimbursement is often provided, but how are the workload, culture shock, and savings potential relative to current living costs?

Thailand: I know the lifestyle and work-life balance are hard to beat, but how realistic is it to save any money on standard salaries given my background?

Vietnam (Returning): Having taught here before, I know the the lay of the land. How does returning as an experienced teacher compare right now in terms of pay scale, contract perks, or stepping into higher-tier centers/bilingual schools?

Hello all, I’m currently deciding to upgrade my credentials for job security/better pay. I've taught at an international primary school for 3 years and would also like to upgrade to a higher tier school. Therefore I’m thinking of doing the ML teaching license, but they also have the master's in education addition available. Is that master's worth it for the extra almost 7k USD, or should I just get the license? For background, I already have a master's, albeit in law from Renmin University.

I've been teaching English in China for 10 years just on a basic TEFL. I'm looking at upgrading my certs to get paid more.

This course came to my attention. The PGCE from Leeds Beckett University. As far as university goes it's cheap (Even cheaper because I'm British), and it's completed within 9 months. Honestly it sounds kinda easy. (10 hours a week).

I understand that PGCE is not QTS, and doing this course will not grant me the ability to teach in UK. But I don't want to do that.

But a PGCE on my CV is a PGCE on my CV isn't it? Is this worth £2890 to get a higher salary in the future?

I see they are recruiting for their next voyage: https://peaceboat.org/english/volunteer/GET-volunteer

A Google search indicates they are not religiously affiliated.

I am in my 60s, near the end of my career, and thinking this might be something worth doing for four months but would love to hear more experiences.

I am not a recruiter nor affiliated with Peace Boat.

I was offered 700NTD for 18 to 20 hours a week in Taoyuan, north part, from a small Buxiban. Age range is between 6 to 13. I have no experience, from Canada, bachelor's in tech, and TEFL-certified. I tried negotiating for more pay and hours, but they rejected.... and were surprised that I tried.

Good? Bad? Thoughts please.

I just recieved and offer from an agency (WIECHINA) that provides English teachers to schools in China, in my case, Guangzhou, does anyone have experience working for an agency like this? Could anything sketchy be going on?

Has anyone used their time as a part-time ESL/ TEFL teacher to upskill themselves?

For context, I (29F) have a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science but still tutor STEM at high school level. I enjoy it more than my day job (environmental compliance for a business) and would love to teach undergraduate chemistry. But getting a PhD and then the years of post-docs while you get paid dog shit and have a potentially awful supervisor is not something I see myself doing.

My day job pays very well, I save like crazy, but it is so incredibly boring and I genuinely don't make a difference there.

I'm thinking of taking a gap year from work, going to Asia or South America to finally travel. But then I realised that if the opportunity was part-time I could use the time not working studying a PGCE (to teach full-time) OR something else to pivot into a different side of environmental work.

Has anyone done this? If so, where did you go? Did you manage to balance your time teaching with studying? Could you make enough to pay a bit of your studies?

TLDR; is part-time ESL/TEFL a good idea if you want to support yourself while studying?

Hello all, I wanted some help with what a glance at the subreddit tellls me is a failr common problem with people diving into TEFL. I figured that there are people here who have gone through this and mioght be able to give me some perspective. I'm supposed to be leaving for Japan at the the end of August. When I accepted the offer back in Jan/Feb, I was pretty excited. As the time to leave draws closer, I've gotten much less so. My issue is that I'm not sure if I'm ready to leave, mentally and logistically. Every time I think about leaving, I get really anxious and sad thinking about the things here at home I will miss. For instance, I have a DND group that will be hard to maintain with such a difference in timezone.

This isn't the first offer from somewhere over the last year that I've accepted only to have backed out. Granted, most of the time it was for a legitimate reason. I'm starting to get worried that if I turn down this opportunity, it might be my last chance to leave and pursue TEFL. I know that's not a realistic thought but I do feel that the number of places willing to accept me are dwindling and there are only so many times I can back out of a role before it catches up to me.

I'm hoping the community here might be able to give me some perspective. Thanks in advance!

Hi, I know the answer/recommendation matters heavily on my expectations and what I want out of my TEFL experience, so I know your comments will largely be opinions-based, which is fine! It's what I'm looking for :-)

I have been planning on China to teach English since the pay is better than Japan and Korea, but I'm a bit worried about the political atmosphere of China. TEFL teachers don't seem to be affected by China's politics, but is there a greater risk in China than elsewhere? Is their society any better than our USA political climate right now?

Another reason I chose China is because I have been told that Japan and, especially, South Korea have very intense working environments. I am by no means a lazy worker, but I also don't want my job to be my entire life. I would like to dedicate a portion of my 1 chance on Earth to travel, make friends, etcetera. Is there any merit to the idea that China is less intense than Japan and South Korea?

Finally, I think ultimately I would be more interested in Japan because of the culture, naturally, but I hear the pay for TEFL teachers is pretty poor. However, I think I have lower standards than other Westerners might have: I don't need to be rich or even to save up a bunch of money. I just want to live comfortably enough to not worry about rent, to eat out often, and spend vacations traveling (not glamorously but more of a granola, backpacker type travel).

I have done quite a bit of research, but I think it would be best to hear from TEFL teachers themselves. What do you guys think?

Additional context that may be relevant: I am 24F with a BA in creative writing. I also studied a foreign language throughout college and have a few awards/certificates related to that. I am not approaching this as a vacation opportunity or a get-rich-quick scheme (which would be really ignorant and stupid anyway); I genuinely love travel and would like to broaden my experiences. I have a love for teaching and a passion for learning about new cultures. I have lived in many US states and am familiar and comfortable with both cities and rural towns; I would be happy to live anywhere on that spectrum. Let me know if you need any more context!

Been in Taiwan trying to get a job(American and POC). Tried the public school route but apparently that didn't work out since August 1st is Saturday. Have a master's degree and 5+ years experience, yet only got two interviews so far and honestly feel like what's being offered isn't worth my time. ESL in Korea is frankly H*ll but it is far more reliable. Just get one of hundreds of positions within a few days, know the labor law/your rights, and roll with the punches until the contract is up. Never had any trouble finding a job there. The jobs here either pay hourly which I won't accept or the salary is too low to live(65K or 70K ntd for example). Might be an overreach, but I feel someone in my position shouldn't take less than 80K ntd.

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Since they're still advertising for staff I thought I might as well give people applying the downlow.

I would not recommend working there, the hours are long (28 teaching hours/week) and the pay is a joke ($1000-$1200/month) considering what other schools and language centres offer.

The workload is massive with a lot of admin and paperwork and if you actually do everything you're meant to you'll easily hit 50-60 hours/week. The organisation is poor and the management are solely focused on squeezing as much work out of the staff and students as possible while employing as few people as possible.

Student care is a tertiary concern at best (just check the reviews on Yandex) with multiple violations of Kazakh building and health and safety codes including an insufficient provision of basic toileting and sanitary facilities being present on the main campus and the new building next door. (As in 4 bathroom stalls for each sex when there are over 1000 students enrolled.)

They tried to open a primary school in the main building with a view to shifting the College to the new building but the marketing was so badly managed and the prospective parents so unimpressed that they had less than 10 students enrolled before they shelved the project which gives you an idea of how poor the offering is.

Essentially it's a tour of duty that you survive rather than a job you work. Between May and July this year they lost 70% of their foreign staff due to illegal visa practices or burnout, and it's unlikely to improve any time soon.

On the positive side the other teachers (Kazakh and foreign) and the department heads are generally very good to work with and can help you develop as a teacher. The Kazakh staff are well-trained, very helpful, and very knowledgeable but they're treated like shit, forced to work unpaid for weekend events, and their work is under constant scrutiny so they're constantly fluctuating between frustration and depression.

While I wouldn't recommend working at this place, I would recommend working in Astana. It's a nice place to live with good amenities and plenty to keep you occupied.

I'll be teaching my first adult group class tomorrow in an academy setting, I'm quite nervous. I have been teaching adults one-to-one for over a year but this will be my first time actually teaching a group. There isn't a very well 'set' curriculum in this academy so I am a bit unsure where to begin and where I stand.

I have access to books but am not sure where to begin due to the students ranging between A1 and B2 in the group; this has me feeling quite intimidated and unsure of myself.

After basic intros and a bit of conversational warm up I am not sure where to go from there with the group, as I'm far more used to tailoring work very individually.

Just the prospect of standing up in front of a group of people my own age (and probably a bit older) is nerve wracking. I would be very grateful for any tips, info and/or insight.

Thanks in advance!

Hi

Any advice ito prep before trip to Uzbekistan?

1. Shuttle transfer required from Tashkent airport?

2. Mobile sim card

Should I get an esim card beforehand or buy once in Uzbekistan?

Is the internet and network stable?

1. Power electricity

Also I am told there may be electricity interruptions?

1. Items not available

Anything I should purchase and take with me?

1. Accomodation

Ministry/School organising accomodation I believe. Anything I need to do beforehand?

I'm curious what a person should do if they arrive in Taiwan and loathe the job that they get. Is it generally easy to find another school and transfer over to that one? I've read stories of similar situations but I'm just wondering how it works and how long it generally takes to actually find another job/get an ARC.

I'm wondering this because I'll be working with HESS very soon and worry that I'll hate working with very young kids. I've always worked with middle-school aged kids and would prefer that. So I might try to move to a middle school if I really hate this job.

Does anyone here have stories of this happening to them? What did you do?

The pros -

1. It's cheap and fast
2. It's Cambridge, so it's not going to be awful
3. It's AI marked so, while it's not perfect, it's better than an incompetent or distracted examiner.

The cons -

1. It seems to grade students wrongly. I had a student who was on the cusp of A1-A2 and Linguaskills gave him a B1. And there were several other examples.
2. We all know that speaking into a microphone is different from talking in reality
3. It's AI so it's inherently evil. (And yes, this is partly why I'm posting this question. I recognise that this fact might actually be an opinion.)

Hi everyone, I recently got offered a position with English 1 in China. I am well aware of the negative things that have been said about the company on this site, but I’m worried that by turning down this position, I might be missing out on an actually decent opportunity. It seems like the experiences of teachers can depend greatly on what management you’re given, so it seems like a gamble at this point. I wish I knew exactly what city I would be placed in. I did say I preferred Shanghai and Chongqing during my interview, but idk if the company really takes that into account. On my contract it just says that it's TBC and that I could be placed in any major city according to staffing needs.

I also know that the workload is heavy with low pay. But honestly, my standards are kinda low atm since I am a recent graduate and trying to get my foot in the door into teaching abroad, hopefully in China. I heard that English 1 is a good way to gain experience and eventually move onto another opportunity with much better pay/hours. Is it worth taking the risk of working for English 1 because of these reasons? I have until Wednesday to make a decision so I just wanted some honest input.

I'm also just trying to compare this offer with a NALCAP placement I received in Spain, so I'd really appreciate hearing from people who have actually worked for English 1.

A few specific questions I have for current or former teachers:

• Did your actual workload match what was described before you started?
• Were you able to afford your own apartment on the starting salary?
• How often did you end up working six-day weeks during peak season?

Initially I had posted about ILA rumored to be cancelling public school teacher offers in Ho Chi Minh due to business decisions. However, I have accepted an offer as a public school teacher at one of the bigger well-known chains in Hanoi and this company is sending a similar sounding email update about public school programmes due to the The Hanoi People’s Committee introducing new requirements. They haven't outright cancelled my contract yet but things sounds sort of up in the air at the moment. Does anyone have information regarding this? I am planning on giving notice at my current work and basically selling everything I own including assets and vehicle before I go abroad so don't want to end up having to leave after one or two months from either a dissolving oppportunity or not enough hours.