Wednesday,November14,2012

Teaching English abroad: where tostart?

OneofthemostfrequenttypeofquestionIreceivedwhenwewereofferingadvisingwasaboutprospectsforteachingEnglishabroad.Manyfolkshadfriendsteachingabroador,evenmorebasically,had"heard"aboutteachingEnglishoverseasandunderstoodittobean"easier"waytogetabroadandtogetabroadwithoutaspecificskillset(otherthananativefacilitywiththelanguage).

Well,overtheyearsIpulledtogetherafairlysolidsetofintroductoryresourcesthatIwouldrecommendtofolksstartingoutexploringthefield.Sowhatfollowsisn'texhaustivebutitwill,Itrust,offerfolksanentrywaytolearnmoreabouttheins&outsofteachingEnglishabroadaswellaspossiblyofferingthosealreadyfamiliarwiththebasicswithsomeadditional"hiddengems".

Butlet'sstartwithacoupleimportantreminders:

Youdon'tneedtobe"passionate"aboutteachingtobeasuccessteachingEnglishabroadbutyoudoneedtobeatleastinterestedinit.It'sagoodideatotrytogetsomeexperiencelocallybeforedivingtoodeeplyintoaninternationalsearch.

Going even moreglobal...

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Here Be Monsters!![This blog is currently inactive: discussion on Twitter & LinkedIn] Theblog of Go Global! @ UWMadison, a University of WisconsinMadisonbased resource for those exploring their options to work internationally,both here in the United States and "abroad"...

TrytutoringwithlocalliteracyorganizationsorinK12schools.ManyUScolleges&universitiesofferEnglishtutoringprogramsforinternationalstudentssignup,getsometraining,andgetsomeexperience.Youwon'tnecessarilygetclassroomexperiencebutitcangiveyouatleastsomesenseofwhetherworkingwithstruggling(ornonnative)Englishspeakersissomethingyouhaveatasteand/ortalentfor.

Ifyoututoronehouraweekandwithinacoupleweeksyoufeelit'sachoreoryoudreadit...thenteachingEnglishabroadismostdefinitelyNOTforyouandthat'simportanttoknowbeforeshippingyourself,potentially,halfwayaroundtheworld...

Ifyouenjoytheworkthenyoumightwanttostartlookingatoptions.

Thebestsearchesarethosethatarefocused.Theresourcesbelowaremeanttohelpnarrowthescopeofanysearchbutitpaystohaveasenseofspecificinterestsgoingin.

Ifyoucan,narrowyoursearchtoparticularcountries(andevencities)ofinterest.You'llalsowant/needtogetfocusedonthesortofstudentsyou'reinterestedinworkingwith(kids,businesspeople,highschoolers,etc)andhowyourbackground/experience/trainingmatcheswiththosemorespecificinterests.Onceyou'veeducatedyourselfaboutthegeneralfield&possibilities,aseriesofnarrow,focusedsearcheswillbefarmoreusefulthanasinglegenericsearch(tryGoogling"teachEnglishabroad"oy!).

Certificationisnotarequirementtoteachabroad.Thereareallsortsofreasonstogetcertifiedaswellasreasonsnotto,butingeneralyoucanfindopportunitiesteachingEnglishabroadwithoutbeingcertified.

Entrepreneurship & innovation #intern @unfoundation #DC, Summer 2015; enrolled student or recent grad; apply by 6/30: bit.ly/1Nctz8Q

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Blog archive2014(1)2012(2)

November(1)TeachingEnglishabroad:wheretostart?

October(1)2011(1)2010(1)2009(9)

Teachingabroadisonewaytogetabroadandtogetpaidwhilebeingabroad.Thatsaid,it'simportanttorealizethatifyouaregraduatingwithstudentloansthemerefactofbeingoutofthecountrydoesnotexemptyoufrommakingtherequiredloanpayments!!Dependingonyourcircumstancesandhowlargetheoutstandingloansarethereareworkarounds(forinstance,bankingafewmonthsworthofpaymentsandthenhavingloanpaymentsautomaticallydeductedfromaparkedbankaccount).Remittingmoneyfromoverseascanberidiculouslyexpensive.

ThereareaLOTofdifferentoptions.Youcangowithplacementfirms,certificationorganizations(somewillguaranteeplacement,somejustassist),directcontactwithschools...It'samazeoutthere.

Andwiththosepearlsofwisdomoutoftheway,let'sgettotheresources:

TwogoodbasicintroductorysitesIlikepointingfolkstowhoareexploringteachingEnglishopportunitiesare:

http://www.transitionsabroad.com/listings/work/esl/index.shtmlhttp://www.daveseslcafe.com/

Dave'sESLCafealsohasregion&countryspecificdiscussionboardsthatarewellworthbrowsing(thoughtheyaretuckedawayinthenavigation).Youcanfindthemat:

http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/index.php

Neitheroftheabovesitesistiedtoanyparticularcommercialproviderorschool(thoughyoucangetlotsofinformationonprovidersthroughthestories,resources,andlinksontheTransitions

Abroadpageinparticular,aswellasexploringquestionssuchaswhethertogetcertifiedandthelike).

Ifyou'relookingtoexploreconnectingwithEnglishlanguageschoolsdirectlyyoucanexplore:

http://www.eslteachersboard.com/cgibin/latamschools/index.plhttp://www.eslbase.com/schools/

Therearelinkstootherregions/countriesintheheaderofthefirstlinkabove.

Ialwayssuggestholdingoffondirectcontactwithschoolsuntilyou'veeducatedyourselfaboutthefieldabit(andperhapshaveabettersenseofthesortofworkyou'relookingforandwhereyou'dliketogo).

Thereareanumberofgovernmentrun/sponsoredprogramsoutthere:

CulturalAmbassadors:NorthAmericanLanguageandCultureAssistantsinSpainhttp://www.educacion.gob.es/eeuu/convocatoriasprogramas/convocatoriaseeuu/auxiliaresconversacioneeuu.html

EnglishOpensDoorsProgram(Chile)http://www.centrodevoluntarios.cl/

JapanExchangeandTeachingProgramhttp://www.us.embjapan.go.jp/JET/

TeachandLearnwithGeorgiahttp://www.tlg.gov.ge/

TeachforChinahttp://www.tfchina.org/

TeachingAssistantPrograminFrance

http://www.frenchculture.org/spip.php?rubrique424

SandyArfahereattheUWMadisoncoordinatestheTeacherstoGyeonggidoprogram.Unfortunately,thewebsiteisratherbadlyoutofdatehttp://www.english.wisc.edu/esl/ttghome.htmlbutthoseintheupperMidwestshouldcontactMsArfadirectlyifinterestedinthisprogram.

ThereisalsoGoinGlobal,acommercialresourceprovidingcountryguidesforliving&workingabroadincludinginformationonopportunitiesteachingEnglish(whereappropriate):

http://www.goinglobal.com/

That'sthecommercialfrontdoor.UWMadison(andIamsuremanyotherschools)careercentershavepurchasedsitelicensesallowingstudentstoaccessthefullresourceforfree.Checkwiththecareerservicesofficeatyourschoolforinformation.

UWMadisonstudents&alumnishouldbeabletogetfreeaccesstoGoinGlobalthroughBuckyNet:

http://www.lssaa.wisc.edu/careers/buckynet/index.htmlhttp://www.uwalumni.com/home/buckynet.aspx

Iamalsoabigproponentofnottryingtodoeverythingonline.TherearetwobooksIusuallysuggesttothoseofasimilarbent(andwhoareinterestedingoingintoslightlygreaterdepthastotheissuesinvolvedinteachingEnglishabroadbeyondjusttrackingdownteachingjobs):

TeachingEnglishOverseasbyJeffMohamedhttp://www.amazon.com/dp/0967706203

TeachingEnglishAbroadbySusanGriffith

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1854585967

ForthoseintheMadisonareawehavecopiesofbothbooksavailableforbrowsinginourlibraryin301IngrahamHall.

And...ifyoudevelopaspecificcountryinterestcontactyouralumniassociationandseeiftheyhaveadirectoryofalumniabroadorevenoverseaschaptersthatyoucancontact.Forexample,theWisconsinAlumniAssociationmaintainsalistofchapters&contactsaroundtheworld:

http://www.uwalumni.com/home/chaptersandaffiliates/intlchapterslist/intlchapterslist.aspx

Finally,besuretokeepaneyeonhttp://twitter.com/Go_Globalwherewepostannouncementsofthelatestopportunitiestowork,teach,intern,andvolunteerworldwide.

Wanttoshareyourreactiontotheabove?EmailGoGlobal!withyourthoughtsorcommentbelow.

PostedbyGoGlobal!@UWMadison

Labels:overseas,teachingEnglish,workabroad,workingabroad

1 comment:

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AIDCINCsaid...

GreatPost.Therearelotsofopportunitiestoteachoverseasanditreallymakesadifference.

September11,2013at12:47PM

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