BEEN THERE, DONE
THAT
So, you’ve got your EFL Certificate, you’ve done a year
teaching in your own country, and now it’s time to spread your wings and get a
job overseas. Which country will you go to? Native-speaking English teachers
are in demand all over, so you’ve got a wide range of countries to choose from.
Which one is best for you? I’ve worked in seven different countries, so I’ll
add my few random thoughts about each, and this may help you decide.
Before venturing overseas to work, you have one major
decision to make (apart from choosing the destination, that is). How will I go about finding a job? You have
two options: find a job on the internet before departure, or just fly to the
country of your choice and do your job-hunting on the spot. I’ve always chosen
the latter way, but that’s not to say it is the best way. Schools that
advertise vacancies on the internet, on sites like ELT JobLink Weekly Digest, are the larger, more reputable ones.
They’ll have a list of requirements – EFL qualifications, tertiary
qualifications, age, minimum length of experience, etcetera, etcetera. They’ll
offer a range of perks, too: things like sick pay, holiday pay, assistance with
documentation, accommodation assistance, flight costs, contract-completion
bonus. They’ll be following the strict letter of the law of the country they’re
in, so your employment will be safe, secure, and most of all, legal. As you
board the plane bound for your new job, you’ll know exactly what you’re getting
yourself into employmentwise. It’s the safe, sensible way to go.
I’ve never been one to follow safe, sensible approaches, and
consequently I’ve always chosen the country first, gone there, and then looked
around for work. This method has its advantages and disadvantages. For one
thing, you’ll get a feel for the country, its weather, its people, and its
accommodation options before you commit yourself to a year or so’s stay, and if
none of these come up to your expectations, you can always move on to a
neighboring country. You can visit the prospective school and see for yourself
its location, its standard of management, and the nature of your future bosses.
On the other hand, as a ‘local hire’ you probably won’t be offered any of those
extras like sick or holiday pay, flight expenses etc. In a surprising number of
cases, these schools may not necessarily feel compelled to observe every little
letter of the employment laws. And that’s something that can prove to be a
plus, especially if your qualifications and prerequisites don’t quite match
those stipulated by the Education or Labor Department.
OK, back to my original question: which country is best for
you? Let me share a few of my own experiences in various countries that I’ve
worked in.
First, Indonesia, where I worked from 1976 to 1980, and 1982 to 1992.
Indonesians are lovely people. Open, friendly, immensely likeable. Those are
the ones not in positions of authority. But put a uniform on an Indonesian, and
he is transformed into an entirely different creature. Someone who sees you as
a spoilt, moneyed foreigner, and a source of revenue. Their methods of
separating you from your money are many and varied. You need a driving licence?
Certainly, Sir, that’ll be 10,000,000 rupiah please. What’s that? You’ve read
that the official fee is only 500,000 rupiah? Oh. No, Sir. Those are last
year’s figures. Visa extension? That’ll be xxx rupiah, please. Work permit,
marriage certificate, birth certificate? No problem. That’ll be xxx rupiah,
please.
Right, let’s
move on. Indonesian students. You’ll find most classes a delight to teach. The
students are friendly, willing, and full of fun. They won’t be all that keen on
working hard or coping with the complexities of English grammar, but they’ll be
more than eager to pepper you with personal questions, make jokes, and have a
jolly good time in class. Apart from any contacts with officialdom, life in
Indonesia is laid-back, relaxed, and enjoyable (provided deplorable driving
habits and traffic jams don’t overly bother you). The weather is good.
Indonesia has two seasons: Hot, and Hotter. The food is exquisite. An
Indonesian smile will melt the heart of even the most hardened and cynical
foreigner. Indonesia is a good place for you to spend the next year or so. (I
went for two weeks, and stayed there for 20-odd years.)
Next, Thailand. I
worked there in 1975 and again in 1996. Captivating country. Lovely people. Fascinating culture.
Such is the pull of Thailand, there’s an overabundance of expat teachers
looking for EFL jobs, and consequently the salaries offered are not going to
make you rich. They’ll cover your everyday living expenses, but there won’t be
much left over at the end of the month. If you’re working in Bangkok, you’ll
have to get used to traffic jams, pollution, small, expensive apartments,
overcrowded transport, and a population that mostly doesn’t comprehend a word
you say, whether it be in English or your faltering attempts at Thai. Thai
students are bright, bubbly, talkative, and out for a good time. They won’t
complete their homework, or commit long lists of new vocabulary to memory, but
they will speak out willingly in class, and enter into every activity enthusiastically.
To get a workable number of hours, you could well find yourself teaching an
hour here and an hour there, with a harrowing taxi or bus ride between schools.
But when your working day is over, you have a mind-boggling range of nightlife
to choose from, and a wide choice of Thai dishes to try. (A word of caution –
some can be hot, Man, eye-wateringly, tongue-blisteringly hot. Don’t say you
weren’t warned.)
Now, Korea. I
worked there in 1981, the year Park Chung Hee was assassinated. I am in two
minds about this country that I spent a year in. Korea has two seasons: Too
Hot, and Too Cold. Koreans are a mixed bag; some likeable, some not-so. The
first impression a foreigner gets in Korea is that Koreans are abrasive,
argumentative and not particularly friendly. This impression stems from the
nature of the Korean language. It’s loud, in-your-face, and peppered with what
is best described as hoicking sounds. Schools vary between the over-regimented,
and slip-shod bucket shops. Korean students are hard-working to a fault, eager
to get English off to a tee, and demanding. They won’t hesitate to challenge
you if anything you say doesn’t fit with their pre-conceptions about how
English should be taught. They’ll feel short-changed if you don’t issue them
with heaps of homework. Schools insist on you teaching American English,
despite the fact that most Koreans despise America and Americans. (And that
includes the people in the long queue at the American embassy’s visa
department.) As in Thailand, you’ll probably find yourself working at three of
four different schools each day in order to get your hours up. It will take
quite a few months to happen on one school that offers five or six hours work a
day. Yes, I’m in two minds about the country. The year I spent there was
instructive, but I can’t see myself going back there any time in the future.
OK, so that’s Indonesia, Thailand, and Korea. Which leaves
China, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Vietnam, which I’ll cover in my next blog.
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My new book, EFL minus the B.S., has a
country-by-country break-down of countries you can teach EFL in, and also
includes chapters on Documentation, Management and Mismanagement, and Applying
for a job. EFL minus the B.S. is available on Amazon.
