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Teaching Abroad / Language Learning | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| glidefloss Senior Member United States Joined 5970 days ago 138 posts - 154 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, French | Message 1 of 8 22 June 2009 at 7:03pm | IP Logged | ||
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I'm considering teaching English abroad. I want to spend a year living in another country and learn its language.
Since I've been studying French, I had planned to move to Morocco. From what I can tell, though, it will be difficult to find a job there. I would also love to move to Cairo, but am concerned that I wouldn't find a job. Right now I'm considering: Poland, Taiwan, and Peru. Any thoughts on these countries. Any thoughts on other countries? I don't know if it's true, but I am assuming that learning Spanish would be easier than learning Mandarin. I would aim to move in September, so I'd have about 2 months time to study before leaving. It might give me a chance to give original intense LR a try. Since I've been doing French for about a year, I feel that if I spent next year in a French speaking country, my French would become acceptable. So I'm a little frustrated, as you might understand. Any opinions appreciated. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| rlf1810 Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6342 days ago 122 posts - 173 votes Speaks: English*, German, Slovak | Message 2 of 8 22 June 2009 at 7:38pm | IP Logged | ||
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Hello,
I highly recommend pursuing this path, personally. It has been a great experience for me here in Slovakia and, not to mention, my language skills improved by leaps and bounds. I think that as long as you get past the beginner stage before you can you can make it a very fruitful experience, no matter if it's Mandarin or Danish. As it seems you're open to the idea of pretty much any country, my current employers here in Slovakia desperately need a new native English speaker after I leave this week... ;) -Robert 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 6013 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 3 of 8 22 June 2009 at 7:50pm | IP Logged | ||
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Of the three, only Poland is in the EU -- the other two require visas and that can mean all sorts of fun. It's worth remembering that visas are usually tied to a particular job, so a bad boss is that bit harder to escape....
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| andee Tetraglot Senior Member Japan Joined 7079 days ago 681 posts - 724 votes 3 sounds Speaks: English*, German, Korean, French | Message 4 of 8 23 June 2009 at 4:14pm | IP Logged | ||
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Well, since the OP is in the US, I would guess he'd need a visa for the EU as well :/
I'd peruse the job market to get a feel for what's normal in these areas and that may help you decide (hours per week, contract length, housing, salary, education requirements, etc). As an American, I would say your chances of finding a decent job in Peru or Taiwan would be better than in Poland since many Polish schools focus on British English. South American schools often focus on American English. And in Asia, well, it's doesn't really matter - it's a good split between the major 6 these days (Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and USA). Taiwan has a large ESL market at the moment, so you should find a job relatively easily (assuming you're qualified). If you're keen on continuing French and don't want to attempt France (a hard market to break in to), there are often jobs in French-speaking Africa. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 6013 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 5 of 8 23 June 2009 at 8:08pm | IP Logged | ||
In that case, Poland will be the hardest because it's in the EU, and EU-based schools prefer UK citizens as they don't have to deal with immigration etc. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Crush Tetraglot Senior Member ChinaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5867 days ago 1622 posts - 2299 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Mandarin, Esperanto Studies: Basque | Message 6 of 8 24 June 2009 at 11:59pm | IP Logged | ||
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I thought about doing this too, but most places (that I looked into atleast) will require some ESL teaching certificate and possibly even a year or two of prior teaching experience. Not really a big issue, but I didn't know if I wanted to spend several months intensively studying English and not my target language when the main reason I was considering it was to learn/be immersed in my TL :P Anyway, it's something I'd still very much like to do, I just need to think it through a bit more (so much for that spur of the moment momentum!).
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| TheBiscuit Tetraglot Senior Member Mexico Joined 5925 days ago 532 posts - 619 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish, Italian Studies: German, Croatian | Message 7 of 8 25 June 2009 at 12:16am | IP Logged | ||
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If you have a US passport and a relevant degree and a TEFL cert, Asia and Latin America are your biggest markets. You can get a job in Europe though you'll find it hard to get papers. Most Americans work illegally there. If you're up for that, Italy and Eastern Europe are your best bet.
As for language learning, you'll still have to make the effort to learn the local language as chances are the locals will want to speak English to you. I found as soon as I got fluent in Spanish, no one wanted to speak English with me anymore! Steer well clear of ex-pats, especially those that have spent donkey's years in a country and can barely order their own lunch. Remember you're not really on a 'language learning holiday' so an employer will expect you to work just as you would at home, and sometimes just as many hours. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| crackpot Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 6303 days ago 144 posts - 178 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish Studies: Italian | Message 8 of 8 25 June 2009 at 4:14am | IP Logged | ||
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I did this. I spent 1.5 years in Korea. Great experience but I didn't learn Korean for several reasons. There you don't need any specialized training just a degree. Any degree will do and you can easily save enough money in one year to go live in any country you wish for another 1 to 3 years.
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