Is Living and Working Abroad Appropriate for Me?

Am I Cut Out for Life Overseas?

You might be. Only you can decide if a career in TEFL – teaching English overseas – is the right path for your life at this time.

What are the things to consider?

Do you have a family that you are responsible for? How would they feel about moving overseas and living in a foreign land?

Do you have a spouse? How would s/he feel about giving up their job? Will she be able to find work overseas? Is she interested in teaching English also?

Do you have children? How will you educate them while overseas? How might they feel about giving up their friends?

Do you have debts that must be paid while you are overseas?

Are there special medical issues for you or your family that must be considered?

Do you have the financial reserves to return to your home country and re-establish yourself if things don’t work out?

Have you ever taught before? Do you have any reason to believe that you might enjoy teaching English?

Have you ever traveled or lived overseas before? Did you enjoy it?

Would you find the daily problems of living and working overseas frustrating or a refreshing challenge?

This list is only a beginning. As individual as each person is so are the questions that need to be answered in making this decision.

What qualities are needed to succeed?

My observation has been that people who succeed in TEFL overseas have the following characteristics and knowledge:
* They have reasonable expectations about their new occupation and what it can and cannot provide for them
* They understand that their new country is not like their home country. Solutions to problems that work at home often don’t work overseas
* They realize that problems they had at home will probably also exist overseas.
* They know they will have good days and bad days – just like back home
* They know they may experience good bosses, bad bosses, good jobs and bad jobs – just like back home
* They are flexible people who can roll with surprises and “punches”
* They are willing to work under different cultural expectations and are willing to follow different cultural work rules
* They are resilient and can bounce back from a bad situation
* They are not generally moody or depressed
* They view their success as a personal challenge
* They spent a considerable amount of time researching their move, before they moved.

Does that fit you? If so, get on board!

TED’s Tips™ #1: Before you head overseas, do an honest assessment of yourself.

The BEST EFL Teaching Jobs in China: Government Colleges, Universities and Secondary Schools offer the most reliable and worry-free jobs in China. Click on the Link if you would like to Teach English in China

Finding Your First Job Teaching English

Finding Your First EFL Teaching Job

The demand for EFL teachers worldwide is so great that you will find it surprisingly easy to land your first job offer. But take your time, find the right position and make sure you will be happy.

If you are interested in teaching English in China, head over to our friends at TEFL Jobs China

If you’d like to teach on a tropical island in SE Asia
(are you crazy – who wouldn’t!?) visit:
Teach English Phuket

If the lure of an exotic big city is your thing, take a look at Teach English Bangkok too.

If you are interested trying your hand at teaching English overseas, but don’t yet want to commit to a one-year contract, go over to TEFL Temp where information about short-term TEFL positions is posted. Some are as short four months and even include airfare and training. Hard to beat that!

Just about everything you could ever want to know about finding your first position Teaching English Overseas and just about everything else about living and working in another country – can be found at our companion website: TEFL Daddy.

Whether thinking about a two-year “lark” teaching overseas – or if you would like TEFL to offer you a long-term career – give the website a good read. No, it doesn’t really have all the answers, because the answers are as individual as each person thinking of entering the field.

Your needs, interests, skills, and goals are unique. But, TEFL Daddy can at least help you address each issue and get on the road to finding exactly what might fit you best.

TEFL Daddy is the original NON-Blog version of TEFL Newbie. Entries on the blog are often based on the pages of TEFL Daddy – but updated with more recent comments.

TED’s Tips™ #1: Do your research. Find out as much as you can before making a final decision. Heading overseas was the best thing I ever did – but it is not for everyone.

The BEST EFL Teaching Jobs in China: Government Colleges, Universities and Secondary Schools offer the most reliable and worry-free jobs in China. Click on the Link if you would like to Teach English in China

The Slightly Older TEFL Teacher

Staring Teaching English Abroad at 40+

Another reader presented the following situation:

I am curious to know what you think of Oxford Seminars. Worth while?
I will be 41 in December. I have a BA in Philosophy and have spent about 5 years as an Associate Teacher [a.k.a. Substitute].
I was offered a job, and awarded E2 Visa sponsorship from a school in S. Korea. At the last minute (days before I was to leave) the recruiter informed me that the school was retracting the offer.
So I figure a TESOL/TEFL Cert. will be a great benefit/ make me more marketable.

Most Online and In-ClassTEFL programs are fine. If taking an in-classroom course, it is important to check is that it meets the acceptable international guidelines which are generally agreed to be a minimum of 100 in classroom hours and at least six hours of observed teaching practice with REAL EFL students (not your teacher trainee peers) and that you receive detailed feedback from an experienced EFL teacher.

All that said, most people would agree that it is best to take your TEFL Certification in the country where you first intend to teach.
That may not be possible in Korea though.

Don’t give up – I was exactly 41 when I took my first EFL job – also in Korea. My first six months were a real mess – but I got past it and the last 17 years have been just fantastic. Nothing wrong with getting all the bumps in the road smoothed out right at first!

Training? Great idea. Though, particularly for Korea I wouldn’t assume that is why things fell apart at the last minute.

Never hurts to build the resume and improve your skills though – can’t hurt! Even an online TEFL Cert shows that you are interested and at least put some time and energy into learning more about the job and how to do it.

TED’s Tips™ #1: Don’t worry about starting out a bit later than the “youngsters”, you have a life of experience to offer.

TED’s Tips™ #2: Do consider either an online or in-classroom TEFL course to help you market yourself.

What’s up in China? Learn what kind of jobs are on offer if you would like to Teach English in China

Go get ‘em!

Ted

PS: a good reference for TEFL programs is the website:

http://www.TEFLprogram.com

LOTS of good info there for people considering TEFL training.

TEFL Jobs and Contracts

Contrary to Popular Belief,
Contracts are not as Important as you Might Think

I read some promotional material today from a TEFL course provider and it was about checking on the details of your contract before being hired. I agree that you certainly need to check on the basic details of your contract before signing a deal and heading across the world to take up a position.

But, be aware that there is a bit of a problem in the thinking of legalistic and litigation minded Westerners when they start talking about contracts.

Away from the Western world, much more is done with a handshake and a smile. And if the agreement doesn’t work out, you vote with your feet, not your lawyer. In most countries including Western countries, only the lawyer wins. I’ve seen people spend thousands of dollars chasing hundreds of dollars. It just doesn’t make sense.

And, in fact, in most countries the best way to have your contract honored is to be willing yourself to go outside the contract and make yourself valuable to your employer. The benefits can be great. I was once given an end-of-employment bonus much larger than what the contract required. I’ve been given much paid time off that was not required in my contract.

But then I have never niggled over little things in my contract and I have, in fact, never had a serious problem with a contract. Sure, I was cheated by a school once, but that is only once in about 15 years of teaching abroad. And I harbor no anger or animosity toward that school, that culture or that country. Other than that one occasion, I’ve always been treated very fairly.

That doesn’t mean that there haven’t been cultural misunderstandings, miscommunications and other problems. Of course there have been. Life is life no matter where you are living. Some people expect that because they go abroad all the world’s problems will just slip away . . . . la la la la la . . .

Approach your contract as your employer sees it, as a working document. That’s all. Most non-Western employers do not see contracts as being written in stone. You give a little, you take a little. You give a lot, you will probably get to take a lot.

TED’s Tips™ #1: Go along to get along. Avoid the negative ninnies out there as their goal is usually to drag you down into their negative world.

TED’s Tips™ #2: Other than the basics of an agreement, don’t niggle too much on the details. That way your employer is much more likely to give you some slack when you want or need it.

For people looking for an inexpensive Online TEFL Course, TEFL Boot Camp has a lowest-price guarantee. There is no need to spend a huge amount of money on a fairly simple learning process. A good part of the website is FREE for self study.

What’s up in China? Learn what kind of jobs are on offer if would like to Teach English in China. I help place people in China – it is great fun – and you can start your career often at a higher level in China than you would in Korea, Japan, Taiwan or even Thailand.

The OTHER Side of TEFL . . .

What you DON’T hear about TEFL on the Internet

On the Internet we read so many stories about crazy TEFL schools around the world, crazy recruiters, crazy countries and ideas, but it seems no one ever posts about the difficulties that teachers cause or the craziness that teachers bring to the mix.

It is pretty much a one-sided story out there. Unless, of course, you are reading the Chinese EFL School Owners forum (if one exists).

Anyway – I thought long and hard about what to name this post.

Some strong contenders:

WTF?!

What are you guys watching on TV over there?

Are you all crazy!?

Do you BELIEVE everything you read?

Yeah . . .

What has me saying that?

Well, today – and the names will be changed to protect the innocent – a teacher who had already been hired and was 90% of the way through the visa process for taking up her position in China – and part of that process was to take a final health exam on the China side – wrote me the following:

. . . I was warned to NEVER let anyone, no one, draw blood or stick a needle in me.
And, I will never take a Chip.
[she means have someone insert a radio tracking chip into her body - like for a dog or from Sci-Fi movies!]

If these two things are promised to never happen, all is well.
(If you think my questions are out of line then you are not aligned with the real world.)

Note: in the contract the written words must be in ink, everything that I have written above.

I don’t see why what I have asked (demanded) are out of line.

My response was as follows:

I am curious where you heard about getting a “chip” – amazing! But I’ve not heard anything about such a notion.

She wrote back AGAIN saying:

Note: in the contract the written words must be in ink, everything that I have written above.

My response: The part about the “chip” is a little bit like insisting that there be a clause that you won’t be required to ride in their space ship.

About the use of needles by a clinic, that I can’t guarantee and I quite doubt the school will put that in the contract – they can’t really, as they don’t own, control or manage the health clinic. Contracts are printed in ink though . . .

OF COURSE you have control over your body while in China. Absolutely. No one is going to hold you down and force you to do anything. But the medical exam is required for the final validation of your working papers (it is so in every country in which I have ever worked over the last 21 years). If there is a test required for that exam and if the procedure for that test requires a needle, you may certainly refuse that. However, how that affects the health exam and if the provincial authorities agree to finalize your working papers – that is a different story.

My personal opinion, is that if this is a deal breaker for you then let it break the deal. Life abroad is full of such things that need to be handled on a semi-regular basis. It ain’t America. Over the last twenty years I’ve signed blank contracts, had blood tests, had schools hold my passport, all sorts of stuff that people who know nothing of the real world out here yell about on the Internet.

But once you get to know the wider world a bit more there are often reasons why things are done, things operate a bit more on faith and trust abroad and personally I think that is a very GOOD thing.

Will you always have the choice to refuse a procedure or anything done to your body, of course.. Will it queer the deal for you on that side or anywhere else or lots of other places, quite probably.

The contract isn’t going to change – nor are China immigration rules – in this instance.

TED’s Tips™ #1: I don’t even know what to say for this one! What would you suggest to someone who believes that taking a health exam in another country will include getting a “Chip” inserted into your body or brain??

What are you watching on TV over there!?

Gives a whole new meaning to the marketing phrase, “Intel Inside” doesn’t it?

What’s up in China? Learn what kind of jobs are on offer if would like to Teach English in China. I help place people in China – it is great fun – and you can start your career often at a higher level in China than you would in Korea, Japan, Taiwan or even Thailand.

An Effective EFL Job Search #1

I have mentioned before that I sometimes help place people in English teaching jobs in China. Today’s blog will be the first of many that talk about how to improve your job search.

We have to start first with people who want to go and teach English abroad just for a year and sometimes even a shorter period of time. Let me correct that, they don’t really want to teach English, they want to go abroad and teaching English is the way they hope will provide that experience.

Because these people don’t take the idea of teaching English seriously, they often fail in their job search.

Why?

Because their job search clearly indicates their lack of sincere interest in helping students learn English. How do I know that? Because their email often begins with “Yo!” I wanna go teach english somewhere – can I? You can do for me?”

Does that indicate a sincere interest in providing some quality instruction for students on the other side of the world, who often have paid a lot of money to sit in your classroom? Sadly, no.

When asked for a photograph – the very photograph that will introduce you to your new employer – they send photos of them dancing drunk with friends in a bar. And recently a very nice guy, with some quite special skills, sent me a photo of him with his family, his beer belly was sticking out and his shirt had stains on it.

What can I say to that?

Take your job search seriously

Your future employer does. They want a responsible professional who will help give their students an advantage in the hard tough ultra-competitive world of developing countries (where most TEFL jobs are). If you present yourself asking for a two-week contract, send photos of you drinking and dancing – what are they to think?

Education in most of the developing world is SERIOUS business. Education is seen as the only way out of a grinding cycle of poverty or difficult jobs with long hours and poor pay. Schools and students are looking to YOU to help them escape to a better world. Help them escape!

Take your job search seriously

Present yourself professionally. Send a professional resume/CV. Send a professional photograph with you in professional dress. Yes, guys in a tie. Ideally seek some training even if only a short online TEFL certification course – to show that you are interested in doing a good job.

While wages can seem very modest abroad, you will often be earning as much or more than someone with a Ph.D teaching at the same school! They take it seriously. So should you. That modest wage, often combined with free accommodation, reimbursed airfares, sometimes even subsidized utilities often means you can save more than you are saving right now.

Come on, get with and treat teaching English abroad – the occupation, the job – with the respect it deserves. No other occupation can provide you with so many options, so many possibilities for seeing and traveling the world and actually saving a few bucks while doing it.

TED’s Tips™ #1: Approach your overseas job search with the same diligence you would a promotion and/or better job in your home country. This is a job that will allow you to travel, work fewer hours, see the world and possibly even save more money than you are saving right now. THAT is worth some diligence!

TED’s Tips™ #2: Get some professional passport type photos taken. They will be worth their weight in gold. Dress professionally, put on a friendly smile (practice if you need to) and look like the sharp skilled person you really are.

What’s up in China? Learn what kind of jobs are on offer if would like to Teach English in China. I help place people in China – it is great fun – and you can start your career often at a higher level in China than you would in Korea or Taiwan.

How to Teach English Overseas and Secrets to Success Abroad
TEFL eBooks is offering a free download of their new publication Seven Secrets of Success Abroad - and along with it comes a bi-weekly installment and revision of their eBook called How to Teach English Overseas.

Great reviews for the Secrets of Success eBook – in spite of the hokey name – and the How to Teach English eBook is being updated and rewritten and sent out in installments as it is ready.

Here they are – click on the eBooks to get your FREE copies! Great information and the price is right, from our friends at TEFLeBooks.

Teaching English without Knowing the Local Language

What if I can’t speak Chinese, or Korean or ?

What if I don’t speak the local language?
Can I still get hired to teach English?

** You won’t be required to know the local language **

What!? That’s right – and most EFL teachers don’t know the local language when they first arrive. Typically, native speaker EFL teachers are not given students that are true beginners. Usually, your students will have some English basics. Often not much, but enough for you to take them to higher levels and for you to be able to do some basic instruction in English.

How can I do that?

Your students will usually know enough of the English language – often about that of a two- or three-year-old native speaker. Really quite a lot, though they don’t usually feel very confident about their skills.

Your Native Speaker Language Skills . . .

are exactly why you are hired: Your accent, Your native ability to know what grammar is wrong or right, your ability know what sounds right or wrong in common usage.

Time and experience (or a good TEFL certification course) will give you the ability to explain these things – but in the beginning, even if you can’t explain it – you will still know what is wrong and what is right.

Should I use the local language when I teach English?

No! Your native ability with English is why you are hired. If you start teaching in the local language, you will not be much different from the local teachers of English, who are often paid much less than you will be. It is your native talent with English that makes you valuable.

Realize that learning a foreign language is a lot like learning to ride a bicycle. You have to do it. You can’t just talk about it and your students, before you get them, have usually “talked about it” for years and still only obtained minimal skills. That is exactly why they need YOU.

But, how will I find my way around and/or buy the things I need?

Not a problem. Most schools will assign another teacher or assistant to you, to help you do the things you need to do until you learn the basics. After all, you will most likely not be their first foreign teacher. Your school will likely be familiar with most of your wants and needs, from finding food you are familiar with, to cold remedies, Internet cafes, or even good restaurants.

After you live and work in a few countries, you will find yourself quite skilled at finding what you need, using either very basic language or even just gestures.

TED’s Tips™ #1: Learn a few basics before you go to any country, even if just on vacation. Please, thank you, excuse me and I am sorry – can go a long way in getting a foreigner to help you solve a problem or find what you need.

TED’s Tips™ #2: Learning to count and to ask how much and understand the answer are the second things to learn. Those skills can minimize misunderstandings and help you get out and about more.

What’s up in China? Learn what kind of jobs are on offer if would like to Teach English in China

How to Teach English Overseas and Secrets to Success Abroad
TEFL eBooks is offering a free download of their new publication Seven Secrets of Success Abroad - and along with it comes a bi-weekly installment and revision of their eBook called How to Teach English Overseas.

Great reviews for the Secrets of Success eBook – in spite of the hokey name – and the How to Teach English eBook is being updated and rewritten and sent out in installments as it is ready.

Here they are – click on the eBooks to get your FREE copies! Great information and the price is right, from our friends at TEFLeBooks.

Please let me know what you think of the ebooks – use the comments section below.

I confess both eBooks are written by yours truly – hoping to inspire others to head overseas and live life BIG out in the real world. I would value your feedback!

Is Teaching English a Real Job?

Is Teaching English Overseas a real job?

Can I take it seriously?

If supporting yourself while living overseas and experiencing another culture is a goal, then yes you can consider TEFL a “real” job.

If the possibility of saving substantially more money over a year than you could “back home” is your goal, then yes again.

If you would like to live overseas for extended periods and travel extensively, all while making a decent living, then yes, yes, yes, you can consider TEFL a “real” job.

Like any real job

Just like any “real” job back home, you can expect to start out at the bottom in EFL teaching. You will need to learn the ropes and should plan some study to improve your skills.

You will also need to network to improve your job possibilities and can expect periods of frustration and a difficult boss or coworker from time to time. The “real” world doesn’t go away overseas.

You can expect that your employer will want you to make a serious effort at providing quality instruction for your students and will want you to represent the school/company/institution in a positive manner.

Employers will not see your job as a “lark” or a chance to see the world, they will want you to produce.

You will be expected to groom yourself and dress and behave in a professional manner. An out-of-the-ordinary personal appearance such as tattoos, piercings, oddly colored hair, etc. will make getting and keeping a job more difficult.

Unlike jobs back home

You might be hired without meeting your employer, might do just a telephone hiring interview, might have shorter work hours, fewer work days, longer vacations, free housing, airplane tickets to your new location, transportation to and from work and other “perks” that are not common back home.

Some things that are common in overseas hiring that you might not like include the need for a photograph accompanying your resume, interview questions about your marital status, family members and/or other non-work related issues. Every country will be different in this regard, but you can certainly expect some surprises.

Just because . . .

Just because you might be saving more and working less, and traveling and enjoying your life far more than those people “back home” – that doesn’t mean that TEFL is not a “real job”. It surely is.

TED’s Tips™ #1: Expect to work just as hard as you did “back home”. Take pride in your work and provide a good service for your students.

TED’s Tips™ #2: Let people back home know that what you do is work. This may well be important when you return home looking for work. Giving the impression that you are only playing while overseas leads friends and employers to hesitate in taking you seriously when you return.

Get Real and Get Flexible for TEFL

How the “Other” World Operates

Today’s post might seem like more of a rant, but it is meant to help people understand a bit of how the non-Western world operates.

In the course of my TEFL career I have dabbled a bit in a variety of things and one of them is recruitment (Satan!). Well . . . some people consider recruiters satanic. Some are not so good, some are great.

I enjoy recruiting because I am a bit of an evangelist for TEFL careers and of the extra-ordinary lifestyle that teaching English abroad can provide to us relatively normal folks who don’t have doctorates or degrees in rocket science.

One of the problems that I see in people who are interested in working abroad is a rigidity about how things must be and a general lack of flexibility about letting things be different.

My favorite example is of a person who was seeking a job in China, which is where I sometimes place people. He was a well-qualified teacher and had already signed a contract when the school asked him to sign another one. The new one was blank.

Now, I don’t advocate signing blank forms or blank contracts but sometimes to get what you want you have to do what someone else wants. The teacher had a fit and withdrew from the position. The teacher had experience in Japan and in Korea and said he had never had to do such a thing before.

I quite understand his bewilderment and discomfort with the idea, but the signing of blank forms is a common thing in many countries.

In the aftermath, my wife and I sat down and tried to remember all the contracts and forms that we had signed while abroad that were either blank or written in a language that we couldn’t at the time understand and there really were too many to count.

Another example was just yesterday at the post office. I went in pay my annual fee for my post office box and the clerk asked me to sign a blank form that was written in the local language.

Did I balk, have a fit, stomp out, demand a translator or refuse to sign it?

No, it just seemed like a regular form they used and she needed it filled out, but as I couldn’t fill in the blanks, she would do it later. No problem, I signed and in fact, got a nice refund on the security deposit for the PO box! Great surprise.

All I am trying to say here is to be flexible and try to read situations before freaking out and bailing out.

Try to read the person and the situation. Don’t sign a blank form that a stranger offers who pops out of dark alley, of course. But if a human resources clerk at your language school asks you to sign a blank form for immigration – really, it probably is okay.

Much of the world operates on trust far more than the Western world. They don’t tend to have the trust in contracts that we have, they know how easily they can be broken.

People who are always looking for “scams” and other things do tend to find them. That’s just how the world works. Yet, in my 20 years abroad, I’ve not yet signed my future paychecks over to a clerk or signed a confession for something I haven’t done.

But then I haven’t been actively looking for scams and expecting them to appear in my life.

Ted’s Tips™ #1: Take some trust with you into the real world. It is not a bad thing.

Ted’s Tips™ #2: Learn to read people and situations and gauge your responses by the situation rather than by a rigid set of YES/NO rules.

How and Where to Start Teaching English Abroad

What to Consider when First Seeking a Job Teaching English Overseas

Once you have made a final decision to look for an English teaching job and head overseas, it’s time to make a decision about where you would like to work and how much you would like to earn/save.

You’ll have to balance the two according to your qualifications, area of the world in which you wish to work, the general availability of jobs in that area and what your financial goals might me.

Here are some additional things to consider along the way.

Training

You’ll also have to decide if getting some training is important for you – or not. If you do decide to get some training (good for you!), I would encourage you to get that training overseas, ideally in the country in which you intend to teach.

There are several reasons for this. First, it’ll give you a chance to live overseas and know better if you will like it (very different from vacationing or traveling overseas). It will usually also give you a chance to meet people who are already doing what you want to do and a chance to network for good jobs.

Another consideration is the opportunity to do your teaching practice with students similar to those you will teach on the job. Once you have a lot of experience this will not be so important, but as a TEFL Newbie – it will help you get up to speed much more quickly.

I’ve taught EFL in four different countries and students in each have their own unique pronunciation and grammar problems. Even experienced teachers take some time solving the new problems they are confronted with when they change countries.

One last super advantage, if you intend to teach in a country where it is common to have to interview in person, is that you will obtain in training a good idea of what students want, need, like and don’t like. Again, different countries and cultures can be very different.

Relevant English games built into your lesson are an absolute must in Thailand – but a bad idea in Saudi Arabia. It is best to know this BEFORE you interview or do a demonstration lesson.

In some countries a “demonstration” lesson is commonly requested as part of the interview process. If you have done your training in that country you will be far far ahead of the newbie who arrives with no idea of the common problems they will be faced with in the classroom.

Finally, TEFL training overseas is generally cheaper than taking it in developed Western countries and can be much cheaper by the time you add in the cost of food and board during training.

I believe though that the biggest benefits are networking and just getting a feel for life in another country.

Recruiters, or not?

One major decision that you must also make is if you want to use a recruiter or not. There are many people who are absolutely adamant that you should never use a recruiter. Some have had bad experiences with them, others believe you will find much better circumstances negotiating a deal on your own. Both ways are fine to me – I’ve done both.

I used a recruiter to find my first job. There were some problems, but the recruiter took care of all of them for me. It was very useful as I was not yet confident and really didn’t know much about the business – I was a true newbie – and the recruiter took some of the pressure off me.

Know that there are some recruiters out there, who just want to place you as quickly as possible and get their fee from the school. They won’t care if you are a good “fit” or not.

Try to communicate with the teachers at a school before deciding to go there, whether you use a recruiter or not. Are there problems there? What are they? Are they critical or minor? Are the teachers happy or not? Why or why not?

Other Issues

Take a look at the other pages on the blog and you will, over time, see many issues to consider and we will try to get to most of them early in the blog to help you know what to look for.

Some issues to consider right away though, before you tie down a job:

The types/ages of students you might be interested in teaching? Do you want to teach corporate executives, resort staff, kindergarten/preschool or even nursery students?

Should you set up your job before you go or not? This can depend a bit on the specific country and a lot on your personal self-confidence. Some countries will require you to be on the scene to be considered for a job, some tend to hire almost exclusively from overseas.

All these questions and many more are important and all will be addressed on this blog.

TED’s Tips™ #1: For your first country you might want to try countries that are well known as being “Newbie Friendly”. The Middle East and Europe are known as being difficult places to get started (argumentative and opinionated students).

China and Korea are probably two of the easiest places to get started. Both have cultures of respect for teachers, typically hire from abroad and pay for airfare and accommodation.

Thailand is a popular place for many new teachers, but is not one of the easiest places to work. The culture, food, friendly people and nice beaches tend to swing the balance to make it a popular destination. But you’ll have to be on the scene to land a job and pay for your own housing and plane tickets.

TED’s Tips™ #2: Sort out and stabilize your finances BEFORE you go. Know what your financial situation will be in your new setting. Not much could be worse than showing up and finding out you can’t meet those student loan payments and it’s back to Walmart for you . . .

——————————————————————

How to Teach English Abroad and Secrets of Success Abroad

TEFL eBooks is offering a free download of their new publication Seven Secrets of Success Abroad - and along with it comes a bi-weekly installment and revision of their eBook called How to Teach English Overseas.

Great reviews for the Secrets of Success eBook – in spite of the hokey name – and the How to Teach English eBook is being updated and rewritten and sent out in installments as it is ready.

Here they are – click on the eBooks to get your FREE copies! Great information and the price is right, from our friends at TEFLeBooks.

Please let me know what you think of the ebooks – use the comments section below.

I confess both eBooks are written by yours truly – hoping to inspire others to head overseas and live life BIG out in the real world. I would value your feedback!