Young Americans going abroad to teach (CNN)

[eppur_se_muova]

By Emilie Yam
CNN

(CNN) -- When David Green, 22, graduated from Western Washington University in December, he applied for dozens of jobs, from fast food to secretarial positions -- sending out more than 50 resumes and scoring only two interviews in the process.
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With few employment options in his hometown of Bellingham, Washington, Green applied to teach English in a South Korean middle school through Reach to Teach, an organization that assists college graduates with finding teaching positions in Asia. Green, who counts trips to Canada as his only experience abroad, will be leaving for Seoul on March 20 for one year.

"I am scared. I've only had one major breakdown so far, ... but I'm really excited about being on my own ... somewhere completely new where I know absolutely no one," he said.

Like Green, many recent college graduates are searching for alternatives to jumping into the job market in the face of the recession. An increasing number of young Americans are searching out paid positions teaching English in countries like South Korea, Japan, China and Spain as a means to expand their horizons and weather the economic doldrums.

Mitch Gordon, director of school relations for Reach to Teach, said his organization has seen more than a 100 percent increase in applications in the last six months, with 3,784 applicants compared to 1,488 during the same six-month period last year. The application system doesn't track U.S. applicants separately, but Gordon estimates more than 70 percent are from the United States.
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more: http://www.cnn.com/2009/TRAVEL/03/20/teaching.abroad/index.html





Gosh! Here I thought there was some kind of terrible shortage of good teachers! Now I'm just confused!

:sarcasm: <--because some people will need it

[wellst0nev0ter]

1. Yeah, That's Looking To Be My Option As Well

Really, you can't score an interview at a fast food place these days? Thanx chimp.

[FLyellowdog]

2. Are these people with teaching degrees?

:shrug:

[femmocrat]

3. I wondered the same thing...

It only mentions: "Reach to Teach, an organization that assists college graduates with finding teaching positions in Asia"...

From their website: "All you NEED is a full university degree, but you MUST have a great imagination and sense of adventure! No formal teaching experience is necessary."


BTW, I live in a state with too many teachers and just about NO openings, especially now that no one can afford to retire!

[FLyellowdog]

4. Plus the budget cuts removing teachers from our schools. n/t

[endersdragon34]

5. I would do this in a heartbeat...

If I could learn a foreign language worth a ****. Would end up being way too difficult for me to try to survive and teach (even if I was allowed to mostly teach in English somehow.) I tried learning both Korean and Japanese before, dyslexia gets in the way... maybe if I tried a Rosetta Stone type thing... who knows.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

6. Some schools overseas don't want people who speak the local language

because their methodology is based on teaching exclusively in English. (All the students will have had a bit of English in high school, so the teachers aren't starting from scratch.)

Speaking the language makes one's life a lot easier, but most people who go over and teach learn at least spoken survival skills. Rosetta Stone or some other audio language course would be a good start.

The suppositions from the posters above are correct. There are real certified teacher positions overseas, mostly in international schools, like the American School in Japan or on military base schools, but Reach to Teach and other such programs simply want reasonably intelligent native speakers of English.

I would recommend the experience to people under 30 who have a four-year degree and are having trouble finding a job. Most of the jobs are in Japan, China, and Korea, although there are some in Latin America as well. (Europe is difficult, because British and Irish people get preference as EU residents who don't need to be sponsored for a work visa.)

[tonysam]

7. I Have Been Thinking About This Route,

but I am much older--54. I have had a horrid experience with my local school district and would like to do something different.

[lutefisk]

8. This doesn't have anything to do with the education system or licensed teachers

This is just a fun and adventurous opportunity for people with a college degree to "teach" English abroad. These aren't graduates of professional education programs. A great part of this is that it can be a good way to build up a bit of a nest egg, because housing is often provided.

Some sort of TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language), TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages), or TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) certificate would be beneficial in being hired for this type of position.

[bumblebee1]

9. I made a similar suggestion to one of my co-workers.

Herv daughter wants to study to become a teacher. I had suggested that after graduation, her daughter could look into teaching on a Native American reservation, school for military kids overseas or a program such as the one above. That's what the daughter of the ovner of the hardware store where hubby works part time did. She went over to Korea to teach English for a year. I did tell my co-worker that her daughter would have to be adventurous.