Friday, April 08, 2005, 09:59 GMT
This may seem kind of vague but I was just wondering if anyone on this forum had any experience teaching English to nonnative speakers in non-Anglosphere countries. I'm a native speaker from the US in my third year in college and will be graduating next year, and afterwards I would really love to live in another country, experiencing another culture while teaching English.
As part-Swedish-American I've always been interested in Sweden and Swedish (which I'm trying to teach myself now), and would relish the opportunity to live there for a period, actually learn the language as it's spoken, as well as teach English. However, I've read that the job market there can be pretty tight...has anyone taught there? I'm also pretty interested in South Korea--I studied Korean last year, which introduced me to a lot of fascinating cultural aspects about Korea, and while my Korean is still basic, I could at least survive. In contrast with Western Europe, I've read the demand for native-English speakers in S. Korea is really high as compared to the supply, so a job there is almost guaranteed...has anyone taught there? Besides those two countries which stick out in particular in my mind at this point I'd be pretty open to going almost anywhere (as long as I were compensated at least somewhat...I'd love to volunteer and I realize that teaching English isn't necessarily the best bet for paying off student loans, but I'd also like to not be in the hole at the end).
Anyway, thanks for any information you may have, I've done a moderate amount of web research on the topic and the information sometimes just seems overwhelming (while often lacking real substance for what I really want to know) so I was just wondering if anyone here has any experience and/or advice on the subject (and that applies to any aspect of teaching it anywhere, not just Sweden or S. Korea). Thanks :)
As part-Swedish-American I've always been interested in Sweden and Swedish (which I'm trying to teach myself now), and would relish the opportunity to live there for a period, actually learn the language as it's spoken, as well as teach English. However, I've read that the job market there can be pretty tight...has anyone taught there? I'm also pretty interested in South Korea--I studied Korean last year, which introduced me to a lot of fascinating cultural aspects about Korea, and while my Korean is still basic, I could at least survive. In contrast with Western Europe, I've read the demand for native-English speakers in S. Korea is really high as compared to the supply, so a job there is almost guaranteed...has anyone taught there? Besides those two countries which stick out in particular in my mind at this point I'd be pretty open to going almost anywhere (as long as I were compensated at least somewhat...I'd love to volunteer and I realize that teaching English isn't necessarily the best bet for paying off student loans, but I'd also like to not be in the hole at the end).
Anyway, thanks for any information you may have, I've done a moderate amount of web research on the topic and the information sometimes just seems overwhelming (while often lacking real substance for what I really want to know) so I was just wondering if anyone here has any experience and/or advice on the subject (and that applies to any aspect of teaching it anywhere, not just Sweden or S. Korea). Thanks :)