TYVM. Im still amazed about it all. So I don’t really have specific questions. Feel free to go on, I won’t be overwhelmed. I may take a while to answer, but that’s unrelated to the topic at hand 😄
To clarify: I’m not in the US, but Europe. Yet I’m still very much interested. I’d be working for a European company that does business in other parts of the world? Why are the hours so agreeable? Is it just the demand? China wouldn’t be my first choice, but other parts of S/E Asia or South America perhaps.
The demand is a big part of it. Most non-native English speaking countries have hundreds or thousands of job postings available today, so if they’re going to attract the relatively few English teachers out there, the hours, pay and benefits have to be competitive.
SEA/South America are wide open markets, but the pay is generally going to be half of what you’ll get in East Asia. You’ll always make well above the CoL though, wherever you teach, and there are always lots of jobs to pick from, so if you have a preferred country it’ll still be a great time just living abroad in general.
I was just looking at jobs in Panama, and there’s a beachside town an hour away from the city offering $1100 a month for those same hours and benefits, although they do throw in free housing.
more general points.
you really are helping the students. at this moment in history, english is in demand for students, business and socializing in general, and by learning english they are afforded more real opportunities, so it’s a rewarding job in that sense.
every month you teach is a huge boon in terms of experience. if you ever want to go back to teaching and you have any amount of experience, you’ll be offered higher pay and better benefits.
A corollary is that once you teach, you’ll always have that job available. Want money but don’t want to work much? ESL. Need to save up capital or pay off debt back home? ESL. Want to offset all of your globetrotting habits? ESL. Most financial difficulties are fundamentally off the table if you’re an English teacher.
you’ll have so much free time that you can focus on your hobbies and interests, which was a huge part of me enjoying my time abroad, living my actual life.
TYVM. Im still amazed about it all. So I don’t really have specific questions. Feel free to go on, I won’t be overwhelmed. I may take a while to answer, but that’s unrelated to the topic at hand 😄 To clarify: I’m not in the US, but Europe. Yet I’m still very much interested. I’d be working for a European company that does business in other parts of the world? Why are the hours so agreeable? Is it just the demand? China wouldn’t be my first choice, but other parts of S/E Asia or South America perhaps.
The demand is a big part of it. Most non-native English speaking countries have hundreds or thousands of job postings available today, so if they’re going to attract the relatively few English teachers out there, the hours, pay and benefits have to be competitive.
SEA/South America are wide open markets, but the pay is generally going to be half of what you’ll get in East Asia. You’ll always make well above the CoL though, wherever you teach, and there are always lots of jobs to pick from, so if you have a preferred country it’ll still be a great time just living abroad in general.
I was just looking at jobs in Panama, and there’s a beachside town an hour away from the city offering $1100 a month for those same hours and benefits, although they do throw in free housing.
more general points.
you really are helping the students. at this moment in history, english is in demand for students, business and socializing in general, and by learning english they are afforded more real opportunities, so it’s a rewarding job in that sense.
every month you teach is a huge boon in terms of experience. if you ever want to go back to teaching and you have any amount of experience, you’ll be offered higher pay and better benefits.
A corollary is that once you teach, you’ll always have that job available. Want money but don’t want to work much? ESL. Need to save up capital or pay off debt back home? ESL. Want to offset all of your globetrotting habits? ESL. Most financial difficulties are fundamentally off the table if you’re an English teacher.
you’ll have so much free time that you can focus on your hobbies and interests, which was a huge part of me enjoying my time abroad, living my actual life.