<p>Hi, does anyone know which of these teach abroad programs (most seem to be in Asia) are the most reputable? Any feedback from college graduates you know who have had this experience? Thanks.</p>
<p>I don’t know which ones are, mommamia, but you are right to be checking. I’d do some googling about the specific companies. D taught English in Korea for 3 months. Her situation was a bit unusual, as she was working for a church-affiliated school. It was badly managed, and though she was supposed to be there a year, the school folded after she’d been there 3 months. While there, she learned that some American English teachers were in terrible situations, mostly involving poor housing and too much work.</p>
<p>The applicant for one of these jobs should ask lots of questions. For instance, “What do you mean by 40 hours per week?” In D’s case, it meant they expected her in a classroom teaching for 40 hours. It didn’t count that she had classes scattered all over Seoul and it would sometimes take 2 hours to get from one class to the other. Those 2 hours didn’t count.</p>
<p>One place to start for good ideas on this topic is Dave’s ESL Cafe. Dave has been posting job-hunting advice, job ads, lesson plans, you-name-it for years:
[Dave’s</a> ESL Cafe](<a href=“404 - Page Not Found - ESL”>http://www.eslcafe.com/)</p>
<p>You could also pm fiona_ who often posts in the International Forum. She spent part of a gap term doing a Cambridge EFL certificate program ( [Cambridge</a> ESOL: Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA)](<a href=“http://www.cambridgeesol.org/exams/teaching-awards/celta.html]Cambridge”>http://www.cambridgeesol.org/exams/teaching-awards/celta.html)) and teaching English in Vietnam.</p>
<p>It can be done through Fulbright. The application is probably fairly competitive (though not to the same degree as Fulbright research fellowship), and I am not sure what the deadlines are (might have passed already).</p>
<p>Anyone heard of this one in Korea:</p>
<p>[url=<a href=“http://www.teachenglishinkorea.biz/index.html]Home[/url”>http://www.teachenglishinkorea.biz/index.html]Home[/url</a>]</p>
<p>Try Peace Corps. At least you have an American agency looking out for you, transportation back and forth, housing and a stipend.</p>
<p>The JET program is by far the best-planned teach-abroad program for college graduates. Administered by Japanese embassies all over the world, JET recruits young people for Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) positions in various locations over Japan. Admission to JET is competitive, but honestly, it’s a fantastic experience for someone who really wants to teach English and experience Japanese culture.</p>
<p>About overseas-hire programs like what somemom posted… Eh, a couple of my classmates from my CELTA program went with overseas-hire: got hired in Canada, flew off to Korea and were happy. But really, you gotta figure out what you’re getting into (especially newbie college graduates who don’t know the in-n-outs) What do you wanna do? Teach OR have fun with kids? (not mutually exclusive, but planning a good lesson can get intense) Experience the native culture? Etc…</p>
<p>I have been looking for information about this too. I’m not too picky, but I have been looking specifically for programs in Greece, Germany, Spain, Chile and Italy.</p>
<p>A lot of the programs I’ve seen are really expensive and the time lengths too short. I want something longer than a month or two. </p>
<p>I’m bumping this post up. Hopefully bumping it up by making my reply will help us both.</p>
<p>Bumping it up again.</p>
<p>My daughter did this her first year out of college. She found a program that paid her a stipend to work about 30 hours a week and provided housing. The teaching part of it was a sort of sham as she spoke no Chinese and the kids spoke very minimal English. Most of her classes had 30- 50 kids in a class and it took her months to get any help. She was one of the only employees that had a degree with an education major. The other people were really winging it. Apparently, it’s a real coup to have a native English speaker in the school even if there is not much teaching.</p>
<p>She was able to travel a lot and saw quite a bit of China and traveled to Korea, Vietnam and Thailand. She tutored to a couple of families on the side and was able to make more money that way. I won’t mention the name of her program because it’s not the best but it did work out for her. I would suggest asking lots of questions and talking to people that are in the program.</p>
<p>I was looking at something called GeoVisions; not sure if it is legit. I wish there were more people here who knew about these things.</p>
<p>My son, who graduated college in 2006, taught English for 1 1/2 years in a huge city in southwest China. The school provided an apartment. He taught English to children, mostly on weekends. His classes were no more than 20 and there was a Chinese assistant to help with the younger kids. One of the other American teachers had taught English in China before but basically none of the Western teaching staff had education degrees. We had read about bait-and-switch situations so were relieved that a distant cousin’s friend’s son recruited him for this same chain of schools. Overall, it was a positive experience and my son was able to save some money which was helpful when he returned home for a year. Unfortunately, he returned home smack dab in the middle of the recession and he was unable to find a paying position in his field (so he took some internships). When he ran out of money this summer, he was able to find a job teaching math at a new international school in Beijing. His salary is decent (beginner’s low salary if you were just starting out in Boston) but he pays for most of his housing. The other Westerners on the staff at this school are a tremendous source of support for one another.</p>
<p>My advice to you – if it sounds too good to be true, then it is. Be sure to examine the health insurance offered especially if you have a pre-existing condition. Also be careful as sometimes they change the number of hours you work and do not increase your pay.
Good luck.</p>
<p>Would a study abroad office be able to tell me which programs are legitimate?</p>
<p>any one had experience with this one:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.projects-abroad.org/projects/teaching/south-africa/?content=teaching-english-to-18-and-over/#teaching-english-to-18-and-over[/url]”>http://www.projects-abroad.org/projects/teaching/south-africa/?content=teaching-english-to-18-and-over/#teaching-english-to-18-and-over</a></p>
<p>3boys,</p>
<p>What would you say qualifies as too good to be true? Did your son look at other programs before the cousin suggested the one he ended up going on?</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>Sorry it’s taken me so long to answer, blue. My son ended up working for the program suggested by distant cousin’s family friend. Other family friends gave him contacts and info for Korea but he thought he could earn/save more $ in China.</p>
<p>One way to check out school/program’s qualities is to google it. There is a lot of feedback on the Web. Also, if you arrive in the country and the school changes your responsibilities, hours, benefits, salary despite signed contract, that is a bad sign. It’s helpful if you can somehow speak to another American/Westerner working for the program before you sign the contract.</p>
<p>The Spanish government sponsors a program to send 1200 Americans/Canadians to teach English in the K-12 school systems. 12-20 hours of teaching a week, 700 euro/month stipend from October through May. It’s pretty much like Fulbright only run from the Spanish end and less prestigious here.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.mec.es/sgci/usa/en/programs/us_assistants/default.shtml[/url]”>http://www.mec.es/sgci/usa/en/programs/us_assistants/default.shtml</a></p>
<p>I applied for the Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship (the deadline was in October for 2010-2011), and if I don’t get it, I will apply for the Spanish program when the new applications are posted.</p>
<p>Any idea on when the new applications are posted?</p>
<p>Does anyone know how competitive Fulbright ETA’s are? I’ve looked at the competition statistics on the website, but I’m wondering how to find out which countries are less competitive than others. </p>
<p>How good do you have to be to get one of these?</p>