I haven't posted on this website in a while but I feel I should help out given my experience. In the past three years I have taught in Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Thailand, and Japan. I'm in the middle of my last year where I have saved about $20,000 to go home and get my masters in teaching so I can be a teacher in America. It has been an amazing experience. I've met tons of interesting people, traveled all over Asia, went to Tibet, ate some amazing food, and got to provide my students a valuable skill. But there's been some bad too.
First off, ask yourself a question: Why are you doing this? Are you doing this because you want to teach English, or are you looking for an escape? Have you ever taught anything? Can you check your native language and simplify it for new learners? Are you a good public speaker? If you're only looking to party and travel, don't do this. There's better ways to escape your current life. I don't mean to be rude, but as someone who teaches wonderful children who brighten my day every time I see them and actually tries hard to provide them a good education, it truly saddens me that people come here, get jobs, stay employed, and truly don't give a fuck about teaching. They do no prep, just play movies, and don't care. So if you're gonna teach, be a goddamn professional about it. Also, can you keep a room full of kids enthralled? Since you have zero experience, getting a job teaching only adults will be hard.
Second question: You SURE you want to do this? How attached to your current lifestyle are you? Do you need your starbucks in the morning? Do you need that new game the moment it comes out? How adaptable are you? I can't tell you how many people I've seen come abroad all bright eyed, then they realize that, SURPRISE, life isn't the same here as it is in America, and they bolt because they can't handle it. Also, do you have any debt? Because sending money home from abroad can be an incredibly complicated process.
Next question: What is more important to you: Having a good experience or making money? If you care about experience above all, I cannot stress enough, TEACH AT A REAL SCHOOL. A public school is best. You don't deal with rich kids or crazy parents, you're in an education first environment, you'll have less classes, it's Monday-Friday 8-4, and when the school is out, you're on vacation, so you have ample travel time. With that said, if making coin is more important, then a language center will make you more money, but you will have a weird schedule, teach more classes, it's higher pressure due to shitty kids (or adults) and crazed parents. I really can't stress this enough: Work in a public school.
As far as location goes, this is entirely subjective, but I'll go over where I've taught. Cambodia is a cool place, but the money is really bad and it's an incredibly poor country. You can make around $1000 USD enough, so you won't save much money, but you can live like a goddamn king there for $1000 a month. I was only there a couple of months because it's where my TESOL training was. Then I was in Vietnam (Saigon), and I loved it. The money is alright, you'll probably make around $1500-$2000, and, again, Vietnam is super SUPER cheap, so you can save decent coin and live well. I was making $1500 a month, and I was living in a seven floor sharehouse with a Jacuzzi and a fitness room. Living there and all my expenditures was around $500 a month. The food is amazing, it's a beautiful country, and Saigon is a VERY western city, so the things at home you might miss you'll be able to get there. That's true of most of the big cities. I worked at a language center there, and it was a good one, but my schedule was nuts. I had tuesday-thursday off, Monday and Friday I taught one class, then on Saturday and Sunday I was in the office for like 13 hours. It was nuts. But I really liked the country and kinda wish I had stayed longer.
The whole reason I was there was to wait until I got a job in Japan, and I'm here to tell you: DO NOT TEACH IN JAPAN. I cannot stress this enough, it was a miserable experience. I worked at a language center, and I had 33 classes a week, which is an absurd workload. They stuck me in the middle of nowhere, my bosses were rude and spied on me, you have to wear a suit every day (I'm not a suit guy), and here's the thing about Japan that you will not find in other countries (except maybe South Korea): You are expendable there. Because it's Japan, and it's a nice country, and because of the culture, there is a line out the door of people who want your job because they want to live in anime land (also you're considered an even bigger weirdo in Japan if you like games and anime as an adult than you are in America), so they can overwork you, treat you like dirt, etc. Also you have to pay for your own rent, high taxes, health insurance, etc. Your take home pay is enough to essentially live a lower middle class Japanese lifestyle, but saving money is surprisingly difficult because it's an expensive country. Also raises aren't very common, so expect to make the same 220,000-250,000JPY en perpetuity. I quit that job to work in a public school, and while that was a better environment, it has issues too. First off, you're not a real teacher in Japanese public schools, you are an ALT: Assistant Language Teacher. So you don't really teach. You just stand in the corner and occasionally read sentences for the students to repeat and grade papers. You are a glorified tape recorder. It is incredibly boring, and their English is SO BAD. The worst of any country I've been in. The teachers were nice, as was my principal, and I liked hanging out with the kids (Junior high school), but it was just about the most unfulfilling job I've ever had. The Japanese English teachers can't speak English for shit, so they can't teach it for shit. They spend so much wasted time in Japanese schools learning English, and it's a bummer because I knew the whole time the way they were teaching it was wrong and I could do a much better job (and have more fun), but going to the boss and saying 'This is all fucked, fix it', is about the most Un Japanese thing you can do, so DON'T DO THAT. They treat you with kids gloves, don't give you any real responsibility, and due to the Japanese work culture, you're expected to look busy for hours on end when in reality you have nothing to do. It's incredibly dull, so I left during the winter holiday. Look, I know Japan seems awesome on the outset, and it can be. By all means vacation there, it's a beautiful place. Go to Akihabara, go to Super Potato, climb Mt. Fuji, see a baseball game, eat some sushi, have a baller time. But living there and working there is NOT a baller time. I have not worked in South Korea myself, but from what I have heard talking to many expats who worked there, their experience was similar, so based on hearsay I've heard from others, I wouldn't recommend South Korea.
Then I went to Thailand, which was frankly a mistake. Anyone who lives in Thailand as an expat for more than six months is a seedy motherfucker that frankly you want nothing to do with. If your goal is to do drugs and party while teaching abroad, go here. Pattaya is legitimately hell on Earth. Working there was fine (I was only working for the summer at an International school while I waited to go to China for the start of the school year. The visa process is a bitch), but as you can imagine it is rather hot, and it was just about the most unorganized place I have ever been. Class schedules were changed on a daily basis. Also the pay is not great. Enough to live well there, but not super great.
By far, my favorite place to teach has been China. You'll hear a lot of Korean and Japanese teachers talking about how the good ol' days are gone, and they're still going strong in China. The demand to learn English is super high, and they will pay a premium for good, trained, native teachers. You can negotiate heavily because the demand far exceeds the supply. Also things like a free apartment, contract bonuses, and paying for your flight back home are all commonplace and I would not take a job without those provisions. You can make good money and save a lot because everything is cheap (Unless you're going to the expat bars or eating a lot of international food). I'm working in Luoyang, which is a big city but not Beijing or Shanghai, so I don't have the same western options as you would there, but in the big cities any comfort of home you want, you can get. Also they have Taobao (Think Amazon.com for China), so ANYTHING you want to get, you can. I got a Switch delivered to my door in two days. The people are super, super nice, the food is amazing, there's so much history to see, and traveling through China is wonderful. I did a grand tour for a month and traveled all through it and it was the greatest experience of my life. Also Chinese work culture is super chill. I wear a tracksuit to work every day, if I need to leave a little early I can, and if I don't have a class, I can watch basketball or do whatever in the office while me and the other Chinese teachers all exchange fruits and watch Chinese soap operas. My boss is also a super cool dude who takes me and the other foreign teachers out to eat every month, we went on a holiday retreat where he rented a resort house and we went golfing, and if I need something, he takes care of me. BY FAR, China has been my favorite place to teach. Don't fret the politics, just don't talk about it, most people here don't want to talk about it, and get a VPN. It's not that big of a deal. They like Americans, and they will be very thankful that you chose to be a guest in their Country. Cannot recommend teaching in China enough.
Also, this is something I need to stress: DO NOT MAKE THIS A CAREER. This should be a fun thing you do for a couple of years then go home. I agree with the assessment of most expats from the previous poster: Creepy, sex crazed, drunken losers make up a large percentage of that population, which casts a dark light on the minority of people (which I would like to include myself in) who actually give a shit about their jobs and are doing this for adventure. You;ll meet plenty of people like this when you arrive, and the older ones who have been in the game a little too long...trust me, you don't wanna be that. Now, granted, if you are one of these people who care, your employer will probably ADORE you and do anything to keep you, including a huge raise at the end of your next contract. My current employer is gonna pay me 30,000RMB (about $4,500 a month, tax free, free decent apartment) to stay next year, and I'm gonna cash out and go home. I got this crazy raise because of things that I found pretty pedestrian: I give a shit, show up on time, participate in events, don't show up drunk, and don't get in trouble. This is an unfortunate rarity in this business.
I say go for it, go to China, save some good coin, actually care about education, have an amazing time, don't do anything stupid, then come home after a couple of years. I've been burned with jobs, had my college diploma stolen, had my passport held hostage, and was once interrogated by the Thailand police and had to bribe my way out of a situation because my school didn't file my paperwork. Stay safe, do your research, ask lots of questions, and any demands you have that they agree to, GET IT IN WRITING. While there's some scumbags in this business, there are good people too who actually care about education, try to lump yourself with them. I realize a lot of this has sounded negative, but this has been a truly amazing experience and one of the best decisions of my life. If you can commit to being a good teacher, do it.
Wow that got long. I'll be happy to answer any questions you have.
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