Hello everyone!
This is my first blog ever so please do bare with me.
Have been busy over the past few months (New house, Christmas and New Year) so have only just manage to pay full attention to my TEFL online course and apply for placements.
I have attended the 20 hours weekend course at Mayfair just before Christmas and enjoyed the course very much. Have met some really lovely people and Karen our trainer was really good. I am now on full throttle on the online course (currently tackling the mighty Grammar section) and sending out applications in between (22 apps sent in 2 hours yesterday, score!!!)
Have had quite a few frustration since I joined i-to-i and just want to share it with you guys and see if anyone can offer any advice.
I am from Hong Kong originally but have been fully educated and lived in the UK for majority of my life.
I have been rejected on the China Internship program and I think that's because I am of Chinese origin. (Based on the birth place stated on my passport and all the photos I've sent over with my app!)
I am getting really frustrated about this as I really want to teach in China so I can learn Mandarin and understand more about the culture. All my hopes are now with i-to-i to secure me a placement in China and fingers and toes crossed I will get something soon as beginning my travels at the end of this month.
To be realistic about this, am spreading my eggs into different baskets and I have moved onto applying placements in South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia and Japan via Dave's ESL Cafe. I have already heard back from South Korea, Thailand and Malaysia within 24 hours of my initial e-mail to the agencies. Let's hope my hard work will pay off soon.
Have also come across with quite a few ??? when applying to positions in South Korea - is a Criminal Record Check a CRB or Police Certificate from the UK? Can anyone tell me how to apply for either of them as CRB requires an agency to obtain the application form for me and police certificate is not valid for any Far East countries!! Sigh!!! So many questions - feeling so confused.
Any help from anyone or even if you just want to say hi then please do get in touch. I have only one friend on Chalkboard at the moment and would like to make some more.
Ciao for now.
Sandy :)
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Have you been finding it difficult to find a placement in any Asian country because you are not "native"?
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Hi Lee,
Cannot agree with you more and I think it would definitely be an awesome post grad dissertation topic. If you need to get more info, or need people to interview - let me know and am more than happy to help. I went through hell with my MA dissertation and know how difficult it is to get data!
S
Was that the i-to-i internship you were rejected from? Seems rather poor.
Considering that most English communication (internationally) occurs between/among non-native speakers of English (approximately 74%, around 2006), does it really matter whether the teacher is native or not? Intelligibility and comprehendability are the key concerns for our students, not which accent they use. This is a continuing issue in TESOL. The number of non-native English speakers on the MA TESOL course I'm doing outnumber the natives significantly, and they are all teachers of English. Maybe I can write my dissertation about this subject. Something to think about.
All the best,
Lee.
Oh no. It's my greatest nightmare comin' alive!
I'm a Malaysian-Chinese(non-native English speaker) currently living in Singapore and I've been wanting to take up this TEFL course but am quite concerned about finding jobs cus I've seen alot of job offers in China & Korea give top priorities to native speakers.
Well at least u've been in the UK the majority of ur life Sandy, I wish u all the best! I'm sure u will find a good job. Keep us informed! :D Good Luck!
Hi Robert,
Thanks for your posts below. Your advice is definitely helpful. I can now see the light at the end of the tunnel! I shall most definitely get in touch with your contact. Thanks again for your help. Hope all is well in China.
S
Ooops forgot to mention the school in Dongguan is also looking for teachers so maybe drop them an email the DOS is Wesley Phillips and the email address is ef_dongguan@live.cn
Hi Sandy, I hope I can offer some sound advice but I think it is more of a reassurance that you have been doing the right thing. The best thing you can do is apply to agencies, I prefer those to going direct to the school as you have a bigger target, they can also help those who have problems getting a job in that country because they know the system and have contacts who are willing to bend their rules slightly. If you can prove that you have been in the UK most of your life like sending your GCSE transcript (if you have it) with the initial email and explain you were born in HK etc then you should hopefully get more responses.
The record check is usually done in the country you will work for, so they will check with the international police database to make sure you are not a risk to children or have an outstanding warrant for your arrest etc. So unless you were planning to work in the UK their is no need to get a CRB done.
If you have any questions just let me know and I will try and direct you, a good agency is Start Consulting (chinateachonline@yahoo.com.cn) I dealt with Robyn and have just secured a job working in Dongguan to start in April. Let me know how you get on with them and good luck with the rest of the i-to-i course!
Thanks for your help Honor and definitely will keep everyone posted on what's happening now I know how to write a blog.
P.S: Great job on the site! Love it!
Hey Sandy,
Think your determination is great - hope you get some joy with your job applications.
You can apply for a CRB form direct from the Criminal Records Bureau - they're to check that you don't have any unspent convictions (which I'm sure you don't!) You can apply here: http://www.crb.homeoffice.gov.uk/
Best of luck with your search - look forward to hearing how you get on!
Honor
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