I finished my TESOL/TESL/TEFL certification from Oxford Seminars last weekend and the 3 weekends went by surprisingly fast. I stressed over my final lesson plan and only got a few hours of sleep. I even got to the class 40 minutes early and was going over what I was going to say and do during my lesson. When it came time to actually do the lesson plan, I was following the note prompts, but did a gut check on time management. At the end it worked out ok and I was able to compare my intended outcome vs. actual outcome and there was some unforeseen learning lessons. This was a good thing. At the end, when I read over my review, it turned out that I was the top of my class, but even this didn't calm my nerves.
I have been working on my resume, cover letter, teacher's philosophy, and getting my documents together in order to apply for the working visa. Such a pain!! I submitted a couple of the documents into the job placement and waiting to hear back from them. Once the final drafts are vetted out, they are supposed to submit my application to the schools and I might just start applying to other places I discovered during my research. I also looked into apartments / rooms for rent to get a feel for the rental market. All this preparation and I am half glad that it is still 3 months out before I can start that job. I am a bit worried that I have seen a decline in the number of job postings for Vietnam so I hope the timing will be right for me to get hired with New Years around the corner once I set foot in Vietnam. My backup plan will be to apply to Korea so if that happens, I will be doing my research all over again. Ugh. Once I get a confirmed school offer, I will start re-reading my books/manuals and start to keep reading notes. I am still wondering if I should be taking the specialization modules to take advantage of the $100 discount. Grammar vs. TOEFL. That is the question. I believe Grammar will give me more lesson plan ideas, but TOEFL is something all the students are looking to pass.
Next stop is to wait on the job placement feedback and see if I should be taking the specialization module.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Genesis
After working in the IT field for over 14 years, I got laid off and now I have an opportunity to set my sights on a new beginning. I was taking it easy for the first couple of months - started exercising a bit more, went on a trip to LA and Vegas after being away for a month overseas, been going out more, got a real tan on my arms (haha) and just trying to be more social. However, I needed to do something more and the lasting impression I had after being in India, Hong Kong and Vietnam for that month made me realize let's do something totally out of my comfort zone - let's live and do business abroad!
My entrepreneurial spirit emerged and I wanted to see what business opportunities I can build from my experience living and working in the US. My dad was really optimistic about building a hotel and restaurant in Vietnam after his 1.5 months stay, but I had no practical experience with its local market so I needed to figure out a way to build the relationships and knowledge needed to get started. I started looking around and discovered that there were many opportunities for English language teachers abroad. The requirements were simple enough - native speaker (check), college degree (check), TEFL equivalent certification (needed to get), and desire to live abroad (check). I seem to fit the bill so I dug a little deeper and tried to expand my options - Vietnam, Hong Kong, or Japan. Where am I going to teach? After some Googling around and talking to a few people, I believe I have settled on teaching in Saigon and starting my business in this city.
First step was to get this teaching job so that I can sustain myself in this foreign land while I soak in the local market, people, and economic landscape. The first hurdle and milestone was to get the certification (work in progress). In the meantime, I got my resume, cover letter, reference letters and documentation in order because they will be needed as part of my application package to these schools. I also checked out what schools are popular in Vietnam and there are quite a few, but I was able to narrow it down to a few. I was still going to apply to them all to see where fate takes me and what opportunities presents itself. Looking forward when this month is over because I will be done with my certification and should be actively applying.
My entrepreneurial spirit emerged and I wanted to see what business opportunities I can build from my experience living and working in the US. My dad was really optimistic about building a hotel and restaurant in Vietnam after his 1.5 months stay, but I had no practical experience with its local market so I needed to figure out a way to build the relationships and knowledge needed to get started. I started looking around and discovered that there were many opportunities for English language teachers abroad. The requirements were simple enough - native speaker (check), college degree (check), TEFL equivalent certification (needed to get), and desire to live abroad (check). I seem to fit the bill so I dug a little deeper and tried to expand my options - Vietnam, Hong Kong, or Japan. Where am I going to teach? After some Googling around and talking to a few people, I believe I have settled on teaching in Saigon and starting my business in this city.
First step was to get this teaching job so that I can sustain myself in this foreign land while I soak in the local market, people, and economic landscape. The first hurdle and milestone was to get the certification (work in progress). In the meantime, I got my resume, cover letter, reference letters and documentation in order because they will be needed as part of my application package to these schools. I also checked out what schools are popular in Vietnam and there are quite a few, but I was able to narrow it down to a few. I was still going to apply to them all to see where fate takes me and what opportunities presents itself. Looking forward when this month is over because I will be done with my certification and should be actively applying.
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