Bloc131 Posted December 7, 2003 Share Posted December 7, 2003 i am 20 years old and soon may be at a crossroads in my life. since 12oz prophet usually gives some quality advice i thought i'd ask here. i've been roaming around a bit since i turned 18. moved to jersey, moved back home to kentucky temporarily, and then moved out to california to live for a bit. i have wanted to go back to school but haven't been sure if i wanted to settle down yet. for a few years now i have entertained myself with the thought of going overseas - somewhere in europe. obviously a 20 year old (temporary) college dropout is not the richest person in the world, but i have had a strong desire to travel a lot and learn about a different culture. hoping to find a win/win situation, i have considered some of the following: teaching english overseas somewhere? get paid a little bit for it and whatnot. volunteer somehow. any suggestions on what i could do would be greatly appreciated. i know i can depend on some of you for some pretty solid advice. i'm jsut trying to weigh my options right now. i just don't want to be 60 years old and realized i missed out on seeing the world and whatnot as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metallix Posted December 7, 2003 Share Posted December 7, 2003 apply for a foreign study. you can go to a public institution and do a few months during the summer , somewhere studying the culture/language. many schools offer japan, china, south korea, etc. apply as a volunteer for the UN, doing some kind of "relief" work. join the army. travel to south america. learn the language and live with a family $150/week. theres a good magazine called "break" for $3.95 has a lot of good details on these things, travelling during break, etc. you can also just save up some money and travel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloc131 Posted December 7, 2003 Author Share Posted December 7, 2003 i was looking for something where money would not be as much of an issue (*i.e. - teaching and getting money, or a place to stay or whatever) the military lets you travel very little. you may be in another country, but you're not as free to do what you want as people think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloc131 Posted December 7, 2003 Author Share Posted December 7, 2003 hmmm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloc131 Posted December 7, 2003 Author Share Posted December 7, 2003 bump Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malnourished Posted December 7, 2003 Share Posted December 7, 2003 in terms of teaching english... im pretty sure that all of the company that offer that program require some sort of a college degree before you can apply. My best friend taught english in Japan. I went to visit him this summer and they hook you up good. Living in Tokyo he managed to save 10k in just over 8 months of work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloc131 Posted December 7, 2003 Author Share Posted December 7, 2003 right on. if i taught introductory english i may not need a degree. maybe i can find somewhere that doesn't requite it. i'm not sure. i'll keep on looking, but any more advice would be appreciated! thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Telo Posted December 7, 2003 Share Posted December 7, 2003 nepal is a prettyu cheap place to live.. like 25bucks for rent a month give or take a few bucks.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.T Boy Posted December 7, 2003 Share Posted December 7, 2003 just go over and find a job. it isnt as hard as you think, you just have to be motivated to get one. europe is good for under the table stuff. im sure australia is good for it too. i was going to go to japan with my girl and teach this summer, but all the places that hook you up with jobs want like a g to teach you how to teach english. seems kind of shady, and i think americans ned bachelors degrees for that. asia seems hard to find work in, maybe you could just buy a flat in like nepal for 50 a month and just bum around. try the uk, go work in scotland or england, you can travel on days off. and i think you can get an easy visa there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Dazzle Posted December 7, 2003 Share Posted December 7, 2003 You can go anywhere and find jobs, just don't expect to be working in an office building with air conditioning and cushioned seats. You'll most likely have to get a job that pays in cash, unless you have a European citizenship. Which means that you'll probably be doing manual labour, or working in a pub or bar or something. A friend and I are going to travel around Europe in two years, our plan is to find such a job, work like a bitch for a month or so, save the money, and then travel to the next place. Then once we run out of money, find another job, work like a bitch, and so on. My mum taught English to Japanese kids. They give you a course of what stuff to teach them, and how to do it. I don't think you need any kind of degree to teach the basics.... Good luck with whatever you end up doing :cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
non-hetero Posted December 7, 2003 Share Posted December 7, 2003 esl Having a degree really depends on what country you are going to and how much money you want to make. Teaching ESL (english as a second language) is definately not under the table work so it requires a work visa. Business oriented countries (where the bling is) require a degree before you can obtain a visa. There are some work arounds for the student aged population just for ESL. I think Japan has something like this. For those countries that require no education before getting a work visa you will simply have lower paying jobs. Also you are going to want to take an ESL course here in north america before you start job hunting. Around $500 CAD. And as for the details. You may or may not have to develop your own course material but yeah, it's only basic english stuff. You are going to either teach -very- young children english or, more commonly, 12 and up (who already know english -very- well) proper pronounciation and appropriate conversation slang. Basically you just help them get comfortable with conversations and showing them how to use the north american english accent. All this information is just shit I learned by researching. Lots of info on the net. Read it all then read it again. Also research your country. Don't want to get arrested by doing something stupid like practicing christianity or smoking dope and end up in jail for the rest of your life.. Those wacky asians. I've personally never taught ESL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abracadabra Posted December 7, 2003 Share Posted December 7, 2003 Originally posted by Bloc131 right on. if i taught introductory english i may not need a degree. a friend of mine got a degree of the internet and that was enough to get him a place. have a look around the web for some half-assed english degree and you're in Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiseguy Posted December 8, 2003 Share Posted December 8, 2003 im going to start my teaching degree soon, i was thinking that afterwards i would go to brazil and teach there through an aid organisation or something. they pay you just enough to live on and you would be there for a year or two. ive been there before and i loved it, i can speak basic portugese and i am looking into a course to learn more advanced stuff. its all a long way off yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloc131 Posted December 8, 2003 Author Share Posted December 8, 2003 you guys rule. i knew i could depend on you. god bless the 12oz. (keep the info coming if you got it!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intangible Posted December 8, 2003 Share Posted December 8, 2003 go teach english in asia...easy to start doing dont need any more than a highschool diploma sometimes, and you make bank...look into it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FuckWhitey Posted December 8, 2003 Share Posted December 8, 2003 check what country you want to go to, then check the internet for job openings in a city in that country you want to go to, call them up, ask, tell, bada bing bada boom, you have a job waiting for you, be there in a month. oh, and dont go to Japan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloc131 Posted December 8, 2003 Author Share Posted December 8, 2003 Originally posted by IntangibleFame go teach english in asia...easy to start doing dont need any more than a highschool diploma sometimes, and you make bank...look into it. my girlfriend's father teaches in china now. he was broke i guess and went over there and he teaches. probably makes good money. i dont want to go to asia thoug. europe preferably. and anywhere but france and italy, basically. i'd like to maybe go to eastern europe. i'm not looking to get rich doing this. just enough to be able to maintain on my own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
effyoo Posted December 8, 2003 Share Posted December 8, 2003 A friends brother went to Poland to teach english. He ended up opening falling in love with a Polish girl and never came back. I don't know too much about the jobs portion of it although i've been interested in doing that in asia. There is good info in this thread, well done everyone. I'd make a good teacher. see how I included everyone in my praise for the info? They'll love me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloc131 Posted December 8, 2003 Author Share Posted December 8, 2003 haha yea! you'll make a good teacher and get azn hoes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serum Posted December 8, 2003 Share Posted December 8, 2003 americans without a university degree will have a difficult time getting a job overseas. lookup what country that you are interested in staying in and find out their visa standards. try the embassy's webpage. i'm not sure about other countries but in terms of asia you must have a BA to recieve a working visa. canadians, australians, nzealanders, and i think quite recently the french and english can get a working holiday visa with a highschool diploma. the us government gives no breaks to other countries when it comes to immigration so they do the same to americans seeking overseas employment. ps tt you don't need to pay any school for training. training is free but you recieve a training wage which is around half the normal salary. whatever company that was is just a swindler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 455 Posted December 8, 2003 Share Posted December 8, 2003 no sir,can't say I have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaBar2 Posted December 18, 2003 Share Posted December 18, 2003 My niece taught English to Japanese high school kids for six years. She now speaks fluent Japanese, of course. Her degree is in bio-chemistry, and she is smart as ten whips. She can discuss biochemistry and whatnot in Japanese. Astounding. I remember when she couldn't even do the multiplication tables, now she's making $100,000 a year. Outrageous. You will do a hell of a lot betterlooking for a job if you have a university degree. Being poor and in a Third World country sucks bad. Being stuck in a Third World country without a way to get home is even WORSE. Be careful. I have several acquaintences that were arrested, jailed and basically held for ransom in Mexico, Central America and southeast Asia, in different occurances. Even being a tourist can be extremely dangerous in Third World countries. You have absolutely no Constitutional protections there--NONE. Americans are fair game overseas. Rich little pussies, ripe for the plucking, with no guns, no powerful friends, and no connections---but easily frightened parents with banks full of money. Have a nice trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milton Posted December 18, 2003 Share Posted December 18, 2003 Blokster... I'm 20 too and have given the idea considerable thought, but it just hasn't been a priorty for me. I think the best thing to do would be to just jump in head first, save enough money for a ticket to wherever you want to end up and a ticket back home and then just go for it is my advice. If you know a little of a foreign language you can get a job and such, teaching english would be a good choice, but you can always mop floors or do dishes. If you're looking to go to Europe, I might suggest Spain which has a lovely climate and people, England and Wales are also top choice. I actually have a friend that ended up in Argentina speaking maybe 10 words in Spanish and lived for a few years. Anyway, my advice is just go do it, just be sure you have money for a ticket back... Holleraction Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imported_dowmagik Posted December 18, 2003 Share Posted December 18, 2003 i looked into getting down with the peace corp, but it requires a bachelors. just save and/or hussle some money and take some chances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mishaco Posted December 18, 2003 Share Posted December 18, 2003 ya , i did . i was in the peace corps in 1996 stationed in haiti . amazing poverty , hardened people with optimistic hopes and a love of family , and historically mistreated by everyone they come in contact with . i would do it again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.T Boy Posted December 18, 2003 Share Posted December 18, 2003 Originally posted by serum ps tt you don't need to pay any school for training. training is free but you recieve a training wage which is around half the normal salary. whatever company that was is just a swindler. damn, i feel stupid. maybe there is hope for summer after all. getting a job overseas in europe isnt very hard, you just have to work to find one. theres an english community in every country, and usually in every big city. youll be fine. email me if you want, i did this illegally for a year, i might be able to help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PedroHammers Posted December 18, 2003 Share Posted December 18, 2003 along with what TT said, there are English communities in every country. I am from the states and I am currently living, working and studying abroad in Europe. It basically takes a good couple of months of organizing and money saving and then you can get on with it. Pick a place, research it. The best way to get questions answered is find an "Ex-Pat" website from the country you are looking into and they generally will have all of the "street" level info that you need. example of said site: www.virtualvienna.net or just send me an email i can give you the details on how i did it. good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest im not witty Posted December 18, 2003 Share Posted December 18, 2003 at the moment my life is very stagnant and im looking for a change, even if its one for the worse in the long run, i just need to shake shit up. the whole teaching english in foreign country thing has always been a possibility, i even have a BS in english that is doing me no good at the bullshit office job that i have now. but im not too hyped about going to an asian country, id rather ease into and go european, do they have these programs for spain? or anywhere else in europe? i speak like maybe 50 words of spanish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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