To help you decide where you would like to apply for your international job abroad, and to give you an insight into different countries, read some of the experiences of teachers who have worked all around the world. All the reports are the teacher’s honest opinion of the destination that they have worked in.
This will help you get a real idea of the country and types of schools within these countries. Please do remember that these are just some experiences from teachers and are not the exact situation that you will find in every country (no school names are mentioned to protect the schools identity).
If you have worked abroad and have any experiences that you would be willing to share with us and all the visitors to the website then please email them to us at info@ucanta.com.
To read any of these reports below in full then please just click on the sentences below and the whole report will appear.
Chris - Iran, Nigeria, America and Israel
Angela - Catalunya, Spain
Gill - South Korea
Simon - Egypt and Turkey
Alison - Taiwan
Helen - St Louis, Senegal
Helen - Barcelona, Spain
Charlotte - Barcelona, Spain
Please remember that all of the reports are the teacher’s honest opinion of the destination that they have worked in and ucanta can not be held responsible for any decisions that individuals make from reading this information.
Chris - Iran, Nigeria, America and Israel
Application process/interview: For all jobs I attended interviews within the UK
How easy it was to move out there initially: There was some culture shock when I first moved to the new countries and this took some adjusting to.
What were your favourite aspects about country: Iran the people, Nigeria the social life, America countryside and Israel Palestinian people.
What were your less favourite aspects about the country: When I traveled to work in these countries I found the restriction on Human rights could be abused and it was again a large part of the cultural change from living in the UK.
What were the general working conditions like (pay, standard of work, staff respect): In every country that I worked in the pay conditions were far better than that within the UK.
What curriculum did you teach within the certain country: I always taught in the English curriculum. Each country and school varied the way that they would use the curriculum but in general they all followed the same sort of system.
How did you find the cost of living: The cost of living was good. We were able to afford everything that we wanted and we were able to travel both within the country and the surrounding countries.
What was transport within city/country and getting from/to UK like: I always found the transport system very good and effective in all areas except for America.
How were you accepted within the country and local community: I found that I was accepted very well into most areas and communities except for Israel, I found it very hard to mix with the local people and for them to accept me into their environment.
Did you require visas, work permits etc to work in this country: all needed visas and this was sorted out through both the school and the government offices within the UK.
Any extra information or summing up about your experience in the specific country: Iran was beautiful and the people were really friendly but situations were dangerous, Israel was really difficult as Israelis were very arrogant and paranoid and Nigeria was chaotic and dangerous but very interesting.
Application process/interview: Fairly straightforward, fast selection process, due to shortage of Native teachers living there.
How easy it was to move out their initially: I was lucky that I knew someone living there, so had accommodation to start with.
What were your favourite aspects about country: The social aspect, fantastic bars, restaurants, beach and mountains all accessible, weather.
What were your less favourite aspects about the country: Paper work.. Getting your permits to work can be a long process, translation of teaching certificates for some schools which costs a lot of money.
What were the general working conditions like: Pay is very little compared to UK, as prices rise to live in Spain, the wages were fairly stretched, could be a struggle for some. Standard of work-not very many resources, generally left to your own devices and some old fashioned ways of teaching (endless photocopied materials). Staff tend to stick together and help each other out. Great opportunity to make friends as everyone is in the same position. Like all schools there are internal problems, depends on how you are affected by the politics.
What curriculum did you teach within the certain country: Combination of British and Spanish.
How did you find the cost of living: In major cities, quite expensive to rent…generally food and eating out is cheaper.
What was transport within city/country and getting from/to UK like: I used the metro, bus and trains, all seemed to be effective. The train had the most problems though due to developments as the City is every expanding. To and from the UK was very easy, lots of flights.
How were you accepted within the country and local community: This takes time, initially you make friends with fellow ex- pats. It depends on how open you are to make contact and communicate with the locals, but found this difficult to ´get in´.
Did you require visas, work permits etc to work in this country: No
Any extra information or summing up about your experience in the specific country: Spain is a beautiful country to live with marvelous food, gorgeous weather, nature and lots to do. Learning the language is challenging but rewarding but patience is advised here. Teaching in Spain depends again on how open you are to challenge and differences from home. It can be more relaxed but also frustrating as the standards don’t seem to be as high. Personally I think you come to Spain to live and be in a nice climate, you certainly don’t come here to make money as the wages are not particularly good. It’s the quality of life that I value, blue skies and good food!
Application process/interview: I went through an agency so there was an initial application to the agency and then a telephone interview with the school
How easy it was to move out there initially: The agency helped with a lot of the practicalities of the moving i.e. visas, flights etc. The most difficult thing was once the job was secured was that I needed to be there within 4 weeks… which went very quickly in terms of sorting things out with my job and accommodation in England.
What were your favourite aspects about the country: Too many things to list! The culture, the countryside, the cities, the nightlife, learning the language…
What were your less favourite aspects about the country: There is the inevitable language barrier which, whilst often be a source of amusement, can also be incredibly frustrating when there is something urgent to deal with and you just can’t make yourself understood.
What were the general working conditions like: Private schools (hagwans) in Korea can pretty much be set up by anyone who has the premises and the money to set up a school. Unfortunately I ended up working in a school which was poorly run and lacked any decent resources, making my job very difficult. However, many of my friends worked in well respected and well resourced schools.
Generally teachers are well respected (although you may find that male teachers are treated more favourably than female) and even if you find yourself in a school that pays slightly less than average it is usually well above the local average and would provide a good standard of living.
What curriculum did you teach within the certain country: I was teaching English curriculum
How did you find the cost of living: The cost of living is reasonable - most schools will provide accommodation for their teachers (although again the standard of this will vary from school to school) and so you can easily eat well, socialise and save some money whilst there.
What was transport within city/country and getting from/to UK like: It’s about a 13 hour flight to Seoul from London and the transport once in Korea is very efficient.
How were you accepted within the country and local community: I worked in a small town about an hour east of Seoul. As it was a small town and only a handful of white people living there, most local residents were very curious and most know my name (and often what I’d been up to at the weekend) within a few weeks of being there. I found it to generally be a very friendly and welcoming country.
Did you require visas, work permits etc to work in this country: Yes – you need a working visa. You need to already have a job set up before you can apply for a visa. If you travel to Korea without a job and get one set whilst you are there you will be required to leave and then re-enter the country to validate it. Most people use this as an excuse for a short trip to sightsee in Japan!
Any extra information or summing up about your experience in the specific country: I would definitely recommend South Korea for people who want to experience a totally different experience to living in Western society but who couldn’t ever dream of living without their hair straightners or hot running water! A word of warning for girls though… if you’re over a size 8 make sure you take plenty of clothes as shopping can be a challenge!
Application process/interview: Interview in London, had to send in CV + letter of application to chosen schools.
How easy was it to move out their initially: Straight forward. It all depends on the individual school and their communication leading up to departure.
What were your favourite aspects about the country: History, Diving, Cheap living
What were the general working conditions like: Equivalent to UK but tax free. Free Housing, Medical Insurance, 2 month holiday in the summer. Return flights home. Settling in allowance, baggage allowance, performance management, Yearly contracts. Staff were very well respected.
What curriculum did you teach within the certain country: National Curriculum
How did you find the cost of living: Cheap
What was transport within city/country and getting from/to UK like: Tickets all paid for by the school and very easy to access.
How were you accepted within the country and local community: Very well, the locals would be keen to make friendships and involve you within the community.
Did you require visas, work permits etc to work in this country: Yes all arranged by the school.
Any extra information or summing up about your experience in the specific country: Choose your school carefully, research similar schools pay and conditions. Remember you are not in the UK!
Application process/interview: Proof of qualifications is necessary in order to obtain residency. Legal residency then makes you legal to sign a contract, so most schools will insist on seeing all documentation during an interview. However, it is possible to get teaching work with out teaching qualifications or a degree in the smaller cities and towns where it is difficult to recruit teaching staff. A university degree is usually required and TEFL certification and/or experience for the better jobs. It is not uncommon to be asked to give a demonstration to a class for duration of 5-20 minutes during the interview process in the case of kindergarten or higher end private schools.
How easy it was to move out there initially: Most schools will assist with the move over if coming from overseas. Usually you are met at the airport, given some type of accommodation until something more permanent is found or given some type of financial assistance in order to pay for furniture, deposits, etc.
What were your favourite aspects about country: Taiwan has many great things about it- their tolerance for foreigners and their extremely accommodating nature is unbeat anywhere in the world. The Taiwanese are hardworking and generally easygoing. There are also many beautiful places in Taiwan (although they could be looked after a bit more!) and many interesting cultural outlets. Taiwan is also conveniently located- Japan, Thailand, Honk Kong,etc. are all very close.
What were your less favourite aspects about the country: The pollution and air contamination in the cities can be difficult to live with. Consistency is not something that happens a lot in Taiwan, so ordering one thing in a restaurant one night and trying to order it again the next will leave you wondering if you are in the same restaurant! Apart from language barriers there are also major cultural differences and it can take some getting used to when asked repeatedly what your age is, if you are married, why you are so pretty/fat/tall, etc. if you have children, etc. if you are rich, how do you spend your money, etc.
The weather also takes some getting used to- lots of humidity, rain and damp. Let’s not forget typhoons and earthquakes! And of course- bread. Lovely fresh bread is hard to come by as is good alcohol in smaller shops.
What were the general working conditions like (pay, standard of work, staff respect): Foreign teachers are paid very well considering that the cost of living in most cities is very low. An average wage is about 600NT or about 16euros an hour. Most contracts are between 20-26 hours a week and most people work two jobs. Usually a kindergarten in the mornings and then a “bushiban” or language school from 4-9pm. Depending on lifestyle and travel many teachers save between 1,500-3,000euros a month if they are working two jobs. The job can be difficult in the beginning as some schools can have up to 35 students in a class and teaching in Asia is very different to ESL teaching in Europe but most jobs have training sessions that usually last about one week. Most schools also follow a strict curriculum which means less planning time. Teachers are usually expected to mark weekly homework, quizzes and tests.
What curriculum did you teach within the certain country: This can vary depending on age group, type of school and location.
How did you find the cost of living: The cost of living is quite low, dinner out can cost anywhere from 2euros to 15 depending. Rent can vary from 150euros to 400euros depending on the city- Taipei being the most expensive. Foreigners usually have a more expensive cost of living compared to local people as most prefer to pay for cable television, imported food products, alcohol, etc.
How were you accepted within the country and local community: You can live in Taiwan for 20 years and still be treated like a foreigner- it’s difficult to blend in for obvious reasons. They truly appreciate attempts at speaking Mandarin and like most places you will receive better treatment if you can.
Did you require visas, work permits etc to work in this country: Legal residency is required and obtained through a university degree (original) and a work contract. The whole process takes about 8 weeks and must be renewed every year, as does a physical examination including blood, urine and stool that must be passed with each renewal. There are people that are teaching illegally and they have the hassle of signing up for and paying for Chinese classes to keep their student visa valid.
Any extra information or summing up about your experience in the specific country: Taiwan for me was one of the most interesting and challenging places I have ever been to. The kids are amazing, the money is great and you truly feel as though you are on the other side of the earth- on the down side- there are cockroaches that fly, it’s pretty dirty and it can be very frustrating even at the best of times.
Application process/interview: I did a volunteer placement through a company called Teaching & Projects Abroad based in the UK. Their local contact organised the placements for me in Senegal.
How easy it was to move out their initially: logistically it was easy, as the company arranged flights, transfers and accommodation. My placement was only short-term though and if you were to stay longer term it might be more difficult.
What were your favourite aspects about country: Senegal is a great country and I had a fantastic time. The scenery is great, St. Louis in particular is a really charming, former colonial town. The people are very open and friendly and you will receive lots of invitations to lunch and dinner.
What were your less favourite aspects about the country: While I had a fantastic experience, it does take a while to get used to Senegal.
As I said, the people are very friendly and open, but also they can too overbearing and insistent for European tastes at times. In smaller places especially, people will be very intrigued by you and will talk to you and want to get to know you. Once you know to expect this and how to handle it, that’s fine, but sometimes it can all just be a bit much!! Females in particular should be prepared to get lots of male attention. The men are a lot more flirtatious than UK/US men in general and will want to chat you up and take you out and they can be very insistent about this. You need to be careful about this, as they can push it quite far. On this note, it’s worth being relatively careful about what you wear. Bare shoulders etc are fine, but if you wear short shorts or a short skirt, you attract a ridiculous amount of attention.
In addition to the intensity of people, you need to prepare yourself for very different living conditions compared to what you are used to in Europe. For example, where I lived I washed in water heated up on a stove and clothes were washed by hand. That said, Senegal is relatively wealthy compared to many places in Africa and there is electricity etc.
What were the general working conditions like (pay, standard of work, staff respect): I can’t comment in terms of pay, as I was a volunteer.
In terms of working conditions, it varies a lot. I worked in secondary schools and was assigned to a local English teacher. In one school, the teacher was fantastic and had lots of ideas and gave you a lot of guidance as to how to work with the class.
However, I think that was probably the exception rather than the rule. In the other schools, the teachers were perfectly friendly, but to be honest their level of English was very low and I was generally left to my own devices.
Be aware that class sizes will be large – normally around 50 children. Discipline is generally good, though like any teenagers they can play up now and again.
What curriculum did you teach within the certain country: We generally followed the text books provided by the school.
How did you find the cost of living: The cost of living in Senegal is very cheap – unfortunately it was a little while ago and I can’t remember any precise figures!
What was transport within city/country and getting from/to UK like: To get to Senegal you fly to Dakar. When I traveled there, there were no direct flights and all flights involved a changeover in Paris, Milan or Lisbon. The main airlines that go there are Air France, Alitalia and TAP. Flights cost around £500 return.
From Dakar the main way to travel is by ‘voitures 7 places’, basically old Peugeot estate cars. There is no timetable, but the driver leaves as soon as the car is full. Be prepared to travel in pretty old cars, with no air-con etc and for the ride to be pretty bumpy and possibly hair raising – depending on your driver’s abilities!! This is the main mode of transport between towns.
How were you accepted within the country and local community: Yes, it was very easy to get involved in the local community and people are generally very keen to get to know you. It helps a lot if you speak French, as not so many people speak English. This helped me enormously when I was there. The main local language though is Wolof (the predominate ethnic group in Senegal) and it is always appreciated if you learn to speak a few words, as this is what local people use between themselves as opposed to French.
Did you require visas, work permits etc to work in this country: Not sure, this was arranged for me by TPA.
Any extra information or summing up about your experience in the specific country: Senegal was an amazing experience and in many ways it’s very hard to describe it, as it’s different to anything that I’ve experienced before or since.
At the beginning it can all be really overwhelming and the people and the slower pace can be annoying, but my main tip would be to be patient and just allow yourself go with the flow of things, once you do this, you’re in for an amazing experience!!
Application process/interview: I did my TEFL certificate out in Spain at Oxford House. Oxford House has a careers service and they can send out your CV to their mailing list (they have most contact in BCN, but quite a few in Spain generally and some other contacts elsewhere in the world). Once my CV was sent out I got lots of calls asking me in for interviews. Some of the interviews were very basic, just some questions about what I had done before teaching, how I had found the TEFL course and my availability. I was never asked to give a demonstration lesson, though I have heard of lots of people who have had to do this.
How easy it was to move out their initially: it was fairly easy, but all the work is down to you, unless you know people out there already - you tend not to get support from the schools to go out there (there is a ready supply of teachers already in BCN, there’s no need for them to tempt people out there!). Given this, it obviously helps if you speak some Spanish (or maybe even some Catalan in BCN), though with the large ex pat community out there some people do seem amazingly able to get by with very little Spanish.
It’s quite easy to get accommodation on www.loquo.com and work is pretty easy to come by, especially if your legal and have an EU passport.
In terms of administration, the main thing that you need to apply for your NIE – your foreigner’s number. You can apply for this at certain police stations (in Barceloneta in Barcelona), you need to present 2 copies of the completed form, 2 passport photos, a copy of your passport and your passport and it is also good to have a letter from your employer as well. Once you have this, your employer can apply for your social security number.
What were your favourite aspects about country: For me I loved the climate and being near to the sea – though this obviously varies according to the region that you’re in!!
I also loved the Spanish timetable – it’s very different from the UK one. Lunch is later from 2 – 4/5, so local shops will close for these hours. Then everything opens again from 5 – 8.30/9. Dinner is around 9.30 onwards. And if you are meeting friends for a drink it is perfectly normal to meet at 23.00 / 24.00 (especially at weekends) and then go to clubs about 2.00. It takes a while to get into these hours, but now for me to eat lunch at 12.30 and dinner at 7.00 seems absurdly early...
What were your less favourite aspects about the country: Customer service levels in Spain are very different to UK and, especially the US. Staff in cafes, restaurants and shops are a lot more relaxed. So you can expect to wait a while in a queue and you can expect to stand at a counter waving to try and get somebody’s attention and it’s pretty difficult to get them to hurry up. If you’re relaxed then this doesn’t really matter, but if you’re in a rush it can be a real pain!!
In Barcelona, in particular, you have to be very careful against bag theft – especially in tourist areas. It’s a really big problem there.
Finally, it can take a while – especially for British people – to get used to the very direct nature of people in Catalunya and Spain. People are a lot more direct in many respects and if they have a problem or a complaint, they’ll tell you – but equally it’s quickly forgotten.
What were the general working conditions like (pay, standard of work, staff respect): I worked for a language academy and mainly taught business English classes at the company locations. In terms of my students, I had very few problems, they were generally friendly and respectful.
But in terms of my language school, my feedback isn’t so positive. I received €12.50 an hour, but some other schools in BCN paid quite a bit more €18.00. If you do private classes you can get quite a bit more than this €25 – 30. Outside of BCN and especially in the south of Spain I know that wages are quite a bit lower, but then BCN is the most expensive city to live in the country. In BCN I generally found that I got around €1,000 a month, based on a timetable of 20-25 hours, which was considered full time.
My particular school didn’t provide much teacher support and you were pretty much left to your own devices. However, other schools got a lot more involved with their teachers lessons or at the very least would come and view some of your lessons once in a while.
What curriculum did you teach within the certain country: I didn’t teach any given curriculum. I followed some text books and gathered my own materials.
How did you find the cost of living: As I mentioned earlier, BCN is the most expensive city in Spain to live in. Generally, I think you need €1,000 to get by for a month. This is on the basis, that you pay €300 – 400 per month for a room, then you have to pay about €50 for a mobile, then €50 for a monthly travel card and then you have food and general spending to add to that. Also this money won’t pay for flights back home.... or any other big purchases.
Many teachers especially those in their first year really struggled financially – with most of us on around €1,000. I think the more established you are the more you can earn.
What was transport within city/country and getting from/to UK like: Getting to Spain from the UK is very easy, there are lots of flights from all over the UK to all over Spain. With Barcelona you can get there very easily from London, but also other regional airports like Coventry, Bristol and Leeds.(Easyjet, ThomsonFly, BMI Baby etc).
Within BCN the transport is generally very good... with good metro, bus and tram links. Train services between towns are also very good.
How were you accepted within the country and local community: The Catalans are quite closed. In many ways I think they are like the English, friendly and polite, enough but it is quite hard to become friends with them. The Catalans themselves say that they are closed and reserved and that it takes time to get to know them. As a result, in BCN most of your friends are likely to be other ex pats. I think this is also the case because there are some many tourists in BCN, so to them you’re not that unusual or special. However, while it’s difficult, it’s not impossible and intercambios and language evenings such as that run by the English Oasis Cafe can be good ways to meet people.
In other parts of Spain though, I think this is quite different. I’ve heard people say that it was very easy to get to know people in Madrid and also in the south in Seville and Granada.
Did you require visas, work permits etc to work in this country: If you have an EU passport you do not need any visas or work permits. However, within the first few months your should apply for your NIE. (see section above)
Any extra information or summing up about your experience in the specific country: I think that Barcelona is a wonderful city, it’s got history, the beach and it’s near the mountains! But I think it’s really important to understand that Barcelona doesn’t represent ‘typical’ Spain, it is Catalan first and foremost. I had heard about this before I went, but I didn’t really understand the full extent of the Catalan influence until I actually got there. The Catalan aspect can be really interesting to hear about, but if you want to focus on Spain, Spain then I would consider going to another region.
Application process/interview: I had an interview in London, which was very informal.
How easy it was to move out their initially: Fairly easy, I guess its always difficult looking for somewhere to live and the first few weeks are exhausting when you're getting to grips with a new job and trying to find a flat as well.
What were your favourite aspects about country: The climate, the beach, the mountains, the city, the food and drink, the language.
What were your less favourite aspects about the country: The language is a good thing and a bad thing for me, I enjoy learning and speaking it but can also be very frustrating! This contributes to the frustration of getting things done, formalities, paperwork etc.
What were the general working conditions like (pay, standard of work, staff respect): The pay is not good compared to the Uk and especially living in an expensive city where rent is high. Although, working hours and unnecessary paper work is a lot less! I have generally found parents and children to be respectful and courteous, with a few exceptions of course!
What curriculum did you teach within the certain country: The British Curriculum, or an adaptation of it!
How did you find the cost of living: As rent is high the salary does not go very far but things like eating out, drinks and taxis are fairly cheap so you can have quite a nice lifestyle.
What was transport within city/country and getting from/to UK like: I brought my car over, which although has been a hassle and sometimes expensive I am really glad I did, as it immediately gives you independence and freedom to around in the week and further afield at the weekends. I think the public transport is excellent in Barcelona and relatively inexpensive.
How were you accepted within the country and local community: The language is a barrier, especially with the 1st language being catalan, taking this into account I have found people to be friendly and helpful and always keen to speak to you. It is difficult to really socialise within local community and I still have limited Spanish and Catalan friends. I have ended up with many international friends, which is a community itself I guess!
Did you require visas, work permits etc to work in this country: I just needed to get a NIE number which the school helped me with and this is then used for formal ID and to register for things such as rental contracts and doctors.
Any extra information or summing up about your experience in the specific country: It has been a great experience overall and I feel I have definitely broadened my horizons! Being far away from friends and family can be hard and you have lots of ups and downs along the way but from Spain you can always go home for the weekend and you cant beat the lifestyle and sun!