Teaching English in Turkey

[wrldtravlr2]

Has anyone taught in Turkey?

If so, could you tell me:

- What were/ are private or public schools like as a foreign teacher?

- Was it difficult to save money teaching there?

- Did you pay for your accommedation? If so, how would you rate it? If not, were you paying a lot to rent in the city you lived in?

Thanks in advance!

Comments

[solri]

Private schools vary. Most are OK places to work, but as in almost any country, you have to watch out for the cowboy schools. The pay is generally enough to live fairly well on but not enough to make it worthwhile saving because of poor exchange rates. Many schools provide accommodation (often shared), which is a big plus, especially if you're living in a high-rent area (which is likely if you want to be within travelling distance of your school).

You might want to consider universities too - there are a number of English-medium universities with preparatory programmes and sometimes in-faculty English support (that's what I do). Pay and benefits are better than language schools, although you generally work harder.

[wrldtravlr2]

Thank you very much. This information was really useful.

May I ask how large university prepatory classes are at your school?

I have a degree in Communications and a TEFL certificate (120 course hours as well as 2 weeks of working in a classroom at a college and university in Canada as part of the program) and I taught in Korea for one full contract. Do you think that would disqualify me from working at Turkish universities because I don't have a teaching degree?

Thanks again! - KC

[solri]

It's a long time since I taught in the prep programme here (I mainly do ENG 101) but 15-20 students is normal.

Your qualifications are fine for working in prep - at higher levels they usually want an MA, which you might be able to do while you're over here - my university has its own MA TEFL programme. OTOH, it might be hard to get a university job with only one year of experience. For our place you're kind of caught between two stools - they take inexperienced teachers, who do a CELTA course over here, or teachers who have two years' experience and CELTA or equivalent. Still, it might be worth checking out the website: http://www.bilkent.edu.tr/~busel . Other universities worth looking at are Koç, Sabancı and Bilgi.

[wrldtravlr2]

Oh I forgot to mention I taught at a private English school in Canada for a year and privately tutored for 3 years in Canada.

Once again, I really appreciate your response to my post! Hope karma returns the favour for you when you need assistance. :D

[axiomatize]

[lovemedammit]

As a former employee, I'm going to say avoid EF Inst (which, incidentally, is not affiliated with English First). I experienced a lot of problems with the Turkish management and I left the company even though I'm still in Istanbul. Actually, from the branch I worked at last year, all but 2 (of what was initially more than 30) teachers left quit, fled, or allowed their contracts to lapse.

[brinker]

I loved Turkey and the people. Teaching there was easy in that the students were nice and respectful and generally likable.

The institutes left a great deal to be desired regarding organization, though. Unless you're working for a public school or university, you can expect to be illegal. This isn't a big deal, in that you're not going to get caught or anything. But every 3 months you'll have to do a border run. (Some people liked the excuse/couple days off to travel, some people didn't.) You also won't be able to get a bank account or such, which is annoying.

Housing is usually shared. It's hit and miss who your roommates are, or what the flats will be like. Ask to talk to teachers at the school before you go and see what they say.

When I was there (8 yrs ago) you could live quite well and save a few hundred dollars a month, but if money is your main goal, Turkey isn't the country to go to. (Although it's a lot higher than many other countries as well.)

[lovemedammit]

I replied to another comment, but I wanted to give a little more information.

I've been in Turkey for almost 3 years (half-way through my 3rd contract) and have worked in a number of institutions, including the university that solri referred you to

how to get university work in turkey

[lovemedammit]

hi

[wrldtravlr2]

Somehow I saw the response to this response but not this response so I must apologize for unintended rudeness! I am currently working as a teacher at a university in Turkey and so far so good. I'm not sure that I would assume the same maturity as western college or university students. Some of the crap pulled in the classroom has amazed, shocked, and horrified me. Overall, life is good but I am in agreement that no one works in EFL here to buy their own island!