My first thought on reading this was Peace Corps. Have you thought about that?
Ah. Must be left over from last night then.
I kid, I kid. You know I love you. Someone has to. 
Seriously, though, my coworker is from China. I can try to get her take on it. No promises, though.
AskNott, if I do that, then I’m delaying my graduation another quarter at least. If I make Political Science my only major, with history as a minor, then I have six classes left. At three classes a quarter, I’ll graduate in Spring. If I continue to have a double major, I’ll have 10 classes I need to complete- leaving me with one class to do over the summer and one quarter in fall. Adding anything to do that schedule delays me another quarter. I do agree with you though that it is a practical thing to do and I’ll definitely look into whether or not it’s a possibility.
Jodi, I think there is definitely something to what you’re saying, which is why I think that maybe working for a private company (as opposed to a big program like JET, I mean) will show that I’m capable of holding down a job, on top of the teaching thing.
You’re also right about the double major thing sounding good, I just wonder how good it sounds in the grand scheme of things? I always hear that it doesn’t matter what you studied in college, just that you went and graduated.
I have. In fact, a lot of the Poli Sci department hardcore pushes the Peace Corps, though I’m not sure exactly why heh. Anyway, 27 months is a very long time to commit to something (I’m still young, so it’s a long time to me). It’s not that I don’t think that I’ll get a job and potentially stay for a few years, it’s just the thought of being contractually bound for over 2 years to something I might be miserable in is. . . scary. Most of the private English jobs are 9 months to a year, which is way less bad. Plus, with the Peace Corps, I wont really make enough money to save (from what I understand), wont be able to really travel beyond where I’m at, and I wont be able to pick where I’m going (even generally).
In theory, the Peace Corps sounds great. In practice, I’m not sure it’s for me.
For what it’s worth, I’m not pigeon holing myself into the idea of teaching English or anything; I’m also actively looking for jobs that might interest me. For instance, I’m trying to get an interview with Disney (the interview will be on campus) sometime in October for either an internship or a job (they are looking for both). Looking at the ad, they are hiring for everything from minimum wage theme park stuff (obviously not what I’m looking for) and the more corporate side of things. I love Disneyland, so I think it would be fun to help with the corporate side of that. (Cut to 1,000 Dopers yelling, “But, Angel! Jobs aren’t supposed to be about what’s FUN! Be practical!” 
)
She laughed at me. Apparently a lot of Chinese think America is a dangerous place. And she said that English teachers get treated very well over there. They’ll respect you more than one of their own. Sounds like a sweetheart deal to me.
Oh, I had no doubt that the people would treat me well, just because, well, people are people. My concerns mostly were about the government. What happens if China up and decides they are anti America? Like I said, maybe I’m totally off base, but it’s my understanding that Sino-American relations are hanging by a lil’ economic thread. I’m probably wrong, but I guess it just seems to me like the relationship between our two countries is more unstable than relations between America and other countries.
And thank you so much for asking her! I mean it! It’s good to hear from folks who have been there. Every little bit of info helps 
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I did address your concerns about the government, and her answer was even more of a meh. But yeah, there’s an uncertain future there.
She also addressed any unvoiced concerns you may have about the food there. She said there’s a Pizza Hut on every corner. I wasn’t quite sure how to answer that…
How. . .*horrifying! * I mean, I wasn’t expecting gourmet food or anything, but something that is at least qualifiable as food would be nice! 
I have an acquaintance who taught English in Korea for a year. She came back to the States earlier than she originally planned to, because she was really bothered by the way women were treated–both how she was treated on an individual level and the status given to women in general. Unfortunately, I don’t remember details, but that may be something that HazelNutCoffee can address.
My brother and SIL taught english in Japan right after they got married (I mean, married on Sat, left the following Wed.).
I don’t think they went with JET, but a very similar program. I’d believe that if you Google “teaching english in Japan or Asia” you’d find many.
They lasted about 6 months, which I gather is typical- YMMV.
Not the worst thing ever, then they came back and got regular 9-5 jobs.
Woo Hoo! I was mentioned! Sorry if someone linked to it already, but here was the thread I started on the topic. Hopefully you get to do it. I think it would be a great thing to do, but my wife and me are in situations that just don’t seem to allow us the opportunity.
A recent thread on this same subject is here.
In it, I wrote:
I’ve never taught English in Thailand, but I have known farangs (Westerners) who have. In Thailand, they are paid about the poorest of all the countries in the region. I believe farangs make more teaching in Vietnam and even Cambodia. A full-time salary for a Western native-speaking English teacher runs about 30,000 baht a month on average, often much less. At the current exchange rate of 34 1/2 baht to the US dollar, that works out to about US$870 a month. Of course, living expenses are lower in Thailand, and housing accommodation is often thrown in, but by no means always, nor is it necessarily desirable when it is. The low pay may not be an obstacle if you have a source of funds yourself and just want the experience.
Work permits can be red-tape hassle to obtain in Thailand, but the school that hires you will help take care of that. They cost almost $300 a year, which the school should pay itself. (It’s a sign that you’ve signed onto a bad school if they make you pay it.) Immigration and Labour have tightened up in recent years. Only foreigners with a bachelor’s degeree in a certain few fields, including education, are granted work permits, but any master’s degree or doctorate will qualify you for one. If you are over 60, you will be refused a new work permit, although extensions to the old one have no upper age limit. (Although retirement age being 60 here, there is no legal impediment to firing you for age.)
The low pay, especially compared with the extremely high English-teaching salaries and benefits in Taiwan and South Korea, and the red-tape hassles have driven away most qualified foreign English teachers. Many, perhaps most, farang English teachers here work illegally. That allows the school to pay at the bottom end of the scale, and you generally get no benefits. Farang English teachers have actually gained a bad reputation in Thailand in recent years, especially in Bangkok, because of the fly-by-night schools that recruit heavily for “teachers” from the backpacker areas like Khao San Road. The backpackers may or may not be native speakers, are almost never qualified and see it simply as an opportunity to extend their stay in Thailand for a few weeks. And my apologies to the backpackers on this board who may be reading this, but they also have a reputation for smelling really bad, a reputation that is not entirely undeserved.
There’s also a strict pay dichotomy. Americans are paid the highest, and so, too, the Brits I think. Maybe Canadians. For some reason, I believe Aussies and Kiwis are paid slightly less. Then comes a huge drop as Filipinos are paid much less, followed by Indians, and I believe Burmese English teachers are paid the lowest of all. A lot of the less-reputable schools will look for only Filipinos, Indians and Burmese, to avoid paying a decent salary.
Having said all of that, I’ll refer you to an excellent 50,000-word essay about teaching English in Bangkok othat appears on the Stickman website. Stickman is a Kiwi of my acquaintance, an extremely nice fellow who has worked as an English teacher in Bangkok, and his weekly columns on Thailand and what’s happening in Bangkok have a wide readership. The essay is here.
EDIT: Whoops! Sorry, Brendon. You beat me to posting the link.
I am technically Korean, but IMHO Korean-Americans have it harder in Korea because of the fact they look Korean. They are usually paid less than white ESL teachers, and they are expected to act like Koreans even though they are culturally American. On the other hand, if you are a foreigner people expect you to be strange anyway.
I lived with my family, but all my co-workers/friends lived in Itaewon (in Seoul). There is a pretty strong American/Canadian ESL teacher community there. Some schools offer you housing for a somewhat lower salary. The studios they provide are usually pretty small but decent enough. If you feel like you’d rather be with familiar faces, though, living in Itaewon is probably the best option.
Everyday things are pretty easy to deal with in Seoul. It’s a huge city and pretty Westernized at this point. Banking, medical care, shopping - it’s all within easy reach. It’s a lot like NYC, I would say, in terms of people and living pace.
Someone mentioned how they treat women there - well, I’m going to be honest and say that sexual discrimination was one of the main reasons I could not see myself living there for the rest of my life. But I would also say that as a foreigner you’ll have to deal with less of it than Korean women do - most of what I encountered was centered around the fact that I was a Korean girl of marrying age who wanted a career and not a family. I had plenty of white female friends working there who never really had to deal with any kind of crap that was sexist-related. OTOH, attitudes towards sexual harassment are still somewhat backward and can be frustrating if you ever end up having to deal with things of that nature. But I also feel that this is true for a lot of countries outside of the US.
Sunspace, that’s just how the law is. You can’t get a working visa in Korea without a BA. (For what it’s worth, the US has a similar law for certain kinds of working visas as well.) The ESL schools in Korea, however, don’t really care what you’ve majored in as long as you are white and speak English with an American accent.
Same in Thailand, as I posted, and not just any bachelor’s degree either, but rather in certain select fields. Any master’s or doctorate will do, though.
You talk about a lot about doing things because they look good or will impress prospective employers. I’m oversimplifying, but I think you should focus on doing what you enjoy and what you think will benefit you personally the most.
Well, the two aren’t mutually exclusive. It doesn’t seem like the OP is dead set on any particular path at this point - and if she’s going to teach abroad she might as well do so in a way that will most benefit her future (although in my experience teaching ESL abroad doesn’t do much in the way of resumes unless you’re planning to continue teaching after you get back - it’s more for the experience than anything else).
I say go for it, but you should chose a specific country because you specifically want to live in that country, and you know about its culture and like that culture. (Was I specific enough?) Think before you sign a contract to live “anywhere” in Europe. There are great differences between Italy, Germany, Spain, etc. You can go to Saudi Arabia, for example, but you’ll be confined to a foreigner compound, and won’t really experience how life there is.
Also, keep in mind that there are a lot of Brits competing for jobs in Europe because they have EU preference.
I think money should be relative.
After I finished my masters in Applied Linguistics/TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) at UCLA, I hung around coordinating Extension classes, and then decided to get away. I love the music from the Caribbean coast of Colombia, so I made an international phone call, which got me a contract there to train local English teachers (and teach English in class). The money wasn’t spectacular, but it was enough to allow me to go to various places around Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador.
As mentioned above, the TOEFL is for non-native English speakers who want to attend a North American college. If you want some kind of certificate, you can get it at a UC Extension, or a Cal State campus. Depending on the desirability of your foreign location, your chances of getting hired vary. Everyone wants to teach English in Paris.
Depending on where you want to go, your method of landing a job abroad teaching English will vary. If you can, just call a school where you want to be. That’s what I did.
This is a bit left field of what you’re thinking about, and it sounds like it’s not the direction you want to go in, but I’ll post it for others infomation. If you’re 18-30, and from one of about 20 countries (the US is one of them), you can get a working holiday visa for NZ, valid for 12 months. I thought there was a restriction on how long a visa holder could work at one job, but can’t find any info on that or if there are limits to the job type.
Dave
Don’t ask me why in Og’s name the Catalan and Spanish version are ready but the English version isn’t, it’s not my webpage:
instituto de estudios norteamericanos, in Barcelona. You could end up teaching at my university! 
Hey, I represent that. :dubious: Well, not really. I did teach English on and off in Taiwan for a few years, but it was mainly to pay for study and travel and not a full time profession. But my first stint was almost 25 years ago and you can see where I am now.
Ok, my 2 cents. some people love teaching ESL and that’s great. Personally, I thought teaching kinda blows. What’s important that either you love teaching (and it doesn’t sound like you do) or you have some other reason why you’re in that country (be it language study, cultural stuff, wanting to travel in the region, etc) or you WILL go crazy.
I wanted to study Chinese, travel in China and get experience. So worked out great for me. And if you’re not wedded to teaching ESL, you can get peripherally involved in all sorts of business activity from editing local executive emails to their bosses to running full blown marketing campaigns. Part of why I never worked in the US was that the responsibility level and projects I was offered was far lower than what I did in Taiwan. If you’re personable, a native English speaker, and have no shame in aiming high, then you often get to do some pretty cool stuff.
China is very safe. Even during the Hainan plane incident or the embassy bombing in Yugoslavia, at most it was a couple of nervous days although no one was personally interested in going after me. some of my staff greeted me with “why did you bomb us?” reply “huh, me bomb who? I was in Shanghai all weekend” was the extent of it. And that was when the GDP was half what it is today.
I’ve lived in China 10+ years, including a couple years in the 1980’s in the countryside, and it’s a safe place for westerners.
but you sound like somewhere not in asia is more your cup of tea.
regardless, I’d say go for it if you’re planning 1-2 years later to come back and do grad school.
You aren’t contractually bound. You can quit at any time.
Peace Corps is NOT for everyone. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me or email me or whatever. Good luck with whatever you decide!