Tefl Is Enough To Live On?

[triangular]

I've been living in LOS for quite some time, but primarily on savings. I don't want to leave, and I especially don't want to return to the West to live out the rest of my work-a-day life there. I've been considering teaching with a TEFL for a long time, but still haven't taken the certification yet. I know all sorts of debates go on about this, but it is possible to receive a TEFL without a degree (which I don't have), and I'm sure it's possible to teach even without a TEFL. But if I do receive a TEFL from a reputable Thai University course, my question is - is it realistic to expect I could earn enough from teaching English to live and stay in LOS? I don't mean enough to support a particular lifestyle, I just mean enough to live on, so it doesn't continue to cost my savings to stay here. Is that reasonable in this day and age? Thanks.

[TizMe]

Well. How much do you need to earn just enough to live on.

Some people will anser 10,000 bt per month, others will answer 100,000

[the swagman]

Yes, you can earn enough to live on and to not continue dipping into your savings.

But the temptations can prove to be somewhat impossible to ignore.

Then you realise you need more money, and you have to find a little more work on the side.

Then you find the longer you work the more work you find. And you build up thus.

Many of us here have done the same thing. I've enjoyed the ride.

Edited November 13, 2006 by the swagman

[PeaceBlondie]

You're still going to have to solve problems like teacher's license, work permit, and visa status which can be very difficult if you don't have a degree, especially if you don't even have a TEFL certificate (which needn't be from a university). I thought I could live on 25,000 per month, but I always spend more, and then there were those around-the-world visa runs, no work permit, 9 month contracts, etc. And I had a degree, visa and TEFL cert to start! Good luck.

[Ijustwannateach]

I think we've had WAAAAAAY too many threads of this sort lately:

1. "Can I get a TEFL without a degree?"

2. "Can I get a teaching job without a degree?"

3. "Can I get a work permit without a degree?"

What's next? Can I get an lease agreement on a condo without a degree? Can I go shopping at Tesco's without a degree? Is a degree in cake-baking enough to qualify for crossing the street? Can I tie my shoes if I only have an associates?

This is not a government agency. We can't answer for them, and their official policies are vague. Things are even vaguer at the moment with the poorly defined "crackdown" on teachers, the current political situation, and the ill-explained new "qualification" requirements.

Vaguely, the answers are:

1. Yes, definitely;

2. Probably, and

3. It's still apparently possible but the story is always a mixed bag on this one. Some do, some don't. It all depends. Your mileage may vary.

These threads seem more and more like fishing for people to complain about people who don't have degrees doing this, that, and the other. It's always the way these threads eventually run.

PB and I are declaring a temporary moratorium on any NEW threads asking if ANYTHING is possible without a degree. I will close such threads and refer them to the SLEW of existing threads on the topic, where most of the posters will presumably have already tired themselves out flogging dead horses.

If you still want to flog a dead horse, I recommend this thread, where the rules and issues have already been EXHAUSTIVELY and RECENTLY discussed:

Flog A Dead Degree/No Degree/TEFL/No TEFL/WP/ No WP Horse Here!

"Steven"