Alumni Spotlight: How to Save Money to Travel

Charity (a 2012 TEFL Worldwide graduate) and her husband have been traveling the world on a budget. Here, Charity shares her advice on saving money to travel.

By far the most repeated question I get from people is, “How can you afford to travel so much?” I am still surprised at the shock people receive when my response is just, “Anyone can do it.” Seriously. As most of you know, I was a teacher in the States and Amauri worked for Disney. We are not the highest earners and we did not win the lottery. So what's the big secret? Simply put, we consciously worked at reaching our goal. We just did it. 
Along the way, we both learned some valuable lessons. In my personal experience, I have found that these are some tips to help you save for that dream destination.

-Set a goal. It doesn’t matter if it’s a weekend trip to Miami or a year in Bali. It could be to save $200 or $20,000. The principle is still the same. When you know where you want to go, you will make an effort to get there. It’s amazing how different you will feel when you are making strides towards your goal and can see the finish line. It helps to think about this goal when ever you’re about to spend money on something stupid. I have even been known to put up pictures to  remind myself of where I want to be or create a countdown to to keep myself on track. 

Which leads into my next tip...

-Don’t spend money on something stupid. This one is a tough one for me. To me, how a person spends their money is their problem. If a woman truly values beautiful purses, why can’t she spend her earnings on an expensive Coach? It's her money. Obviously I would rather spend the money on a trip, as seeking new experiences in another country is what I value and find happiness from. It may not be to you, and that's ok. However, if you are saving for a dream travel destination,  creating priorities is a must. Eventually, you will begin to learn what is just not necessary in your life. 

The most common sense, but challenging way to save quickly is to reduce those extra expenses.

-Extra expenses. For Amauri and I, this meant closing our membership at the gym, turning off our cable (everything is available online anyway!), feeding my book obsession at the library instead of amazon, brown bagging it to lunch, and eating dinners at home. That alone saved us a few hundred each month. It adds up. In addition, each week we put a portion of our paycheck into our savings. I understand that this can get quite challenging and everyone has a different budget, but there are small things you can do to make a difference. Skipping your daily Starbucks alone could fund a trip. ($5 a day for 365 days? $1825! Think about it.) 

It took Amauri and I about two years to reach our goal and after we met it, it was time to sell our belongings.

-Sell extra junk. I’m not saying you should do it to the degree we did, but because of this I came to learn that people will buy anything on Craigslist. Old hangers? Shoes you never wore? Someone will buy it. What’s the harm in listing your old stuff? You just never know and may earn a few extra bucks towards your goal. 

Traveling costs money and saving can be a daunting task. However, even if your income is on the lower end it is still possible to save enough for your goal.  With a little creativity, determination, and yes, a bit of sacrifice, you can find ways to fund your travel dreams. We are proof of that. 

 From their travel Blog, Married Nomads

Great Places to Check out: During the Course

Each course I receive questions about getting acclimated to life in Prague, you know, questions like "where can I work out, I miss the gym!" Or "where can I buy a good pair of shoes" or "I want to try some Czech food, where should I go?"  

So I’ve included a few places/things to check out to make sure that you enjoy your stay in Prague both during and after the course. I know you’ll be very busy during the course, but I just wanted to send this out so you can reference it. I’ve also included a list of recommended places around here to study and get work done. For a lot of these things, you can get a real feel for the local culture and don't even need to leave your home base of Prague 9!

Weekend Trips

A popular weekend destination is Kutna Hora: http://www.kutnahora.cz/ - known for the famous “Bone Church” – courses often take a weekend trip there.

Karlstejn Castle makes for a good day trip  http://www.hradkarlstejn.cz/

Dresden is only 2 hours away as well, so if you're ahead of the game in your lesson planning and assignments, its easy to catch a bus there!

Gyms – I’m a big fitness enthusiast, and these are the places I’ve joined since living here

Hara Gym - http://www.hara-gym.cz/ - right across the street – sometimes dubbed by TEFL students as “The Monster Gym” – quite affordable

SC Palmovka (the cheapest, but it also feels like I'm working out inside of a day care center) - http://scpalmovka.cz/

Hit Fitness Flora (the best I've been to but also the most expensive at 1020 CZK per month) - http://www.hitfit.cz/

Prague Racing circuit - http://www.runczech.com/index.php/cs/home_page - some great, scenic races here!

Good local restaurants

Restaurace Cortez – right next door – has some good Czech food, cheap beers, and a cheap lunch menu. Our August course even referred to Cortez as "the office" since they've planned so many lessons and collaborated so much here

Restaurant behind the school – not sure what it’s called, but it’s very affordable, and very Czech, and right behind the school

Restaurace Klid – this was a favorite of the October course. http://www.klidpopraci.cz/ - just make a right out of the school, keep walking until you reach the trams, and then take a left. It will be on the right hand side after about a 3 minute walk

The “Pizza Place” – each class loves going to the “Pizza Place” or also sometimes called “The Italian Place” by classes. Go to the tram tracks, make a right near the Raiffeisenbank, and you’ll see it and some other places on your left hand side. 

U Sebestiana -  http://www.usebestiana.cz/ 

 About a 5 minute walk from the school. The food isn't bad, and they have a variety of beer including two of my favorite: Staropramen Nefiltrovany and Velvet. And for those of you who enjoy beer that tastes like fruit and sunblock, they also have Hoegarden on tap!

.

Useful sites:

www.dpp.cz – my number one site for getting around in Prague. So helpful!

cvmkr.com – custom CV’s that you can get creative with

Malls:

Novy Smichov Mall – Yellow line to Andel - They have a good sporting goods store here

Palac Flora – Yellow line to Mustek, and then transfer to the green line (Flora)

Galerie Fenix – right here in Vysocany! Just make a right out of the school and you’ll see it on the left hand side

Arkady Pankrac (has a good grocery store here) – Yellow line to Florenc, and then transfer to the red line (Pankrac). You can knock out your jeans, shoes, and grocery shopping in one convenient trip!

Harfa Galerie – Yellow line metro to Ceskomoravska stop 

-Justin, TEFL Worldwide Prague

Justin's Job Search Advice

Hello current and potential TEFLers! Here are a few helpful tips to give yourself employment options upon receiving your TEFL Certificate. Take look, let it sink in, and get to work. 

I’ll follow this up with some housing search advice, legal advice, and more (of course, all coming from my personal experiences here in Prague).

  

First off, it’s very important to be tolerant, flexible, and have an upbeat attitude. Once you have that in the arsenal, you'll be able to follow these tips!

• Follow up:  In this industry, it’s very important to follow up. It’s as simple as that. If you submit a questionnaire, CV, cover letter, sample lesson plan, or even something as simple as an inquiry, it’s important to follow up within a week just to check in and make sure they received it. Here in the Czech Republic, the service industry isn’t always as fast as you’re used to, but a simple reminder of your interest and your name is sometimes all they need to get back to you.  If this doesn’t work, 

• Get Registered: Have you ever subscribed to email notifications or joined a job distribution list? Well, you can do the same here in the TEFL world. You can register yourself as a job seeker on sites such as Dave’s ESL café so that employers can contact you directly. If you’re doing this, be specific with your objective! Otherwise you’ll get a ton of junk mail. Here’s a good starting point: http://www.eslcafe.com/jobs/wanted/#PostMessage

 

• Utilize our resources: We offer resources here at TEFL Worldwide to help you not only find a job, but also to become knowledgeable on the countries of your choice. We have job binders for each continent featuring job advertisements, country information, language school lists, and they’re able to be browsed through at any time. Also, if you request information on a certain country, our job guidance staff will send you recent job advertisements and information for these countries. We also have great books in our office called “Teaching English Abroad” which feature country specific information

• Warm-up letter:  There are certain geographic areas such as Western Europe, South America and Central America, where the best way to get a job is just to go there directly and apply in person. Oftentimes our students will express interest in working in South or Central America and the first question from the potential employer will generally be “ok, so when can you come in for an interview?”  One way to stick out in the minds of potential employers there (despite being abroad) is by writing a sort of warm up letter expressing your intention to present yourself in person in a few weeks or even months.  This is also a good thing to do if you don’t think you have the credentials to necessarily “wow” potential employers. 

• Contact Language Schools Directly: Here at TEFL Worldwide, we have frequently updated lists of language schools for each country which we’ve been adding to for years, so they’re quite extensive. With these language school lists, you can go through them and email schools directly, using your cover letter as the body of the email and attaching your CV as well. Go through the lists of the countries of your choice, tailor each email body to the specific job, and start sending out those emails!

• Reach out to graduates: We have an entire network of happy graduates living the TEFL life abroad. To be exact, there are over 1,700 graduates who have taught in over 60 countries. What better way to learn about living and working in a certain country than by talking directly to someone who has worked there or is currently working there? Just let us know, and we’ll provide you with their email contacts so you can talk to them about their experiences. Also, they may have some insider information as to schools that are hiring and may be able to help you get your foot in the door. 

• Be Entrepreneurial: If you’re highly self motivated and entrepreneurial in nature, there are many ways to succeed as an entrepreneurial, independent English teacher abroad. What you can do is reach out to local businesses, restaurants, etc available on the expat websites for the country where you’re working, contact them directly, and offer to serve as their in-house English teacher. You can develop a program for them, choose your rates, and be persistent! A huge selling point for this is that you cut out the middle man. They no longer have to pay language schools to outsource teachers when they have their own in-house language teacher! From there, it’s up to you to sell yourself. Make business cards; highlight your TEFL experience, offer to speak to businesses where English is in demand, put flyers up at local coffee shops and grocery stores, contact recruiting companies, etc. There is a lot of opportunity out there! 

• CV Advice: I’ll try to keep this short and sweet, starting with the top of your CV. You want to include your name, email, preferably foreign phone number, permanent address, current address abroad and nationality. Employers generally like to see that you’re already abroad and you don’t hypothetically “plan” to be abroad.  Then, you’ll want to highlight your TEFL experience first. Make sure you mention that your program was XX hours and contained XX hours of teaching, mention its accreditation, as well as a brief overview of the course content. After that, list your relevant experiences. If you haven’t taught, no biggie! Just mention the experiences that highlight your people skills and ability to adapt, such as coaching, group counseling, voluntary work, etc. Also, it’s important to list your interests (if you play an instrument, have musical experience that looks especially good). For this section, the more unique the better! Also, including up to 3 references (one of which has seen you teach) as well as your their email addresses is also important.

  
If you follow these steps, do some research, check out some country forums, be persistent, positive, and proactive, you should have no problem finding a job in the country of your choice. 

Having the entire world at your fingertips is quite an exciting feeling and during this journey, you’ll learn so much about not only other cultures and lifestyles, but also about yourself. And remember, it all starts with TEFLWorldwide Prague!

-Justin (Job Guidance/Admissions/Marketing Coordinator - TEFL Worldwide Prague)

Insight: Teaching in Japan

Interested in travelling and teaching, but not sure what your options are? Want to learn more about teaching in different countries? That's why we're quizzing former TEFL Worldwide graduates on what they know. 

Before coming to Prague, I spent 16 months teaching English in Hamamatsu, Japan. You can see my blog "Gwynnie's Adventures in Japan" for a greater insight, but I'll try to summarise things here. 

How easy is it to find a job in Japan?

Gwynnie outside Hamamtsu castle

It depends. If you're already there, you can pick up private students and apply everywhere. There is high demand for native English speakers, especially if you don't only stick to the main cities (less competition). While it's possible to fund your own visa and go over there, most companies hire from abroad, meaning you interview in your home country (via Skype, telephone or one of their branches). If you go for JET, the application takes a year and it's quite hard to get onto. I went with Interac, who place assistant language teachers (ALTs) in classrooms all over Japan. After my initial application, it took a month or two to hear from them, and while they didn't hire everyone at my interview, they hire potentially hundreds of ALTs every year. You don't really need any teaching experience or Japanese ability for the ALT jobs - what you're doing is a little teaching and a little acting like an ambassador for your country! They want someone friendly and bubbly who they don't think will cause them much trouble. 

What's the money like? What's the cost of living?

The money is good - on average 250,000JPY a month, which is around $3000, give or take. Some private conversation schools, and JET, pay more. If you pick up private lessons (some jobs let you do this, too) you can find yourself earning anything from 3000 to 10,000 for a 90 minute "conversation" lesson. The longer you're there, the more contacts you can make who will hook you up with these nice lessons. I was lucky enough to be one of the only British females in my city, so I was offered a lot of classes.

On the other hand, the cost of living is high. A 19m² apartment set me back 60,000JPY a month, while additional costs - electric/water/gas bills, health insurance, pension payments (if you make them... you can claim them back when you leave) and, after your first year, something like council tax, will leave you with something like 130,000 a month to actually spend, perhaps less. You'll be lucky to find a beer under 500JPY, although many izakayas (bar/restaurant type place) offer "all you can drink" menus, some as cheap as 900JPY for 90 minutes of unlimited drinks. Put it this way - in my first year, I never had any money left at the end of the month, but I was able to survive, go for a couple of meals/nights out a week and travel around the country every couple of weekends. In my second year, I moved in with my boyfriend - we looked around and found a place 3 times the size of the first apartment, but for the same price. Now paying only 30,000 a month in rent, and taking on a bunch of private classes through contacts we'd made, we were able to put away around $1000 a month (each)! There are also plenty of second hand stores for furniture, clothes etc, and the longer you stay, the more money-saving tips you'll learn. So, for a year, you will have a great time but save little. If you stay longer, you can start stashing away the cash.

  

What kind of teaching will I be doing? 

From a 12 year old boy at my junior high!

If you go through an ALT programme like JET or Interac, you'll be teaching in public schools. This is a fascinating insight into Japanese culture, as you will get the chance to see how a Japanese school runs from day to day. You could be in junior high, high school, elementary or even kindergarten - often a mix! Some ALTs have one or two schools that they switch between, while others might have as many as 14 schools that they visit (one a day on a 2-week schedule). This kind of teaching is done alongside a Japanese teacher of English (the JTE), who may or may not be fluent enough in English to communicate well with you. Make sure you speak very slowly, and try to learn some Japanese! This can be an advantage - less pressure on you to perform, as you may only be asked to "teach" for around 15 minutes of the lesson, usually nothing more taxing that reviewing the things they've already done with a game. It can also be very boring or frustrating - it all depends on the teachers you end up with. Some of mine were great, while others made me grit my teeth and watch the clock. If you're willing to try your Japanese with the school staff, you'll find that they open up and can be very nice people. Many ALTs also eat lunch with the kids and join in with after school clubs - playing sports with the kids is a great way to get to know them a little better - and might be invited on day trips. A couple of times, I went on a walk with my junior high to pick up rubbish from the local riverside. 

Generally, the level of English in Japan is quite low - I think the lowest in Asia. Reasons behind this could be due to a number of factors - mostly, I think it's because of their "island mentality", the belief that the rest of the world is a distant place that has no real relevance to their lives. Most plan to stay in Japan forever, and see no need to learn English. On top of that, the way it is taught is quite counter-intuitive (to a Westener, anyway), with JTEs mostly speaking in Japanese and telling kids how hard English is. You will often find this quite frustrating, although it definitely varies between schools. For every handful of kids who will stare at you during class, glassy-eyed and apathetic, there will be a super-sweet, enthusiastic kid who goes to after-school English club and restores your faith in humanity with their innocent excitement over having a simple conversation with you. Speak as simply as you can, sneakily let them know you know a bit of Japanese (even if your company tells you never to use it with them) and pretend to be really into the same things as they are (anime, usually) and you'll win them over. As I said, part of an ALT's purpose is to get the kids interested in other countries - the JET programme was started to improve international relations. 

Harajuku, Tokyo - yes, those are balloons!

Alternatively, you could work for a conversation school (eikawa), such as AEON, which is a different story. Here, your working hours will be different from an ALT's Monday-Friday 8-4... think more Monday-Saturday, 12-10pm. You will be in charge of your own class, meaning more freedom but also more responsibility. Conversation schools usually teach both children and adults, although you can look this up before you apply. If you only wish to teach adults, it's possible to do that. From what I hear, the children at conversation schools are a little harder to handle, as they tend to be from privileged families and might not want to learn English. The adults, however, are learning because they want to, and are likely to be much more enthusiastic. If you teach private lessons, it could literally be anything - some of mine included: one-to-one in Starbucks, breaking down the meaning of sentences in Nineteen-Eighty-Four and opening random pages of a grammar book; a 90-minute conversation with a group of middle-aged businessmen in a bank, they rarely get to speak English so just talking to a native speaker is great for them; babysitting a 3-year old kid while speaking English to him; myself and a few other native speakers at a bar, mingling with Japanese people of all ages who wanted to practice English, while having free drinks bought for me; a one-off, 2-hour lesson on a topic of my choice, mixing speaking, grammar and reading activities. If you like every day to be different, acquire enough private lessons and they definitely will be! I also found that many adult students are fascinated with travel and other cultures, so showing them things like money from your country, English flyers/menus/magazines and photos of your home town go down a treat. 

What are the pros and cons of living in Japan? 

So many of both! I'd recommend you have a look at my blog, as I go into quite a lot of depth in articles like "The Other Side of the Coin (and How to Deal with it)", "Things I will (and won't) Miss about Japan" and, for what I miss now that I'm not there, "The Post-Japan Blues". 


In summary though - the pros. The money is good, and it's possible to save up a lot. Japan is a clean, safe country, with people who are mostly very friendly and helpful. Ask a Japanese person for directions and they'll usually walk you to your destination! Drop your wallet and someone will chase you down the street to give it back. I usually felt safe there. However, don't drop your guard too much. Friends of mine report being followed home by creepy guys, and plenty of crime does happen; it's just covered up and ignored a lot of the time. Still, it's a first-world country, the water is safe to drink (hopefully) and, as you'd expect, a lot of modern technology makes life quite convenient. The convenient stores - "combinis" - are open 24 hours a day, and sell so much more than just food (think shirts, socks, photocopying and postal services, household products, magazines etc). 

Arashiyama, near Kyoto

There's a lot to see and do in Japan - every day can be an adventure. Your first trip to the shops will be exciting enough, with all the new food and symbols you can't read. If you choose to learn Japanese (and I'd suggest it), you'll unlock a little more of this mysterious country every day. The excitement you get at recognising a particular "kanji" can be very rewarding. Japan offers skiing, surfing, mountain climbing, theme parks, nice temples, and plenty of interesting things to see and do. Although the shinkansen (bullet train) is expensive, it means you can get from one end of the country to another pretty easily (it might take around a day, though). 


Life is mostly stress-free there, especially if you work with a company like Interac. When I arrived, we were given a week of training, and then introduced to our "I.C." - a nice Japanese lady who spoke English, took us to our apartment and helped us settle in. Mine took me shopping for furniture (well, a futon and some kitchen things) and helped me set up my resident card, health insurance and everything else. Doing that on your own would be pretty hard, but all I had to do was fill in the forms she gave to me. My I.C. even came with me and held my hand when I had to have my wisdom teeth extracted. Most people were very friendly and encouraging, and my city had a big expat population and a lot of Japanese people who were keen to learn English, meaning that I had a great social network who were always up for a bit of karaoke or a barbecue on the beach.

I hope you like Hello Kitty...

On the other hand, a lot of things can get you down. The initial culture shock might lead you to feel that you have stepped into a magical fairytale, but after a few months (as is natural with culture shock) you might find yourself very homesick. The food is so different; although there are chains like McDonalds and KFC, it can be hard to find any "home-like" food; even to find the right ingredients at the supermarket. Japanese food is not heavy on dairy, meat or bread products, and if you're not used to that, it can take some time to get used to. If you eat school lunches with the kids, like I did, you might find yourself trying to stomach a few nasty seaweed soups or the dreaded "natto". The way of thinking in Japan is very different, too - you might often find yourself frustrated with the strange logic used there! Just remember that you're not there to change the country to your way of thinking, and try to go with it and keep a "foreigner" support network to help you adapt! 

It can be hard to find clothes that fit, if you're anything over a UK size 10, as well. My city had a few second hand shops frequented by the surprisingly large Brazilian population, so it was possible to find things in my size, although I mostly used internet shopping. If you can fit, be warned that clothes (like most things) are pretty expensive in Japan. As I mentioned, going out for a drink can be costly - it ends up being far cheaper to buy the "all you can drink" packages! And while Japan seems a convenient place to explore the rest of Asia, finding a flight to any other country in Asia for under $300 was quite a challenge. Another thing that winds a lot of people up is the subtle attitude towards foreigners, that many find racist. This isn't as bad in bigger cities, but should you find yourself the only foreigner in a small village, expect to be followed and gossiped about often. Your attempts at speaking Japanese might be greatly patronised, as will your chopstick skills (think "WOW! You can use chopsticks!!"). The way you interpret this will depend on your ego, though, I think. 

Overall, I am very glad that I went to Japan. I found that I was capable of doing so much more than I thought possible, and I met a lot of great people and had a fantastic time. I definitely do not regret going. One note - I was there when the big earthquake/tsunami happened, albeit 400km away. We felt the earthquake, and it was scary. Fears of radiation still abound, and nobody is totally sure of how safe it really is. Companies near Fukushima seem to offer higher salaries for English teachers these days, so it's really up to you to decide whether you feel safe being near the area or not. If earthquakes and radiation worry you, perhaps you should look for jobs near Kyoto or further south, for example Hiroshima or Fukuoka, or - if you prefer a milder climate and snow - somewhere up north in Hokkaido. You're sure to have a great time if you go with an open mind and a smile. Feel free to comment below with any questions!