What if you have no skills? Teaching English

Not always a glorious job
Photo by Emma Taylor

If you have spent any time at all researching how to live in another country, you know how hard that can be if you don't have specialized skills which someone will sponsor you for. As a result, it can be pretty depressing thinking that you're stuck in your home country, but there is still hope! One of the most popular ways for people to work in Asia, South America or Eastern Europe is to teach English. If you've been reading this blog regularly and you paid attention to the lesson of Count von Europe, you know that moving to another country will require effort and sacrifice. Now you're going to see what some of that effort and sacrifice will look like.

Apply in Person

This is the toughest part for many of us. You don't have to apply in person, but résumés or CVs sent via the mail or email simply don't work for many people. The school will have no way of evaluating you and they'd rather have a bad teacher in front of students than a great teacher who may never show up. Just about everything I've read about teaching English in foreign countries is in agreement on this: faced with a mailed application and a person in front of them, many schools will take the person in front of them.

That being said, if you are properly TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) certified and willing to be patient, you can apply from your native country and get a job, but you'll have to be more patient. This will likely involve many rounds of job hunting, sending our your résumé, phone interviews and may or may not be successful. I'd love to hear more about this from people who've done it and can share their experiences (see my contact info).

Look the Part

What many of these schools want is someone who looks the part. You have to stand in front of a classroom and look like both a teacher and an American. I've read about an American with Korean parents who had trouble finding work teaching English in Korea despite it being his native language: he didn't "look the part". This is unfortunate, but appearance means a lot here. Specifically, when you go for your interview (in person, don't forget!), you had better be wearing a suit, be clean shaven and respectful. You had also better convince them that you can teach English, which brings us to ...

Get Certified

You don't always need certification because there are a schools out there who will take any native speaker of English. Some are unscrupulous and just want to earn a fast buck, while others are away from major cities and can't find qualified candidates. Regardless, you'll not only find it easier to get a job, but also easier to teach if you get certified to teach English as a foreign language. Searching online for this can be frustrating as you see ESL, TEFL, TESOL, and other acronyms for these courses.

I can't really help you much here other than to offer a few tips on choosing a course. First, be aware that there are many scams out there. Online ads which say you can "Get your TEFL certificate for only $150!" are almost certainly worthless. You're going to pay at least $1,000 for most reputable courses.

Next, you're not going to get certified quickly. The Language and Culture Coaching (LCC) school offers a course for around $1,000 with 100 hours of training, along with job placement. They and other sources make it clear that you can't just skimp on the amount of training you'll need to teach English. Teaching is hard and it's often thankless work (I've a number of friends who are teachers who would back me up on this). It's going to be a lot easier if you take it seriously.

And Finally ...

Many schools don't require that you have knowledge of any language other than English. While this may be a great help, you're going to struggle if you don't know any of the local language. I'll cover some language tips in a later post.

If you want more information, I've read reviews that the "Teaching English Overseas" book by Jeff Mohamed (linked above) is a good source. I can't independently vouch for it, but I know many of us — myself included — like having a book in our hands.

Homesickness

More than once I've read stories about people in a witness protection program who miss their family and friends so much that they make contact -- and are subsequently murdered after the people they're testifying against find them. Think about that for a moment. People enter witness protection programs because their lives are threatened. They have to leave their lives behind and getting in touch with family and friends could be fatal, but they risk it anyway.

Never underestimate friendship
Photo by Stuart Seeger

Many people don't appreciate the crushing loneliness you might feel in a new country. When I moved to the UK, I would sometimes use Skype to contact friends back in Portland, Oregon, but it was never enough. Sooner or later you'll probably find yourself sitting in your new home late at night, alone, and wondering if you've made a mistake. Even if you don't often pop round to see your friends or family, suddenly having the opportunity to do so removed from you can change your perspective dramatically.

Having a Partner

Going to another country with a partner can be harder to pull off logistically, but it does help to ease the loneliness. However, it can bring its own set of problems. I knew an American woman in London who was thinking about divorcing her American husband because he wanted to stay and she missed her friends. As you read more expat stories, you'll find that this is not unusual.

Planning Ahead

If you're going to go somewhere new, make a plan for how you're going to build up your new social circle. If its citizens/residents have good internet connections, you can often find online forums where you can contact some of them in advance. I've found that just posting and saying "I'm here and I want to meet people" will usually result in an offer or two of people willing to meet up for coffee or show you around. Even if you ordinarily would not share a house, maybe it's time to think about it. If you have new colleagues, make an effort to be friendly to them. Get to know the local politics, history and culture and your new-found acquaintances will appreciate the fact that you've taken the trouble to learn about their culture (a couple of times I found I knew more than the locals. It's poor form to let them know this).

How do I explain this delicious abomination
to my French wife who loves fine food?
Photo by Matt MacGillivray

There are also often local expat gatherings. Many expats disdain them and say "mix with the locals!" They're right, but you still don't want to pass up the chance to hang out with people from your home country. Not only do you automatically have some common culture and experiences to bond about, but I found there was no one in Nottingham to whom I could moan about missing Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. They just wouldn't understand. Fellow expats know what I mean by this. When you're in a supermarket and looking at the pindakaas met stukjes noot and wondering if it's what you think it is, you might find yourself getting intense cravings for "comfort food" and other things you wish you could have but can no longer get very easily (my lovely wife once had Fritos drop-shipped to me, even though she doesn't understand them).

However, if you need further convincing that you should mix with the locals in addition to expats, as one person explained to me: "as an expat, your friends tend to be expats. This means all your friends leave in the end."

Financial Issues

Note: nothing I describe here should be considered accurate. I say that to ensure that you research this information for yourself. The various laws involved are often convoluted (impenetrable in the case of the US) and I am not a lawyer. This is not legal advice.

Most expats I know haven't moved to another country to earn more money. Some will earn more money, some will not, but mostly they're going for the chance to live in another country. Had I been focused solely on money I would not have moved to Nottingham, UK several years ago. I was paid reasonably well, but I would have made a lot more money going to New York City, even counting the cost of living.

Imagine a world without ...
Photo by Marco Papale

Even if we're not in it for the money, we can't completely ignore the financial implications. While I can't address the particular financial situation you will be in, there are some general things you'll want to be aware of.

Americans and Taxes


Short description: if you're a US citizen and not earning a large amount of money overseas, you must still file a tax return, but you probably won't owe any taxes. As a general rule, if you are an American living and working overseas, you can earn up to around $90,000 US in a foreign country before having to pay any tax back to the US. I'm not providing a link because the US Congress has changed this a number of times and keeping abreast of these laws is like skeet shooting while running. You need to do your research and and hire a tax professional. If you want to understand how the IRS taxes US citizens abroad, good luck.

That was the good news. Here's the bad.

Antigua: The IRS
wants this money
Photo by Infrogmation

Congratulations USA! You're one of only three countries which is still regressive enough to tax your citizens overseas. Others, such as the Philippines, are decent enough to tax their expatriate citizens on Philippine income (in case you're wondering, the other country which taxes citizens living abroad is North Korea). If you're a US citizen, however, you'll find that you can move to Antigua, live there for 40 years, earn all of your money from Antigua, never leave the country, and still be liable for US taxes. If you don't like this and decide to take the extreme step of renouncing your US citizenship, the US Internal Revenue Service can decide to levy taxes against you for up to 10 years after you're no longer a US citizen! As far as I know, this makes the US the only country in the world which imposes income taxes on foreigners living in other countries. In an effort to chase alleged tax dodgers, the US is now trying to force foreign banks to comply with US laws, the result of which is some Americans are finding that foreign banks won't even open accounts for them. I haven't had this happen to me, but be forewarned!

The situation is insane enough that I know of one gentleman who has, for reasons I won't go into, dual US/UK citizenship. This gentleman was born in the UK, lived his entire life in the UK and worked exclusively for UK companies. In contacting a lawyer about a potential residency issue in the US, he discovered that he owed tens of thousands of dollars in back taxes to the US, a country he had never lived or worked in! Unfortunately, US expats have no significant political power and politicians can safely hammer us to fight for votes at home.

Tax Benefits for Expatriates

Wanna work in Denmark? You've probably heard about the high taxes, but what about only paying 25%? Denmark, like many countries, wants to attract more skilled labor and thus offers nice tax benefits. Or consider the Netherlands where I live. They offer something called the 30% ruling. What this does is effectively lowers my salary by 30%, but I get reimbursed that 30% tax free. This is to offset the costs of me, as skilled labor, moving the the Netherlands. Not everyone qualifies for this, but if you do, the 30% tax ruling effectively caps your income tax at 36.4% as opposed to the normal 52% top marginal rate (note that the 52% rate is only on income over about €55,367 a year, thus limiting it to those who can afford it).

Big Corn Island, Nicaragua
Photo by www.globalmultiplelisting.com

Other countries are even more generous. Fancy Nicaragua? Nicaragua is one of many countries which does not tax the expatriate's foreign-sourced income. MSN Money and others are referring to Nicaragua as one of the best retirement spots in the world.

You should do your research, but be aware that many of these laws change frequently, changing with the prevailing political whims which often have little to do with reality. Even if you're not doing this for monetary reasons, you still need to pay attention to the laws. You really don't want to get back to the US to find you owe several years worth of taxes (though in reality, you will likely owe nothing).

High Taxes In Foreign Countries

As a side note, I really need to address the high taxes in many foreign countries, particularly Europe. The US has often set its highest marginal tax rates well over 80%, even during the 1950s, a time of economic prosperity (yes, I know about the Marshall plan and its impact). In fact, since 1932, it wasn't until 1987 that the highest marginal tax rate dropped below 50%. So why aren't Europeans rioting over their taxes? Because in general they get better health care, free or very inexpensive education, more vacation time (I get five weeks this year), a better safety net if they're out of work, and many other benefits. They do this while generally remaining competitive in world markets and enjoying very high standards of living. If the only thing which mattered was the tax rate, Europe would be a poor destination. Fortunately, it's how much everything else costs and what benefits you get from it. European cities almost always dominate the lists of the best places to live and European citizens are generally far happier with their quality of life than others. If you think the taxes are everything, you're being pretty short-sighted.

Changing this situation


If you're a US citizen living abroad, may I suggest joining Democrats Abroad or Republicans Abroad and trying to help make our voice heard?

Update: April 7, 2012. It turns out that only the US and Eritrea tax their citizens abroad and the latter's tax scheme is little more than extorsion.

Do people really hate Americans?

Note: this blog is for anyone wanting to live and work in another country. It's not specifically targeting Americans, but since I'm an American and almost half of my traffic is from the US (currently 47%), I will deal with "US-specific" issues from time to time.

Sooner or later, most Americans travelling abroad hear about the idea of sewing a Canadian flag to their backpack. After all, Americans are so despised around the world that it's safe to pretend to be a Canadian, right?

You'll be happy to know that this is a myth. To be fair, if you're in Iran and in a Revolutionary Guard recruiting rally, it might not be the best time for wearing your "America, Fuck Yeah!" t-shirt. Aside from that, don't sweat it; you're simply not going to have that much of a problem. That being said, there are sometimes problems. What follows is going to be a touch political, but frankly, you can't discuss "do people hate Americans" without this topic arising.

Essential Travel Accessory?
Photo by mattkiazyk

When I first moved to Europe in 2001, the general consensus, even in a pre-9/11 world, was "we hate your government, but we love Americans." When I moved back to Europe in 2006, the tone had changed: "we hate your government and you voted for them." And this was in the UK, one of the closest allies to the US! Things have toned down a bit. With the election of Obama, Europe was elated and people hearing my US accent would stop and thank me, as if I were somehow personally responsible for this. The enthusiasm for Obama has died down considerably, but the hostility towards Americans hasn't really returned. In fact, out of all of my years abroad, I've only met one extremely hostile individual. We were colleagues and he claimed to hate Americans and he always switched the language away from English when he could. Fortunately, that was the only serious problem I had.

Gary Arndt, on the other hand, has been travelling around the planet for years and he hasn't encountered a single case of anti-Americanism. He talks of people being fascinated by Americans and our lives here and that's mostly been my experience too. Talking to my other expat friends and reading through other blogs on the topic all serves to reinforce this: people understand the difference between a people and their government. Ditch that Canadian flag, you won't need it.

Uruguay!

It's -5 C (21 F) this morning and as I'm shivering over my morning coffee, I'm asking the question all of us ask sooner or later: "why the hell didn't I move to Uruguay?" Currently the weather in Montevideo is 21 C, or 70 F. I could be looking forward to a leisurely day at work before strolling down to the beach and enjoying the sun.

Montevideo, Uruguay
Photo by Roberto Tietzmann

By why bring up Uruguay? First, I've discovered that for many Americans, when they say "I'd love to live in another country", they're silently adding the word "in Europe" to that. I live in Europe because there's a lot of work in my field here and I also have a lot of relatives here. That being said, if I had to do it all over again, I'd seriously look at Uruguay. There are plenty of other exciting opportunities for moving abroad, but since so many Americans keep hearing about Europe, the other possibilities get ignored. Fortunately that attitude seems to be changing and I'll be doing my best to help with that.

The Law

Here's one of the main reasons you want to consider Uruguay: any foreign visitor can apply for a residence permit. In fact, Uruguay is becoming well-known amongst expats for its ease of entry. Show up on a tourist visa, prove a steady income, apply for residency. It's a touch more involved than that (such as proving you have no criminal record), but honestly, it's one of the easiest countries to immigrate to. One Peter Stross on a Uruguayan expat web site listed the legal steps you need to apply for residency.

1. Certified copy of Birth Certificate, duly legalized by Uruguayan Consulate closest to or at place of birth.
2. Certified copy of Marriage Certificate (if applicable), duly legalized by Uruguayan Consulate closest to or at place of marriage.
3. Certified copy of Divorce Sentence (only applicable, if applicant is divorced and has intentions to get married again), duly legalized by Uruguayan Consulate closest to or at place of divorce (please ask for more specifications if this is the case)
4. In case of minors doing the process alone or with only one of the parents, please ask before travelling.
5. Good Conduct Certificate issued by country’s National Police (i.e. FBI for U.S.) of country of birth, duly legalized by Uruguayan Consulate closest to or at place of residency.
6. Good Conduct Certificate issued by country’s National Police (i.e. FBI for U.S.) where applicant has lived for the past 5 years (if several countries, than from each country), duly legalized by Uruguayan Consulate closest to or at place of residency.
7. In case that you have a Police Record, prove of accomplished sentence, duly legalized by the corresponding Uruguayan Consulate.

Beautiful Architecture
Photo by Christian Ostrosky

There's a bit more, such as proof of income. They don't want beggars moving there, obviously. That page states it's $6,000 a year ($500 a month), but I've heard they've increased this to a bit over $600 a month. You'll have to check. You are apparently also allowed to seek work there, so you could meet the income requirement by simply taking local employment in your field. Added bonus: while speaking Spanish is a huge plus, many in Montevideo (the capital) speak English and many expats take jobs there without ever learning the language.

Warning: I am not a lawyer and you'll have to do your own research. For example, you can't buy a one-way ticket. Your return ticket can be for a few months out, but you must have it (doesn't mean you have to use it).

Why Uruguay?

Just because you can immigrate somewhere doesn't mean you'd want to (think "Somalia"). What's so compelling about Montevideo that you'd want to live there?
Just recently my former employer released an article about Uruguayan immigration today. Bounded by an economically prosperous Brazil to the north and a struggling Argentina to the West, Uruguay is enjoying very low unemployment levels and very high rates of growth. Today it's one of the most politically and economically stable countries in South America.

Carnival?
Photo by Vince Alongi

It's fair to say that Uruguay is a rather tolerant society. They've permitted gay civil unions and gay adoption (the first Latin American country to do so) and are known for being a rather secular country for South America. But they're not just open-minded, they're far-sighted, too. Did you know that every single primary student in Uruguay has been given a free laptop by the government?

Of course, they're also very green, have fantastic freedom of the press and extremely low corruption:

All things considered, Uruguay is a very tempting target. Great infrastructure, great economy, low corruption, very green, very tolerant. I think more and more Americans are going to start hearing about it and heading down there.

Politics

I'm sitting here enjoying a morning cup of coffee and the weather report dutifully reports that here in Amsterdam it is -7C (19 degrees Fahrenheit) and snowing. The former is probably true, but the latter is what we might politely refer to as a "misstatement," though perhaps a bit more snow fell in the night.  Amsterdam generally has a mild climate, but winters can get cold. This morning, I'll be taking the tram rather than walking to work. Brrrrr!

This is what a black, French atheist
 conservative looks like

I haven't wanted this blog to be a political one because it's just about trying to help people see the opportunities in moving to another country. However, part of that is knowing what you're in for. For example, while my wife is a black French atheist conservative, something guaranteed to make many Republican heads explode, "conservative" in France is not the same thing as it is in the US. At its furthest right, they might be on par with US Democrats, but even that's a bit of a stretch. For many capitalist democracies around the world, you'll find that their dominant right-wing party is aligned with US Democrats and with the US Republicans being much further to the right. In fact, I've been disturbed to realize that much US Republican rhetoric seems to be echoing the far-right nationalist parties here in Europe. Those parties will rarely gain power, but here they're usually seen as being thin façades for neo-fascism.  It pains me to hear that from the US.

Just to give you a a flavor of politics over in Europe, consider that the UK is the European country most closely aligned with the US in both culture and politics.  Here are some highlights of David Cameron's 2006 speech to his Conservative party. Keep in mind that he was leading that party then and he's prime minister of the UK now:

• Full support for the National Health Care system (NHS)
• Better childcare and flexible working hours for mothers
• Tax cuts aren't the answer
• Increase the minimum wage 
• Fighting manmade climate change
• Building a greener Britain
• Foreign policy should not be an unquestioned acceptance of what America does
• Support for gay marriage

Got that? That's the leader of their conservative party.  Mind you, plenty of his other policies such as deregulating business, tough on crime, support the Afghanistan war and other issues would be right at home with US Republicans, but conservative politics over here is often a variant of "government shouldn't be messing with business or people."

In another example of how things are different, both in actual culture and perception, Fox News' Bill O'Reilly and some guests referred to Amsterdam as a "disaster" and suggested we were awash in drugs, prostitutes and assorted criminals.  Nothing is further from the truth. This is my second time living here and it's safe, clean, and the people are friendly.

It's also worth noting that even a quick search of quality of life studies show that most European citizens are happier than their US counterparts.  Mind you, I'm not saying that the US is bad or that they've done something wrong, but at the end of the day, life over here is pleasant, the economies are strong, crime tends to be lower and people are happy.

On a side note: I've lived in Europe for years and in my entire time here, I think I've met only two expats who've identified themselves as Republican and both of them are upset with what the US Republican party is doing back home. The vast majority of other expats are a mish-mash of other political beliefs, but Republicans are pretty thin on the ground here.

What about the language barrier?

As my wife is French, it's understandable that some of our friends are French. One of them, Hervé, told the following joke:

What do you call someone who speaks three languages? Trilingual. What do you call someone who speaks two languages? Bilingual. What do you call someone who speaks one language?

I was smiling and nodding, but at this point, you've all heard the punchline. It's an American who speaks one language.

No: French.  Apparently that's a known joke in France, but "French" is their punchline. They tell it in the UK also, but "British" is their punchline.  I seriously doubt the Dutch would tell it in reference to themselves.

Knowledge of foreign languages really depends on your culture and circumstances, but what you want to know is whether or not you'll need to learn one.  The answer is a frustrating "it depends".  In addition to my native English, I speak French (not fluently, but you can drop me in the middle of France and I won't have too many problems) and am now studying Dutch.  I have never needed French for living abroad, but I was living in the UK. Now that I live in Amsterdam, I was pleased to learn that my company offers a language program, but then I found out it was to assist employees in speaking better English. Dutch may be the official language, but there are so may expats here that English is the standard in many companies.

Speloncato, Corsica

I've also heard the same for Montevideo, Uruguay. It's a fairly easy country to emigrate to (one of the easiest in the world, in fact) and English is spoken widely.  For many TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) jobs, knowledge of the local language is often not required.

So you can get by with just English, but it tremendously limits your opportunities. I was recently offered a job in Paris and they made it clear that speaking English was fine, but that's the exception and not the rule. If you must have Paris, speak French. Have you fallen in love with someone from Spelancato in Corsica? Speak French. There are many lovely destinations in South America which are going to require you to speak Spanish or Portuguese.  Does Casablanca flip your wig? Better learn Arabic, Berber or French (hmm, lots of French sneaking in there. It was a coincidence in my choice of locations).