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Originally Posted by Tsuwabuki
First, thank you SSJup81.
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You're welcome. It kind of struck a nerve since I'm studying to become a teacher. Haven't gotten to the Master's Level yet, just finishing up my Bachelor's.
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Indeed, I can go back to America and teach normal native level junior high school or high school English. In fact, when I was in Korea teaching ESL, I was in negotiations with both Japanese schools/companies and Texas municipal school districts. I went ahead and went to Japan, and I do not regret it. That doesn't mean I can't teach elsewhere, or as I have in the past, worked as a reporter, in a marketing/PR firm, or in politics. There is much that an English degree, really a degree that might as well be considered communications, can do for you.
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That sounds pretty cool. I sometimes wonder if I should have gone with an English degree as opposed to a Social Science one, with a concentration in Education. I'm interested in Pre-K - 5 instruction. I prefer Kindergarten, 1st, or 2nd, though. I might just go with getting my licensure and practicum stuff for my state for now, and put off getting the Masters until much later.
As for a specific subject, ESL has always interested me, but what really kind of enhanced that, was when I met a middle school girl from Vietnam. She and her mother were new to the US, so they had limited speaking skills. The girl's older brother, who had lived here for a good amount of time, did all of the speaking for them. They were trying to get her enrolled in the middle school I was assisting in last year. I hated the fact that I couldn't help in some way. I wished I'd studied some Vietnamese as opposed to the Japanese. I wonder how she turned out. During the summer, she was supposed to go to the high school in the area, and take ESL classes. I also met the ESL teacher at the school I worked for, and she went on about it being her calling and liked helping them. It was very admirable.
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I started my teaching component before I settled on English, that's one of the reasons I spent $70K. I thought I wanted to be a music teacher and spent my first two years studying for a music education degree. When I changed to English, a lot of my credits didn't transfer from the music part of the equation, and in order to even graduate in five years, I had to take a lot of classes, including two summers. Those classes cost money.
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Did you take out student loans to pay for those courses, or did you get a little bit of help through grants and scholarships.