Living abroad during gap year

[DenTony11235]

Like many of you, I have an upcoming gap year. I'd love to spend it living abroad in Europe (Spain would be my top choice, Russia second). I don't have enough money to cover all the expenses myself, so I was wondering if any of you have heard of programs that send people over to teach english or something, or any work in general, in exchange for a stipend which would cover living expenses.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Ismet]

Are you planning to do something medically-related during this gap year? Because you should.

 

[DenTony11235]

If I go, it will likely be around the start of the new year for a few months. Before that time, I will likely be volunteering at a hospital and conducting research.

 

[papanixon]

let me know if you find anything, I want to do something similar

 

[reviliver]

Probably not so helpful for the OP but I was an English Language Assistant (Assistante d'Anglais) in France.
http://highereducation.frencheducation.org/teach-in-france/prospective-applicants
http://www.ielanguages.com/assistant.html
I was paid, and I was on the same school schedule as the kids, which meant I got 2 week vacations 4-6 times over the course of the year to travel around Europe. I went to Amsterdam, Brussels, Rome, Barcelona, Madrid, London, Paris x20 (I lived 2hrs by train), and a few other cities in France. I lived in the international students' dorm at the local university and got to know future French teachers from Ukraine, Russia, Taiwan, Sweden, Portugal, etc.
The only real catch to the program is that they decide where to send you among your 3 choices, so you could end up in a small village. To me, it was worth the risk because everywhere in France has great transportation to get everywhere else. I ended up in a smallish city with a large university which I loved. There may be similar programs in other places but I honestly have met very few other people who did programs like this in Europe (much more in Asian countries, particularly South Korea and Japan). I broke even financially over the course of the year, which was my goal.

One last caveat: I did not apply that year and it took me several more years to get my app together afterward. I would not trade it for anything, though, especially having just completed my first year of med school and looking ahead to many years of essentially nothing but school/work.

 

[DenTony11235]

Did you have to get a certificate? Just googling these kinda of programs leads to links from companies that offer courses for teaching assistant certificates, and then they say they'd help set you up in other countries. Did you go through a similar program? Thanks for the input.

 

[WhippleWhileWeWork]

Edit: Just saw your latest post. Yes, most places want you to have some qualification for teaching english.

If you have any money at all, I'd suggest Woofing.

 

[DenTony11235]

Edit: Just saw your latest post. Yes, most places want you to have some qualification for teaching english.

If you have any money at all, I'd suggest Woofing.

Woofing?

 

[WhippleWhileWeWork]

Woofing?

http://www.wwoof.net

Let your imagination run wild. It's a great way to see the world.

 

[Lya]

Fulbright?

 

[DenTony11235]

I have a meeting with my schools Fullbright rep. next week. It is plan A, but what if I'm not selected?

Whipple. How much w0uuld it cost? I've already looked into it but haven't seen any prices mentioned. Also, is it only in rural areas? I would love to see and stay in some urban areas as well.

 

[WhippleWhileWeWork]

I have a meeting with my schools Fullbright rep. next week. It is plan A, but what if I'm not selected?

Whipple. How much w0uuld it cost? I've already looked into it but haven't seen any prices mentioned. Also, is it only in rural areas? I would love to see and stay in some urban areas as well.

The main cost is getting where you want to go (flights).
If you wanted to do France, for instance, getting around can be relatively cheap if you're willing to do the carpool thing. They have a great website there and in the UK for setting up rides all over the country, it's pretty neat and cheap. On the weekends you're at liberty to do whatever you want, so you could work outside of Lyon or Paris and go in for the day/weekend. Again, you'd need some money for this, you'd be working for room and board, not cash.

 

[Bluepanda87]

http://www.mecd.gob.es/eeuu/convoca...torias-eeuu/auxiliares-conversacion-eeuu.html

 

[DenTony11235]

This looks perfect. The application period is now closed though 🙁

Whipple i see what you're saying. Sounds good too. I'll see if i can make it work. Thanks a lot.

Any other helpful links

 

[reviliver]

The french teaching assistantship does not require TOEFL certification. Most of the others do.
As for WWOOFing, I had a few friends who did it for varying lengths of time. 50% had excellent experiences and 50% had bad experiences. One friend had to run away in the dead of night because the people he stayed with took his stuff and essentially used him as slave labor. Be VERY careful and contact people who have stayed at the farm you want to go to before you agree to anything. It can be wonderful, but bringing a buddy and being extra wary can save you from a bad trip.
The nice thing about teaching is that you can make enough money to break even; ie if you find cheap enough housing, you will have enough to travel on what they pay you. I did hostels, even when I was traveling by myself, and never had a bad experience. Hostelworld is your friend.

 

[reviliver]

Also: I did not go though a private company at all. The french teaching assistantship is through the government/embassy of France. Don't know anyone who went through a placement agency. Which reminds me! Au-pairing is also an option if you like kids, but similar buyer-bewares to WWOOFing that I stated above. I did know a few people who did this in Paris and loved it.

 

[DenTony11235]

I don't know any French. Would that prevent them from hiring me?

 

[nemo123]

There are specific programs out there that have placements in Spain where you can teach English. I believe the big one is TEFL (You need to get TEFL certified first though). My friend taught in China through TEFL, and she had a wonderful experience. If you just google "teaching English in Spain," a ton of organizations will come up (and they're reputable).

Otherwise, you could look for jobs with companies that hire abroad.

 

[kyamh]

A colleague of mine spent a year teaching English to Chinese kindergarteners. Obviously it was mostly playing games and just talking to the kids in English. He didn't/doesn't know a word of Chinese and has no teaching qualifications. The only qualifications were 1. American and 2. being white really helps. According to him, private schools in suburbs of the big cities really want to be able to say they have a native-speaking American teaching the kids English - good for business. If you want to be in a major city, then you will need some sort of qualification to be competitive, but you can definitely live just a short ride out and get paid to hang out with small children for a year.

Edit: these places actually want people who can't understand Chinese because it helps to force the kids to learn some English.

 

[caxoo]

Like many of you, I have an upcoming gap year. I'd love to spend it living abroad in Europe (Spain would be my top choice, Russia second). I don't have enough money to cover all the expenses myself, so I was wondering if any of you have heard of programs that send people over to teach english or something, or any work in general, in exchange for a stipend which would cover living expenses.

Question for you and everyone else who went abroad during gap year: how do you handle interviews? Do you come back a couple weeks at a time? Wouldn't you have to deal with jetlag, and the potential of being less competitive because your timeframe isn't as flexible?

 

[Laureatebarrel]

You can do tutor/teaching at private institutions if you have bachelor's degree & being white really helps. Do some google on teaching abroad there are some forums out there that can help you. Pay attention to what kind of certificate they require because some require some kind of teaching certificate which can take some time to get. Also it is more "easy" to find teaching post in countries with low-level English skills such as China, Korea, Japan, etc. I know a lot of people who did that and they seemed to have great time. Good luck!

 

[capn jazz]

I took off a few years to live in Asia and teach English. You absolutely do not need to do something medically related in your gap year. And I flew back for interviews in two 1.5-2 week chunks. Hard, but worth it.

 

[MufasaUzumaki]

Like many of you, I have an upcoming gap year. I'd love to spend it living abroad in Europe (Spain would be my top choice, Russia second). I don't have enough money to cover all the expenses myself, so I was wondering if any of you have heard of programs that send people over to teach english or something, or any work in general, in exchange for a stipend which would cover living expenses.

I'm working for a university in China that is looking to hire recent medical graduates to teach in their International MBBS program. You will receive a salary, three bedroom two bath apartment with utilities paid, and reimbursed flight ticket. There are four affiliated hospitals with the university and it is extremely easy to scrub in on many of the surgical units.