South African business English teacher

Dear Fellow ToyTownGermany Readers

Hi. My name is Kirsten. And I am an English Teacher. *Hi Kirsten*.

First off.. I had the fortune of coming across your site as I browsed through Dave's ESL Cafe, and I couldn't have been happier! The information has been great, but as we all do, I feel that I have a 'unique' situation (okay, not that unique but basically I just want some answers straight from the horse's mouth - or should I say ,in Germany's case, the gigantic rabbit's mouth??!)

Okay let me give you the low-down:
I am a South African (Seth Efrikan - do we really sound like that? I'm horrified! But boy would I kill for a good ol' brandy and coke...). I got a Business French Degree from the University of Cape Town and have been living in Japan for nearly two years now teaching English on the JET Program. A great experience. I have saved money, learnt quite a bit of Japanese (though I would hardly say I am fluent), and done the all the Asian travelling (well almost) that I wanted to do, so leaving the comfort and security of Japan scares the hell out of me, but I feel the time has come for me to come over to Europe... or more specifically Germany (I LOVED Berlin and Hamburg when I visited two years ago!). As i said earlier, i have a degree in Business French, but I was thinking of doing a four week long course for a CELTA certificate which specializes in Business English too - I got on to the JET program without doing a CELTA or anything like that, so I think I had better just do one in case. I can speak French, Japanese and Afrikaans . And I have had two years experience in teaching. And I can make killer cocktails. If that helps.

I have a number of concerns:

1. The Visa is obviously my main concern. What I am worried about is whether or not any German company/school would bother to hire me because of my nice green and gold South African passport. Will they rather take an EU or Australian or American over a South African because of the hassle of getting visas sorted out - the way I understand it (and correct me if I am wrong) us safas have a hard time getting visas, etc. In the UK we can get a two year working holiday visa, but I can't find anything like that for the EU. So I would have to get a job in before I even get to Germany. Does that make any sense? Basically, do you think I could get a job that is willing to help with my visa?

2. I can speak a little bit of German. Thanks to AFrikaans I can basically pick up a lot of written German (speaking is obviously more difficult) but after Japanese I think German should be okay!! Should i be more worried about it?

3. Am I mad in the head and rather try France (speaking French obviously is a bonus) or forget the EU altogether and just go to London on a two year working holiday visa ? (Nooooooo...)

Okay hope that all made some sort of sense. Sorry if all these questions have been asked before... This is not urgent, I just want to research my options. I have time... only planning on coming over in August after I end my contract here.

Thanks for reading this... helping if you can.

*Kirsten sits back down in her chair*

I don't think you are going to have any luck getting a visa for working-purposes and no language school would employ you without one. Sad but true.

bugger

contrary to popular belief on both sides of the English channel, the United Kingdom is actually a part of the EU.

Hi Kirsten, I can't really help on the visa side of things being a Brit, but I'm definitely well-versed in the culture shock you'll go through upon leaving Japan for Germany. I did exactly the same just 5 months ago! Id lived in Munich before leaving for Japan, but coming back was still really scary! I was in Japan for about 16 months and agree its like a safe little bubble. I was terrified of leaving, but you can only put off real life for so long, I had the impression my life was on hold in Japan, like I wasn't really past of the outside world it was so secure.
I'm working in France now, and like you speak a few lingos. Pm me if you have any specific questions about France or anything, don't wanna hijack your thread.
Gambatte!

Yes, be more worried! You'd have to make a real effort to learn German - understanding a few words here and there from your Afrikaans doesn't cut it for communicating with people. German has seriously complicated grammar, unlike Afrikaans which doesn't seem to have any grammer whatsoever.

Not sure about the visa thing, but it can't be all that difficult considering the amount of foreigners running around here.

Good luck!

I don't thinkshe should be overly worried, she's already done the whole 'living in a foreign country where you don't have a clue whats going on' thing, and speaking from experience you do pick up a lot as you go along. Kirsten has already got 4 languages, picking up a 5th shouldn't be impossible. Yes German takes a lot of effort, in all honesty I actually found Japanese easier, but sounds like she's prepared to put in the time. Dunno what your situation is out there right now Kirsten, but if you're on JET you've probably got fab hols so take some time to pick up the basics before you get to Germany, that'd certainly help

Aye, she doesn't seem to have a problem with languages. The visa is the problem. She can forget it for teaching languages. Place is crawling with English native speakers. There is no Bedarf in Germany. They won't give her a greencard. All she could hope for is a student's visa. With that she could at least work a bit on the sideline.

I am not too sure about the visa as my company organised that for me. I did spend some time in Germany several years ago on a student visa - I don't know if that is an option you are willing to pursue. I would recommend trying to get to Germany as it is perfectly situated for travelling to the rest of Europe and if you manage to get a visa for here then you can travel to all the Schengen states without further applications unlike S.Africans in the UK who need to apply for a new 3 month visa regularly if they want to travel in Europe.

As for learning/needing German, I find that as with Afrikaans as a basis it is really easy for us to get to a basic level of German very quickly - to go further requires brutal effort as German (imo) is not a very easy language to learn (refer to M. Twain if you don't believe me). That said I would say don't worry about it too much as (generally) the level of English speaking/understanding is very good here esp. in the cities.

Good luck.

There's NO WAY a language school is going to do ANY effort for her. They don't give a hoot and they have a huge pool of desperate people. If I were her I'd do the student-visa thingy until I have a better plan.

I read an article that Austria was crying out for native english speakers as teachers, even unqualified ones can earn quite good money.

nipferd is right, I do have fab hols and a lot of time so I think I might check out if there are a few courses in my area or order a book or something... but it doesn't sound like I should even bother learning it... ahhhhh... I'm gonna have a look into the student visa. What I don't get (and this applies to any Safas reading this post) is how is everyone else doing it? seems like everyone is working for big companies like Siemens, but surely there must be south africans who are working as teachers, or bar staff etc. are they all over on student visas? can you make a living on a student visa?

I am self-employed, may stay here forever if I wish (may the holy rubbery one forbid!). Depending on your standard of living and what kind of jobs you get, you may or may not make a living on a student visa. A.f.a.I.k. you are only allowed to work 90 days a year on a student visa. Maybe they changed it in the meantime. Look, if you just want to stay here for a couple of years, learn German, travel etc., I am sure a student visa will be perfect for you. If you want to build up a life for yourself here, I am not sure if this is the path to take.