Need help getting another friend started

[innen_oda]

I know it doesn't have to be English, which is why I also suggested History. A specific concentration is going to be way more useful to a later career than a general check-the-box degree, especially if the friend doesn't have any plans for what he's going to do after he's done teaching English. I know Liberal/General Studies is popular here because it's "quick" but, with how quick and easy UMPI specialized degrees are, there is NO reason to limit yourself with a generalized non-specific degree. 

Yeah, sure, you can go back and get a Master's degree later, but why trust that you're going to have the time/money to do that in the future? Get the best degree you can right now and don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today.

'Getting the degree you personally want' and 'Getting an English/History degree to TEFL' are two completely different aims.

The Master's degree comment was not some random thing I think they should do because it sounds good. For the Middle East, it is literally the only way you'll get a job in the vast majority of TESOL spheres. There is no 'i don't have a MA but I have this BA in English' option. The only reason I mentioned the Middle East was precisely because it's the only place your advice applied - but even then, the specialised focus comes at the post grad level.

I'm not seeking to diminish teaching English overseas as a career. But in terms of getting a visa AND in terms of skillset, your degree major doesn't matter for TEFLing. If you want to do gender studies or underwater basket weaving, this is literally the opportunity to do that. Unless someone expresses a specific interest in English literature or Modern History or whatever, advising them to do their degree in English or History on the basis of wanting to TEFL is wasting their time and money.

[dfrecore]

Thank you for pointing that out.  I can never figure out why anyone would think that an English degree (which basically involves reading a lot of literature) would be at all useful teaching English to someone who doesn't speak English in some other country.  They're not at all the same thing.  And when people come here and take courses on how to speak English, the classes many times are taught at a public library or community center by people who are not only NOT English teacher's, they not usually teachers of any kind, and aren't required to have a degree or certified in anything.  They just have to care and have a passion for helping people learn English.

I know it doesn't have to be English, which is why I also suggested History. A specific concentration is going to be way more useful to a later career than a general check-the-box degree, especially if the friend doesn't have any plans for what he's going to do after he's done teaching English. I know Liberal/General Studies is popular here because it's "quick" but, with how quick and easy UMPI specialized degrees are, there is NO reason to limit yourself with a generalized non-specific degree. 

Yeah, sure, you can go back and get a Master's degree later, but why trust that you're going to have the time/money to do that in the future? Get the best degree you can right now and don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today.

My thinking is, I don't necessarily recommend that someone get a specific degree unless that's what THEY ask for, or express an interest in a goal where that degree would work.  So for someone who is going overseas to teach English, I wouldn't recommend an English degree because 1) they didn't ask for that, and 2) that doesn't help in terms of their goal.

Suggesting that kind of makes it look like it would be more helpful, when it may not be.

An English or History degree at UMPI require much more work to get (both English & History at UMPI wouldn't allow for as many credits brought in because of their very specific requirements in the major, and far fewer Free Electives than other degrees); which translates to more time and money spent getting that degree.  I try to tell people options where they spend LESS time and money.

[Dowew]

I did a zoom chat with my friend today and hes very excited about this possibility. I went thru the basics of an accelerated degree and the main four schools. He is very interested in UMPI for his degree.

Our next step at this point really depends on how many of his UofR or Canadian Colleges courses can transfer. As I understand it he is going to have to send his transcript and possibly the syllabi for the courses hes completed to a third party organization.

Is anyone familiar with this process. Are there multiple organizations that do this or just one. How much expense are we looking at to do this ? How do I get the process started ?

[rachel83az]

The two big ones that are mentioned the most are https://www.wes.org/ and https://www.ece.org/ but there are others. It's about $200 to get the necessary course-by-course evaluation. I would guess that ECE might be the better choice because they also do evaluations for the purposes of immigration to Canada so they might be more familiar with the Canadian system as a whole than WES is and so give more favorable results but I don't know for certain.

[monchevy]

posted in wrong thread

[ss20ts]

I did a zoom chat with my friend today and hes very excited about this possibility.  I went thru the basics of an accelerated degree and the main four schools.  He is very interested in UMPI for his degree.

Our next step at this point really depends on how many of his UofR or Canadian Colleges courses can transfer.  As I understand it he is going to have to send his transcript and possibly the syllabi for the courses hes completed to a third party organization.  

Is anyone familiar with this process.  Are there multiple organizations that do this or just one.  How much expense are we looking at to do this ?  How do I get the process started ?

If he's interested in UMPI, then he needs to contact the YourPace department. They do have an international program. They also have a specific plan for Canadians as the school is right on the border of the 2 countries and they have many Canadian students. For international students, their transcripts must be processed through WES. Canadian students may have a different process so I would check with YourPace.