Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020 |

# Teaching English in pacific islands (Solomon??) Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea
ggselwoo 16:34 UTC 04 Apr 2009 | Hi, My girlfriend and I are both Canadians with Bachelors degrees potentially looking to teach English in the Pacific Islands. We have not taught English before but would deffinitely be willing to get certified. Is it common to find these types of positions? Is experience required? Any info that someone might have would be much appreciated. Thanks for the help! |
oldpro 07:01 UTC 05 Apr 2009 | Is it common to find these types of positions? Speaking only for Fiji, no, not common. You might have some luck volunteering somewhere. However, if your plan/dream is to work your way around the region teaching english, then it's not a practical option. Paid work of any sort won't be easy to find. | 1
cardamom 17:09 UTC 05 Apr 2009 | Try some of the Spanish speaking countries or Portuguese. | 2
pago 18:42 UTC 05 Apr 2009 | They've been teaching and speaking English in the South Pacific for many, many years. Can't imagine any country needing more volunteers? I think cardamom has the right advice..... | 3
watsoff 15:49 UTC 06 Apr 2009 | You'd need a working visa for Solomons, which I don't think is easy to get. Then you'd be working for a local wage, which is barely survivable (by our standards); prices of everything have escalated enormously since RAMSI moved in. Ozziegiraffe will have more up-to-date info on Solomons. | 4
watsoff 15:52 UTC 06 Apr 2009 | I forgot to add that volunteers need special visas as well. | 5
ozziegiraffe 13:03 UTC 08 Apr 2009 | Definitely - you need a sponsor, and qualifications. If you had a degree in a subject which is taught in High Schools, then you might get a job (eg English, maths, science, economics) the curriculum is very limited. Education in most Pacific Islands (except the Francophone ones) is officially in English. Residence permits are available for two years at a time, and you need a permit to work as well.. However, most high schools are in remote areas, and there is limited accommodation, provided by the school. You could look at the Austalian volunteers website, where two English teachers' jobs are advertised. This should give you some idea of the conditions (and AVI give additional support). I am not sure if they use overseas volunteers, or only Australians. | 6
videshi 12:05 UTC 25 Apr 2009 | Try WorldTeach, an organization run out of Harvard. They have year-long teaching positions (no certification required) on various islands in the South Pacific (I think the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, and American Samoa). Here's the link: http://www.worldteach.org/ | 7