(upbeat music)
(foreign language)
- My name is Rose and I'm here to take you
on a day in life of an English teacher in Istanbul, Turkey.
Okay. So today I'm actually, it's a really packed day.
We're kind of going straight into teaching
so I've just got like back to back.
We've got like morning sport with the kiddos.
We've got some greeting.
So for a few hours I'm gonna be kind of busy,
so I'm gonna insert an ask me question here.
Any questions you have,
I'll get back to you as soon as I can. See you later.
Okay. So we're on the service bus
that will take us to and from the apartment.
And this is my neighbor Kenny.
- [Rose] Hey! - [Kenny] Hello!
Kenny, what is your favorite part about living in Istanbul?
- The food. Definitely. We have the best food in the world.
(upbeat music)
- Okay, so we are back.
I have a few minutes
of break before I need to go check on a coworker.
Normally, we have co-teachers here,
but she's by herself today, so I'm gonna be going
and checking in on her to make sure, if she needs anything,
so I have some time before we go back at it with the kids.
So a little bit about me, like I said my name is Rose.
I'm 27 years old. I have a Bachelor's degree
in English Literature and Language Studies
from the University of Buckingham in the UK
and I took the ITA online TEFL course
in April of 2019 I wanna say.
I'm also currently studying to get my teacher's license
in Washington DC through Moreland University.
So hopefully in November I will have a US,
an active US state teaching license as well.
That is a great question.
Actually, my first choice was Japan, believe it or not.
And I had a job all lined up.
I was ready to go over there and teach
and then COVID happened and the borders were shut.
So I needed to find another-
So I had to find another job.
And actually I had, I was teaching on Cambly
and I had so many students who were from Turkey
and they were so kind and so warm
and I thought, is Turkey open during COVI?
And the answer was yes. The borders were open.
Of course, you had to show proof of vaccination
in order to come.
And we still wear our masks
when we are with the students, at all times.
But yes, Turkey had borders, and ways to get in.
So I work at a official private school.
I don't work in a language center.
I work in a private school.
So we enjoy like summer holiday, we have winter break,
we have Bayram holiday coming up.
We have about, I wanna say anywhere from-
anywhere from like 11 weeks...
to 13 weeks.
I'm so bad at math, that's why I teach English.
(birds chirping in distance)
Really good question and I'm glad you asked.
It is very safe.
It's like any other big city.
You have to be careful, right?
You have to use like common sense.
I personally feel very safe.
I feel safer here than I did when I was in Chicago.
And I love Chicago, it's my favorite city,
but I feel very safe living and working in Istanbul.
And the second part of that, I found my job
directly through the school website.
So my recommendation,
I don't recommend Facebook groups, personally.
I recommend finding schools
and applying directly through reputable schools.
Also, personally, I don't recommend
language schools for Istanbul.
I personally recommend private or international schools
where you work as like a full-time,
like daytime teacher for students.
They're better in terms of reputation,
and in terms-
Hi to IGA everyone!
- Hi! - Hi!
- Hi!
- [Rose] Hi, my coworkers are the best!
Okay, so we got our coffee refill
and we are ready to go back with some more questions.
So the thing with living in Turkey is that you,
my advice is to not be paid in Turkish lira,
because Turkish lira is unstable at the moment.
But if you can get a job that pays you in USD,
you are golden.
At the time of this recording,
one USD is about 15 Turkish lira.
So if you get a teacher salary of 2,575 USD,
that's like almost 40,000 Turkish lira.
And this is another reason that I really recommend private
or international schools, because your rent is free
your utilities are free,
your transportation to and from school
is free and provided.
Healthcare, you get your healthcare coverage.
Okay,
so now we are back at the apartment.
It was a long day, we said goodbye to the kids,
and I'm super happy to keep going
with the questions about Turkey.
And maybe we can go out and see a little.
(foreign language)
I teach the best group of first graders you ever did see.
They are an amazing class
and it's absolute joy to be with them every single day.
My biggest teaching tip is to build relationships
with your students.
It makes all the difference in the world.
Learn their favorite color, learn their brother's name,
share your dog with them.
It makes the biggest impact in education.
Okie dokles.
So some plans got canceled.
I was gonna go to Canyon Mall
and meet with my boyfriend and his, some of our friends
for some drinks, but he had to work and it's really late.
So I'm thinking it's a-
and you know what? That's perfect.
A day in the life.
Because in Turkey you have to be prepared
for absolutely anything.
So why Istanbul?
Right? Why Turkey?
It basically, it's another Rome, right?
It's the heart of an old empire.
It's really huge.
Sprawling cosmopolitan city, bigger than New York.
So you've got like all your ancient history in one city.
You've got the Hagia Sophia, you have castles,
you've got The Blue Mosque, you have The Grand Bazaar.
But in the same city you have skydiving,
and ice skating, and shopping mall after-
Istanbul is the biggest city in Europe
and it's bigger than even New York or Toronto.
And it's the only city in the world
that straddles two continents.
So you can be in Europe one minute
and 10 minutes later you can be in Asia.
And Turkey is not just Istanbul.
You have everything in this country!
You've got beautiful beaches down in the south in Antalya
and you've got Cappadocia,
you know those giant hot air balloons.
You have everything here!
You know, like I'm from Florida
and it still kind of blows my mind sometimes
that like I'm two hours away from Egypt
and like three hours away from Paris.
Friends, my flyaways (laughs) are telling me
that the end of the night is upon us.
For all of your questions related to life in Istanbul,
teaching, teaching in Turkey, teaching abroad,
I'm gonna insert my personal Instagram here.
And with that, as we say in Istanbul, (foreign language)
Bye everyone!
(upbeat music)