Why Work?
In Singapore I met expat women who did not work because they had a home whose rental was paid for by the employer, and a maid service which was cheap or paid for by the employer. However, many of these were graduate women and were bored. They wanted to be active, contribute to the community, learn, if not make money, then save money.
Ex-pat solutions were:
FRIENDS OF THE MUSEUM
Become one of the Friends of The Museum, get trained as a guide, and do volunteer guiding.
Give lectures to ex-pats on local history, textiles, your interest. Some Friends of The Museum, eg one in Singapore, have book clubs.
Run a book club reading books about the new country.
Friends usually receive free or discount entry to the museum and exhibitions and a discount in the shop.
STUDYING
Do a university degree by distance learning.
LEARNING LANGUAGES
Learn the language of the country you are in. If you can't afford the fee, team up with somebody who wants to learn English. Both bring the day's free newspaper in both languages for translation. Or download two newspapers from the web.
Ask for unwanted text books from people who have completed courses or colleagues who are leaving the country.
Singapore currently has a discount scheme for re-training and learning for residents of all ages.
Work Permit Problems
1 When I lived in the USA I had no work permit and my husband thought it would endanger his job if I tried to get a job without a work permit. What work could I do?
2 I came back to the UK with a child and no employment history. What work could I do?
3 The same happened in Singapore as America, no work permit.
4 How has the situation changed? Worldwide you can now work online.
5 I had trained in teaching English for 0 level in a one year postgraduate course (PGCE) but had no training in teaching English as a foreign language.
Answers
1 WRITING
In the USA I was unemployed. By chance somebody in London knew a publisher looking for a writer for a book, Wedding Speeches and Toasts. I wrote the book for them. When I came back to London I was asked to write four more books: How to be the best man; How to be a bridesmaid; Wedding Etiquette; and Wedding Planner.
While you are overseas you can write a book for somebody else, for yourself, or do other writing in your language for your own country. Today you have many more options such as writing or editing web pages.
2 TEACHING ENGLISH AS A HOME TUTOR OR IN WORKSHOPS
However, back in the UK I started teaching English as a home tutor. Nowadays, you need a police clearance to do this, for which there is a fee, and a time delay, so plan ahead.
At that time you could advertise teaching on a supermarket notice board in the UK, or in Singapore at an expat club's notice board. You might ask a Japanese or Korean parent if they or their spouse can put a notice on their company's notice board saying that you are offering English lessons. Contact personnel of a nearby company. They may be paying for spouses to learn English. Even if they say it is not permitted, they may later come back and say that they or another member of their family would like a lesson. That is what happened to me.
Print a card saying you are an English teacher and give it to everybody you meet in the lift where you live, people you chat to, by the swimming pool, in the gym, at the bus stop, on the train, in the supermarket. You might hear nothing for a month. Then six weeks later, a year later, years later, you will get phone calls: "This is Harry, you remember me?"
Another way is to join a bilingual club and offer private one to one lessons or workshops at which costs the pupils a lower price and potentially gives you more income.
If you are not qualified, give a free lesson. You will find yourself talking about teaching to other people at parties, and they will tell you where to get training, or which schools need teachers. Even learning from a parent the name of the local school or the name of the English teacher at the local school or the head teacher and the phone number of the school would be a good start.
The volunteers at a Singapore shcool are in the front row. I am in the middle with a bunch of flowers.
SCHOOLS & VOLUNTEERS
Some schools welcome assistants, including parents, paid or unpaid.
I decided that an unpaid or badly paid job was better than nothing. Earning nothing was better for my bank balance than spending money in local department stores.
Another mother told me she was doing unpaid volunteer work because it annoyed her husband that he was out working all day and evenings too whilst she was sitting around at home doing nothing.
If you are looking for pupils, look for a free or low price notice board.
3 SINGAPORE TEACHERS
If you have a university degree and are a native English speaker you can teach English in Singapore. You might have a degree in science, or teach PE or art at home. You may need to provide the original of your degree certificate, not a photocopy, and have a medical and /or take a TB X-ray to show you are not infecting the pupils.
HONORARIUMS
If you don't have a work permit to take a permanent job you may be able to do a one off event and be paid an honorarium.
4 ONLINE BUSINESS
You can run an online business from anywhere in the world. Or start researching for it while on a short trip overseas with a spare weekend and start the business when you get back home.
5 TEFL
Teaching English as Foreign Language. You can take a TEFL course over several weeks, months or years whilst doing your day job. Alternatively, do a crash course for a week or month in your holidays, as a holiday. A friend of mine took a TEFL course somewhere in Europe. It was quicker and cheaper than at home and gave him a working holiday in another country with built-in new friends and a social life.
Tips
UK
https://www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration/work-visas
SINGAPORE
http://www.mom.gov.sg/passes-and-permits
USA
https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/employment/temporary.html
http://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/students-needing-jobs-teachers-needing.html
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer. You can see my books on Amazon and lulu.com . Sometimes the old books are very cheap second hand. If you buy one of my books and meet me anywhere I'll sign it for you and make up a couplet using your name. I have several posts on learning languages. Please share links to your favourite, most enjoyable or most useful posts.
![[1]](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pearl_Buck_Old_Residence.jpg){kind=link}
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