Can you help me sort out my degree, or possibly find a TESOL masters, please?

Hello everyone,

Prepare for a wall of text. I've had a search but the threads I found were quite old. My google-fu is pretty rubbish, though.

I'm British and living and working in Spain as a TEFL teacher. I need to finish my degree but I'm not sure the best way to go about it.

I have a mixture of credits from a standard uni and the OU which roughly correspond to the first two years of a degree. I'm looking for a distance learning course where I can transfer these credits and finally finish it and get that piece of paper.

I'd be alright but the problem is Brexit. If there's a hard brexit as things stand I won't qualify for a visa to stay here on skills terms (I won't qualify under wage terms either but I can prove I can live on my salary). Also if I wanted/needed to go somewhere like Japan I'd need a degree too.

My main problem is money. I have the time to study but I don't earn much, I have the option to borrow a small amount from my parents but not a great deal. I could start from scratch and study for free at a Swedish university but that would take at least three years and I don't know if I'll have to move or still be an EU citizen by then, if I had to start paying fees I wouldn't be able to afford to finish. Again.

I've been looking at the big 3 but I don't know much about them/their reputation. If there's anything you can suggest I'd be very grateful.

 

What degree program were you in? How flexible are you about that?

 

Hello,

Thanks for the replies and sorry for the delay in responding (I messed up my computer).

The OU has changed the degree I was originally studying so I'd have to do more than one year of units to finish.

In all honesty any degree will do. I basically just need the piece of paper for visa and cv purposes.

I was studying physics and moved onto English and Spanish.

 

Honestly, I say if you can finish up somewhere you already started in a year, or thereabouts, I think you should do that. Finish what you started. That might be the quickest point to where you want to go. Also, I would be careful with the idea of "any degree will do" in today's competitive age. Many countries that accepted any ole' degree in the past are becoming much more choosy (because they can) and are now really looking for folks with degrees in the realm of English/communications/ESL etc. I know places like Japan are really competitive. I taught English in South Korea 2010-2011 with a bachelor's history degree and a 100-hour TEFL cert., and I don't even think I needed the latter. I know when I left out of there late 2011 they were really tightening up on whom they let in and what qualifications they had. As for getting your education and continuing to teach in ESL, you can do that now, albeit in countries that don't require a degree. Then, once you get your degree you can explore further options/different countries. The only folks making any money in this type of thing are in Dubai or Oman. Just some food for thought! Good luck to you!

 

The American college of education has an M.es in teaching English learners. It's basically a TESOL I think. It's reasonably priced as well. Being from the UK, you will need to have completed your honors after your three years bachelor's degree to have the equivalent of an American bachelor's I think.