English Teacher X - English Teacher X Guide To Teaching English Abroad: Practical Advice for Surviving the Perils and Pitfalls of a TEFL Job

ENGLISH TEACHER X

GUIDE TO TEACHING ENGLISH ABROAD

PRACTICAL ADVICE FOR SURVIVING

THE PERILS AND PITFALLS OF A TEFL JOB

By English Teacher X

Copyright 2011, 2019 by English Teacher X

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He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches.

- George Bernard Shaw

Man and Superman (1903) "Maxims for Revolutionists"

INTRODUCTION TO THE 2019 EDITION

GLOBALISM IS DYING AND IM NOT FEELING SO GREAT MYSELF

Sniff, sniff! Can you smell it?

Something is in the air.

Countries are erecting trade barriers, closing borders, making travel requirements more stringent, and electing increasingly right-wing politicians. And those politicians are cancelling term limits and knocking off journalists and dissidents.

Sniff, sniff!

What is it?

Why, its the pungent aroma of isolationism, protectionism, and reactionary nationalism!

Though Brexit has not, as of this writing, been finalized yet, Im sure all the British teachers working and living happily away in Prague and Spain and other places in the EU are breaking into panicky sweats. Freedom of work and travel? Kiss it goodbye. (Although I guess a lot of people will be grandfathered in.)

For Americans it might be good news, as far as working in the EU. For the last 10 years it's been next to impossible for Americans to work legally there (and the EU has expanded a lot, as well, consuming a lot of Eastern Europe) so after Britain drops out, they'll have to start hiring native speakers from other countries. (Again. I worked in Prague in 2000, something I would not be able to do now.)

Bad news of course, is that more isolationism and protectionism mean less easy work for English teachers, more difficulty with visas and residence permits, more trouble marrying foreigners and buying property, general xenophobia, etc. The requirement for getting a visa in China, for example, are now nearly as difficult as for Saudi Arabia, with a police background check, full physical exam, verification of all your degrees, et cetera. Working on a tourist visa will be increasingly difficult or impossible, with new immigration biometric technology keeping close track on whos coming and going.

Some possibly positive changes that have happened in the last five years in the world of English teaching might be a generally increased standard of living I havent heard of anybody washing their clothes in the bathtub for a long time and a bit more inclusive and less debauched workplace than years ago. People need not be completely lily-white to apply now, for example, and there are now plenty of women and especially couples in the field.

Anyway, I guess, if you look at it in perspective, there's not much to be happy about in the world in general. Terrorism, war, assassinations, the largest refugee displacement in recorded history, wildfires and heat emergencies and floods and earthquakes. We should live so long that we get to worry about free and easy travel.

These cycles of globalism / isolationism have been going on for a long time. Empires have risen and fallen, and the waves of globalism and international trade and travel always come to an end, with tight borders and rigid trade barriers (and sometimes global wars), until people get sick of that in 20 - 50 years, and start demanding more international freedoms again.

But for the time being?

In short, this is no rosy time to be galavanting around the world easily teaching English.

But as for me, I have no regrets. I'm old enough to remember the pre-globalism days of the 80s -- when you couldn't visit half the world, when traveling through Europe meant a considerable expense changing money every stop, when you couldn't just put a card in any bank machine and take money out.

But I also remember when the Berlin Wall fell, and the Soviet Union dissolved, and how excited people were when China, Cambodia, Vietnam and so forth started opening up. And I remember when people's eyes would get wide with joy and say, "WOW! YOU'RE FROM AMERICA??"

Anyway, whatever. This too will pass.

RIP globalism, 1989 2016 or so. We hardly knew ye.

PART I

THE DECISION

Education is an admirable thing, but it is worth remembering that nothing worth knowing can be taught. Oscar Wilde

CHAPTER 1

ME AND YOU

TEFL, ESL, EFL, and TESOL, despite sounding rather like evil terrorist organizations from James Bond films, are all acronyms referring, with some unimportant theoretical differences, to the teaching of English to foreign students.

I have, in my adult life, supported myself solely by doing this.

I have done this in ten different cities in seven different countries, including my birthplace, the United States, working at a variety of places, from McEnglish schools private schools focusing on communication-based language instruction to branded international primary schools and colleges.

Lets make it clear from the first page about what this is NOT:

It is not a book about how Im cooler than you because I have traveled.

It is not a book about traveling in other countries.

It is not a book about picking up girls in other countries.

Its not even, really, a book about teaching.

It is a book about working as a teacher of English as a Foreign Language in other countries. It will focus mainly on what to expect as a new teacher and how to survive the numerous problems you can expect to experience.

I no longer believe that traveling hopefully is better than arriving, but Ive had enough laughs and adventures over the years to not have many serious regrets.

Having said that, Ive spent more than a few lonely and miserable hours wondering why I ever left home and fretting about the future.

So am I here to discourage everyone from doing this job?

Nah.

I like the lifestyle and I generally even enjoy the work.

But this is not a job for everybody, and there are a lot of pitfalls for the unwary.

And thats what Im here to talk about.

Why English teaching for me?

In 1994 I had been traveling around Asia on a bit of money that I inherited when my mother remarried. I was down to my last $800 and I didnt particularly want to go back to America.

Id met quite a few English teachers while I was traveling, especially people who had worked in Taiwan and Japan and spoke glowingly of how much money theyd saved.

Japans bubble was bursting about that time, but a lot of people had told me that Taiwan was a gold mine for English teaching, and that I could save thousands of dollars.