Much like any field of endeavor, ESL can eventually show signs of wear and tear on a teacher's powers of concentration, enthusiasm, and delivery. The major problem, from what I have observed, is merely a normal process of erosion which practically all humans experience with both time and repetition. When I was teaching (only) grammar day after day, I began to recognize signs of wear and tear on my attitude, not to mention that of my students. Of course, practically all ESL students positively abominate the subject of grammar. Ergo, if it indeed affects them in such an adverse manner, then why not the instructors as well? After all, we are not gods. Then again, there is no rationale to this when considering a teacher's commitment to fostering the highest educational standards of his/her students. Nonetheless, how many of us are willing to own up to the fact that we, the stalwart conveyers of knowledge, DO arrive at the stage where we resent the seemingly endless repetition of our sworn educational task. On the other hand, accepting that repetition is, indeed, a paramount necessity of the learning process, I have noticed, while reading the complaint sections of various online ESL teachers' sources, some instructors located in places such as China and Korea mention their deep depression -- even thoughts of suicide. In turn, most of the readers have suggested counseling, mental therapy, suppressants, long-distance running ... even a serious return to God. Still others have placed the blame on a desperate desire to return home to Mommy. I truly empathize with these desperately unhappy folks, yet I begin to wonder whether their unenviable plight is really a combination of (a)boredom via workload repetition and (b)residing in a land where English-speakers are rarely found to help make the wounds of loneliness more tolerable. Can the gig really get to the point of abetting psychologically destructive thinking? Who is REALLY to say? As for this veteran of 13+ years of experiencing both the good, the bad, and the ugly aspects of ESL, my dear wife has learned to carefully hide all weapons before I return home from work!
VIVA ESL!