I'm thinking of giving up ESL for the time being. Yes, I think it's time to head back to the states and earn a master's in TESOL. You see, I've realized (finally) that, at least in teaching language, success depends ultimately upon the learner. I read post after post on this website that label teachers as 'rejects' and 'unworthys' due to their lack of ability to 'please' their students in some way or another. Hardly ever do I read a post devoted to 'loser students'(save for my own crticisms of Thai students). The truth is most of our problems in this business stem from immature learners.

I see now, after my year in Thailand, that education really is a two-way street. This is especially true when it comes to learning languages. Humans have a special device in their brains that allows them to learn language naturally, a device Stephen Pinker calls the LAD. This device MUST be exercised if we are to learn a language. This means PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE on the part of learners. So.....the burden of language learning, my brethren, rests on the learner himself--not on us. We are but mere coaches, really.

I think I'll head back home, get my MA, and get a job in Singapore at a university teaching (hopefully) true learners.

It's time for me to stop beating my dead horse and forget teaching ESL at the high school level forever. The learners I see are simply not mature enough to learn an L2.