Carol
- 2004-08-26
I love the question. I began teaching ESL in my 50's.
Wished I had discovered it earlier, but was married
and had a son at home. Now I am free to go where the
wind takes me and I love it.
Born Canadian and I can't live the life style in Vancouver
that I have teaching here in Poland.
Yes, the money is not as good as other places
but I am not doing this for the money.
The teaching hours and lower numbers here give me a more relaxed
life. There are lots of paid Holidays and opportunities to travel.
I eat out, see films and go dancing more than I did in Canada.
So many of the people I have met have also been more interesting
than people I have met in years (it must be the life style).
This summer I taught at my first summer school and had a blast.
So we all have our reasons but I do love teaching and helping some
students have a better life because they can speak English.
I would love to here from others.
Carol
smallworlds@canada.com
Mike B
- 2004-07-27
> You know, at times when I'm between jobs, I have occasion to give
> serious thought as to WHY I ever got into the @!%& ESL business
> in the first place. What factor, other than the titillation gained
> from foreign travel, ...
For me, that foreign titillation got me into the ESL game in my early 30s. I did a BA, did a CTEFLA, took some money I had inherited and left Australia for Latin America. I have been teaching here since 1995; I would have left long ago but at the same time I have also acquired a family.
Why continue in ESL? Because I am pretty much trapped in it. I hope to have enough money one day to buy my family a home, to buy a decent car, to have my own little business, to take my family to visit Australia and New Zealand. But on the wages I get here it is not possible.
I have saved enough to make a start elsewhere, but by myself. I hope my family will join me in the near future, but for the moment we have to live apart. English teaching abroad is a great deal for singles, but for a family man it can easily become a trap.
Still, I generally enjoy the job, and there are many people worse off than I am, although by the same token there are many more far better off tham me.
So for the moment, at least, I continue in this game.
Chunping Alex Wu
- 2004-07-27
> You know, at times when I'm between jobs, I have occasion to give
> serious thought as to WHY I ever got into the @!%& ESL business
> in the first place. What factor, other than the titillation gained
> from foreign travel, could have ever induced me to (A)accept
> substandard wages for my efforts; (B)endure survival in squalid
> living quarters -- the kind I would have been much too embarrassed to
> take even one short peek at back in the States; and (C)dealing with
> ofttimes hostile American-haters ... yes, ALL OF THIS for the sake of
> attempting to bring a measure of oral cultural exchange to those who
> are either forced to -- or even think it's chic to -- attempt to
> learn English. Of course we run across that objective and highly
> conscientious ESL student from time to time ... the one who will
> actually give us the impetus to sign up for a second year. However,
> from reading the various teacher discussion outlets on the web, I
> gather that many of us have failed to realize any such source of
> inspiration.
> I am certain that in the case of the majority of us, our intentions
> are sincere, and despite some harrowing circumstances, we remain
> wholly devoted to our craft. Nonetheless, many of us reach a point
> whereby we begin to seriously question the merit of our chosen
> plight. Naturally, many of us will be quick to identify this crisis
> as "burnout" and the necessity of seeking another line of
> activity. Yes, that is always one possibility. But for one who is
> truly aware of the concept of language education, I resent having to
> accept substandard conditions and attitudes which eventually offer me
> occasion to question the raison d'tre of my proclaimed dedication
> and enthusiasm.
> As it has been correctly suggested in these columns, many so called
> "teachers" have caused some foreign employers to be nasty
> and suspicious of their motives -- so much so, that many of the
> "up-straight" instructors have had to suffer for the
> nefarious actions of their misled colleagues. After all, people DO
> vary in their attitudes and performance ... even ELS teachers!
> Consequently, even though one signs a one-year employment contract,
> he/she is actually on probation during the ensuing month or two. This
> means it is within the realm of feasibility that any contract can be
> suddenly deemed null and void during its supposed tenure! That's WHY
> a request that the round-trip fare be PREpaid usually falls on deaf
> ears. As the late and sadly missed Humphrey Bogart eloquently stated
> the case in one of his epic gangster movies (I think it was Dead End
> - 1937), "In dis woild, yuh git nuttin' fer nuttin'!" Oh,
> yes, there actually ARE dream agencies on this side of the Pacific
> that both charge and get as much as $900 for the GUARANTEED location
> of that dream job ... usually in an ultra low-income area where it's
> damned near impossible to earn over $125 per week! And the dream
> school won't even pay for the $100+ teaching license for the teacher!
> MY GOD! What in hell induces us to crave this ESL business so badly?
> I sometimes think it's a form of psychosis ... but no, it's simply
> that we who are dedicated to the science of ESL worship human
> contact, and are the first to take ANY opportunity to create a new
> relationship via the art of linguistics. To this extent, there is
> only one powerful and all-encompassing reality ... the spoken word,
> that wonderful phenomenon which constitutes the sole basis of our
> steadfast dedication. VIVA ESL!
Dear Ellis:
You must be kidding! Americans being discrinated? With your powerful weapons, you could wipe them out easily! To me, I thind the Americans are the most welcomed in the world. There are Americans ESL teachers everywhere in China. I envy you people. I am a Chinese originally. With over so many years of teaching experience in Canada, they even don't give a damn. If there were anything wrong, just ask Mr. Bush junior. He messes everything. Are you going to choose him for the next president again? If you do, then that might be the reason why.
Alex
You know, at times when I'm between jobs, I have occasion to give serious thought as to WHY I ever got into the @!%& ESL business in the first place. What factor, other than the titillation gained from foreign travel, could have ever induced me to (A)accept substandard wages for my efforts; (B)endure survival in squalid living quarters -- the kind I would have been much too embarrassed to take even one short peek at back in the States; and (C)dealing with ofttimes hostile American-haters ... yes, ALL OF THIS for the sake of attempting to bring a measure of oral cultural exchange to those who are either forced to -- or even think it's chic to -- attempt to learn English. Of course we run across that objective and highly conscientious ESL student from time to time ... the one who will actually give us the impetus to sign up for a second year. However, from reading the various teacher discussion outlets on the web, I gather that many of us have failed to realize any such source of inspiration.
I am certain that in the case of the majority of us, our intentions are sincere, and despite some harrowing circumstances, we remain wholly devoted to our craft. Nonetheless, many of us reach a point whereby we begin to seriously question the merit of our chosen plight. Naturally, many of us will be quick to identify this crisis as "burnout" and the necessity of seeking another line of activity. Yes, that is always one possibility. But for one who is truly aware of the concept of language education, I resent having to accept substandard conditions and attitudes which eventually offer me occasion to question the raison d'tre of my proclaimed dedication and enthusiasm.
As it has been correctly suggested in these columns, many so called "teachers" have caused some foreign employers to be nasty and suspicious of their motives -- so much so, that many of the "up-straight" instructors have had to suffer for the nefarious actions of their misled colleagues. After all, people DO vary in their attitudes and performance ... even ELS teachers! Consequently, even though one signs a one-year employment contract, he/she is actually on probation during the ensuing month or two. This means it is within the realm of feasibility that any contract can be suddenly deemed null and void during its supposed tenure! That's WHY a request that the round-trip fare be PREpaid usually falls on deaf ears. As the late and sadly missed Humphrey Bogart eloquently stated the case in one of his epic gangster movies (I think it was Dead End - 1937), "In dis woild, yuh git nuttin' fer nuttin'!" Oh, yes, there actually ARE dream agencies on this side of the Pacific that both charge and get as much as $900 for the GUARANTEED location of that dream job ... usually in an ultra low-income area where it's damned near impossible to earn over $125 per week! And the dream school won't even pay for the $100+ teaching license for the teacher! MY GOD! What in hell induces us to crave this ESL business so badly? I sometimes think it's a form of psychosis ... but no, it's simply that we who are dedicated to the science of ESL worship human contact, and are the first to take ANY opportunity to create a new relationship via the art of linguistics. To this extent, there is only one powerful and all-encompassing reality ... the spoken word, that wonderful phenomenon which constitutes the sole basis of our steadfast dedication. VIVA ESL!