> No, ESL isn't even close to what I thought it would be. Instead of
> helping young people have access to better lives, I'm helping greedy
> school owners get more tuition money and helping bored teens and
> young adults kill some time between now and graduation.

I couldn't have put it better Rheno. You and me both!

When people ask me if I enjoy teaching ESL I often tell them that I love it and hate it! I HATE it if I teach in classes where most of the students are not interested in studying, don't want to listen and feel that the FT's class is just a fun, free lesson. It's at times like that, that I wonder what the hell I'm doing here, and think that perhaps it's time to go home. On the other hand, if I have a class full of students who are keen to study, who listen, are respectful and try to learn, then I truly LOVE teaching and don't want to do anything else.

From reading your posts I'm sure you feel the same way Rheno. I still believe that if we find the right schools we can successfully and happily teach in Asia. I know it's possible in China.

If somebody sent you into an arena to fight another guy with no freedom to choose your own tactics or weapons (while he had total freedom), you wouldn't get too far. On the other hand if you had total freedom in your choice of tactics or weapons you would be much more likely to succeed! So it is with the ESL classroom. In many schools being asked to teach a rigid set curriculum with no freedom to do your own thing can often limit your chance of success.

Don't give up yet, Rheno. There are schools in China where you will find leaders who really want the students to learn, and I'm pretty sure there must be such schools in Thailand. We just have to put in that extra research, including contacting FTs who have worked at these schools before, and hope for the best.

Believe me, from my experience, having the freedom to develop my own curriculum has helped me to succeed where I probably would have failed. In the end it's about finding the right school in which you can get a real opportunity to teach. They ARE here in Asia. It's just a case of finding them.