Tips for Teaching English as Second Language (ESL)
Because our economy is melting like brie left in the sunshine, more graduates are considering work in one of the few industries where demand is incredibly high – teaching English abroad.
These days you got to consider yourself in terms of the world market. And one of the biggest demands that can be met by intelligent Americans and Brits is teaching English aboard. Asian countries have a high demand for English speakers.
In Asian country’s there is an attitude that having an American or British staff member gives your faculty a certain amount of prestige. The ultimate accessory for an Asian language school is a blonde, blue-eyed American girl teaching English.
The demand is high for native English speakers. There is work for non-native English speakers but there are jobs a plenty for native speakers and in “these harsh times of wall-street malevolence and financial crimes”.
Potential employers for foreign English teachers are schools, private language schools and (more unusually) universities. Pay differs from country to country. Korea and Japan are known to be the highest paying while countries like Thailand and African countries you cannot expect more than average pay. So don’t expect to be able to live like a king over there.
Also expect to work hard. It is not uncommon to work 50 hours plus per week. Not only that, but as the faculty’s special foreign member, you will be expected to attend conferences, dinners and networking events to add to the school’s prestige.
The culture is very different to. In America and Britain if a kid fails a class the blame is usually placed on the kid for not working hard enough. In Asian countries the blame is just as likely to fall on the teacher.
Private language schools in particular are a very expensive option for many people in Asia and Africa and if they send their kids to your class they expect results for their hard earned money.
So it’s important to not see this as a soft option. But as a short-term career and a bit of traveling it can be an amazing experience. Just don’t get arrested for drug smuggling like those poor sods on “Locked Up Abroad”.
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