Job Discussion Forums

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

There is no such thing as a free lunch. The advice you get here comes at a price. You have to put up with bad-tempered old curmudgeons like me.

That seems a fair price.

And no I have never been in the Marines. Neither of the US nor Royal variety. I was trying to inject some humour into the discussion. I should have known better.

Who in their right mind would compare the "profession" of TEFL with being in the Military ????????

johnslat · Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2003 3:24 pm Post subject: TEFL foot-soldiers

Dear scot47,
" Who in their right mind would compare the "profession" of TEFL with being in the Military ???????? "
Well, I would - in some ways - for one. But then, few have ever accused me of " being in my right mind ".
Some points of comparison:
1. You have to learn to take orders from a lot of idiots.
2. You have to depend ultimately on yourself for your own safety and well-being: self-reliance.
3. You have to get along with all sorts of " colleagues ", some of whom are congenial, others of whom are decidedly not.
4. You have to develop a sort of 6th sense about what's OK and what may be harmful/dangerous.
5. And most importantly - you have to be at least a little bit whacko to go into either " profession ".
Regards,
John

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

There you have it from a genuine ex-Marine.

The nearest I ever got to military service was working for the bus company when I was a student. And no I was not a driver. I was a conductor, when the buses still had conductors.

dduck · Joined: 29 Jan 2003 Posts: 422 Location: In the middle

R · Joined: 07 May 2003 Posts: 277 Location: United Kingdom

Please see 'questions from a newbie part 2' for discussion of the, uh, questions from a newbie.

R · Joined: 07 May 2003 Posts: 277 Location: United Kingdom

Incidentally, I think it is sometimes worth remembering that, as well as being newbies in terms of ESL, a lot of new posters are newbies in terms of forum conventions. In 'real life' conversations, it is quite acceptable to start by asking a very general question and then get into specifics. eg

"I'm thinking of teaching abroad. Where should I go?"
"Well, what do you want to get out of it?"
"You know, travel and girls"
"...okay.... what are your qualifications?"

It can take a while to get into the style of the forum, which I guess is more like writing open letters. So:

Experienced posters, try to help the newbies to understand the forum's style, and give them a bit of a break while they get to grips with it.

Newbies, have a look at the posts that returned the most helpful responses for their posters, and try to emulate those. Get as much information as possible across straight away, so that people can help you as quickly and easily as possible.

AKA · Joined: 04 Jul 2003 Posts: 184 Location: China

Sorry scot47; I'll explain:
"there" - their mum's basement.
"here" - where ever you are now.
A tiny generalisation maybe, but two out of two Canadians at my school came from, and went back to, living in their Mums' basements. Both knew considerably more about IT than the workings of the English language.