Job Discussion Forums

[fat_chris]

[John Kalani]

Is ESL For Losers? I am certainly a loser. John Kalani! That's me.

[djunamod]

I think Nomad Soul has a very relevant question - how do we define "loser"?

My parents idea of a success is someone who does the conventional thing - gets a degree in something that is considered safe in the job world (like sales/marketing, HR, etc - although no profession is really safe in this economy, is it?), getting a job at a big company, rising through the ranks, sticking with it through all the boring years, and coming away with a big chunk of money and a retirement plan.

My dad raves about a friend of his whose kids have all done this path. One son is in investment banking, one son has an MBA, and the daughter has an HR job. They are all doing the "suburban house with a car" thing. By those standards, his kids are losers. My brother kicked around the high tech world for a while but decided to start his own high art business which had him traveling all around the world. When that failed, he went into real estate investment and although he is not poor, he is always on the edge of his finances. My sister and I both teach and tutor, mostly online. Both of us are living hand to mouth.

However, if you asked me to get a degree in business or HR and go into a "real" job, I would never do it. I love what I do. I am happier now than I ever was when I was working in the corporate world. By my definition, I am not a loser because I am living in a much freer (psychologically) situation than I was before. Yeah, I'm not rich, but I have a little money saved up for emergencies and if I decide to try and tutor EFL privately (which I might some day), I can do that. If I decide to work for a school, I can do that. I get the satisfaction of seeing students learn and improve and I get to talk to students from all over the world about all kinds of topics. I know more about the culture and mentality and situation in Spain, France, Italy, Mexico, Germany, and a handful of other countries than my parents ever will from talking with my students.

Is that being a loser? I don't think so.

Djuna

[johnslat]

Dear djunamod.

I agree. If you think not making loads of money makes you a "loser," then ESL/EFL is chock-full of "losers" (and most other jobs are, too).

But if you think "success" means spending your working life doing something you like/love to do, getting to see a lot of the world in the process, and having the satisfaction of knowing that you're helping others achieve their goals, then ESL/EFL is chock-full of "winners" (unlike so many other jobs).

Getting the right qualifications is essential, though. You don't want to end up with little in the bank at the end of your career.

I've been ESL/EFLing for over 35 years now. If I wanted, I could retire at any time, but why should I? I'm still enjoying what I do too much.

To my mind, being a "loser" is spending your life working at a job you don't like, so you can retire and sit around wondering what the point of it all was.

Regards,
John

[grahamb]

From the film "Little Miss Sunshine" (2006):

"A real loser is someone who's so afraid of not winning he doesn't even try."

As good a definition as I've seen. The film is a real gem, with a great performance by Alan Arkin.

[nomad soul]

[ebooktrial0001]

1. Hmm...since you asked, to me, a "winner" would be a person who knew this job was a perfect fit for him, as I define success as doing your best, being yourself, and having it all work out.

A loser would be someone who is in a job he/she doesn't like, isn't very good at it, and doesn't know what else to do.

2. Out of a job, I believe the most important thing is transferable skills.

Realistically, most people today will switch careers, unless you were a good fit for a military career, etc. that have very set tracks.

I see the life experiences of ESL as VERY transferable (starting over with everything in a new part of the world, learning to save money, keep friendships from back home, etc.). If being able to start with relatively nothing and move forward isn't transferable, I don't know what else is.

Sadly, I don't feel the skills are very transferable. I.e. if I were to work for a few years in a STEM field, it would have great skills I could develop then use elsewhere. ESL does no such thing.

Additionally, although prestige matters nothing in the objective sense, to some people it adds legitimacy. I went to an Ivy League school and they are obsessive, incestuously so, about associating with other Ivy League people (hence adding to their feeling of being trapped).

3. I will admit, I don't want to stay in the ESL field forever. Realistically, I am mediocre at best and have only done it for about two years to pay down my undergraduate debt.

I'm grateful to have a job and be able to live in other countries. But, still, I know it's time for me to move on when I have a chance.

[rtm]

[Big Worm]

Your job is just part of what makes you a winner or loser. And yes, it is important. However...

How do you manage your life as a whole? Are you able to establish long term, meaningful, rewarding relationships with other people, romantic and otherwise? Can you manage you personal habits (alcohol/substances, diet, even hygiene) in a healthy manner? Can you take care of your financial responsibilities and prepare for the future? Can you own up to your mistakes, and continue to improve yourself throughout your life? Can you balance doing things that make you happy while taking care of other things that are important (not being selfish)? Can you be someone that other people look up to, while obviously not being perfect?

These are some of the things off the top of my head that separate winners from losers.

By these standards, yes, there3 are a lot of losers in esl. Not really sure if there are more than other parts of life tho. If anything, I'd say there are a lot of losers that are working in getting it together.

[nomad soul]

[johnslat]

I would like to congratulate everyone who has posted so far.

I don't think anyone has misspelled "loser" as "looser." (Something only a loser would do).

Regards,
John

[nomad soul]

Ha! I recently introduced those two commonly confused words to my students.

[fat_chris]

[fat_chris]

[fat_chris]