Job Discussion Forums

[TonyT]

Pretend for a moment that you and me are having a beer in an uncrowded bar. After agreeing that the referee on the television made a stupid call, we introduce ourselves and order another round.

You ask me, "What do you do for a living?"

I respond: Well, I work in customer service and I am also pursuing a Bachelor's degree in TESL.

You say, "No sh*t! I taught English in __________ for ________ years!"

I say: Damn, what a coincidence. So tell me, why did you get into TESL in the first place and how has it changed your life? And not to be nosy, what are you doing now?


Okay class, who wants to play the part of: YOU?

[Shonai Ben]

You buy the drinks and I will talk.

[TonyT]

The first round is on me
After that, we'll just have to wait and see...

[Ben Round de Bloc]

I say, "No sh*t! I taught English in Mexico for ten years!"

TonyT says, "Damn, what a coincidence. So tell me, why did you get into TESL in the first place and how has it changed your life? And not to be nosy, what are you doing now?"

To continue . . .

Ya see, it was like this, TonyT. I'd been teaching in public schools in the USA. After 20 years of it, I'd pretty much burned out on the system. I still enjoyed teaching, however, so I decided to further my education in education. I headed back to university and picked up my MA in TESOL. But, ya know what? I was then either too old, too experienced, or too qualified to get a decent job in the USA teaching ESL, at least in any part of the country where I wanted to live.

Then, purely by chance, I was offered this job teaching at a language school in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. In my younger days, I'd traveled to the Yucatan, Guatemala, and Honduras a few times, and I found that part of the world appealing. So, I figured, what the heck! I headed south.

It didn't take me long to realize that teaching in language schools wasn't my thing. Then purely by chance again, I was offered a job teaching at the local state university. I took that job, and it turned out to be pretty decent. Really hard to make ends meet on the incredibly low pay, but still it was enough to get by on. A very low-pressure job, especially compared to teaching in public schools in the States. Certainly a lot more pleasant than teaching in that language school, where almost everyone's major concern was keeping rich students and their rich parents happy, so they'd keep attending classes and paying tuition. Then, too, I'd reached the age where I could start collecting my pension from all those years I'd paid into a state retirement fund while teaching in the USA, so that helped my financial situation a little.

(Here's where the story becomes fiction.) On one of my annual visits back to the States, on a whim I bought a couple of Powerball tickets. I'll be damned if I didn't hit the jackpot on one of them. So, now I'm still living in Merida, semi-retired, you might say. I still teach a couple of EFL classes at the university and do some teacher training sessions for the local government's EFL program. I bought a decent house in a decent neighborhood, and I travel whenever the mood strikes me, things that I couldn't do when I was trying to live on my teacher's salary and small pension.

So, TonyT, it's my shout. You paid for the last round, didn't you? Tell me your story. What are your plans after you finish your BA in TESL?

[TonyT]

Geez Ben, it seems meeting you hear in this bar is hardly a coincidence compared to the "chances" that got you into TESL in the first place. I can tell that I can fully confide in you so here goes...

When I decided to pick a major, I knew I wanted to go into teaching even though for the last several years, negative articles (low pay, shootings, students threatening teachers, frustration with administration, and my personal favorite--complying with the No Child Left Behind Act) appeared quite frequently. Public school teachers do deal with a lot of crap and again, I have two more semesters to think about what I will do after I get my first Bachelors. Go abroad; or get a MeD; or keep my job now and work part-time as a substitute teacher or English tutor. I don't know yet.

A friend of mine who just got licensed as a Social Worker is making ridiculous amounts of money through state-contracted work and private clients. He asks me why go into teaching as if I need counseling myself. Deep down, teaching is something I want to do and because I have experience working with elementary students and middle school hormonally charged students, some who have more sex than I do, I do not doubt that I could be equally effective and enjoy working with high-schoolers or adults--the age group I deal with at my job now.

I am hoping like you Ben, that timing and unexpected opportunities will direct my path. Me saying this does not mean that I will wait for Mr. or Mrs. O to come to me. I will be aggressive and assertive when I have to be. That's how I got the job I have now.

By the way, I am a US citizen and I did not nor do I mean to ignore our colleagues in Australia, Canada, and the UK, with all of my US references. Please feel free to join us. It is Ben's turn to buy

[Ben Round de Bloc]

Thanks a lot, TonyT, for inviting all the EFLers in the bar to join us . . on my tab! I'm glad you set the scenario in an uncrowded bar, although if you keep telling people I'm buying, it won't stay uncrowded for long.

I hope my previous post didn't come across as too negative regarding teaching in public schools in the States. Over the years I had some really wonderful, rewarding experiences there. For me I think I got into it at the right time and out of it about a half dozen years later than I should have. In retrospect I wish I'd made the move out when in my late 30s instead of waiting until my mid-40s, especially my decision to go back to university for my MA degree. Still, after about 8 years of teaching EFL in Mexico, I don't really regret any of my decisions.

You pretty much nailed the main reasons why teachers leave public school teaching in the States. Can't get away from those hormones though. They're rampant in Mexican students from secundaria (junior high) on up through university.

It sounds to me like you're on a good track for future plans. Don't lose that aggressive/assertive side either. There are many times in the field of teaching EFL that it'll be to your benefit to have it. I hope things work out well for you. By the way, the next round's on you!

[MELEE]

This happened to me, but it was at the Springfield Missouri airport. Just after Christmas last year, the day the new security measures went into effect. There was a guy and me, getting our bag extremely throughly checked for explosives. We missed the same flight to Memphis. He shouts at the counter attendant BUT I'M GOING TO MISS MY CONNECTING FLIGHT TO JAPAN. While the ground crew were trying to deal with my irrate father (I was going to miss my connection to Mexico) I summond the calm I have learned in the land of ma�ana and asked, So, what part of Japan are you going to? He politely told me Nara, it's near Osaka. Part of me wanted to do the "No SHIT, I used to live there." But remeber, I've been trained on Mexican Immigration officers. So instead I did the ummm, the Miroji temple is so beautiful this time of year, have you been to Japan before thing? But I digress...


Why did I get into it? I studied Latin American Studies. But I didn't feel like my Spanish was good enough for the type jobs I was interested in (read I didn't know what type of job I was interested in) and through my university, there was a chance to go to Ecuador to continue studying Spanish in exchange for tutoring English students. So I talked my ex into it and off we went. I had a great time in Ecuador but have to confess that I didn't like teaching (Mostly because I had no idea and was given no guidiance as to what to do with the students). So when our money ran out, we went back to the US. I was working as an administrative assistant in an office where my Spanish skills came in handy about one hour of each month, and mostly I couldn't stand being cooped up in an office all day. I stuck it out for six months. Then I told my ex I had to get out of there. I took a local TEFL course and found out how its done and all of that. An opportunity came up to go to Japan. My sweetie said, I like my life here, but call me from Japan. About four months later he caught up with me--it was cheaper than phone calls. I loved Japan, facinating place, and as long as you didn't try to read the language turned out to be easier than I thought it would be. And it turns out I enjoyed teaching now that I had a clue what to do and how language learning worked. But, there were problems, I thought it was that he didn't like our life in Japan, so we headed home--turns out it wasn't Japan after all, it was me We'd been together for five years, since shortly after I returned from studying abroad in Chile. I didn't know what to do. So I ran. Mexico was a logical choice--I could speak the language and it I thought I'd be closer to my parents than I had been in Japan (That was before I learned the truth of Mixteca road conditions ) I thought a year there, then possibly on to China or maybe Brazil. When I got here and walked into my first class--all I could see was a pair of shinny black eyes--(he tells me that what he saw was a beautiful broken heart in need of tender loving care) The years flew by and now I'm approaching my 6th year in Mexico and can't imagine being anywhere else.

I guess that covers what I've gotten out of it and what I'm doing now! In the mean time I also did a post grad diploma in applied linguistics and will most likely be involed in language teaching in some form or other for many years.

[TonyT]

Is it because Melee is a woman that she doesn't have to buy?

Anyways, do you, Melee or Ben, know of people who wanted to teach English abroad for the sake of teaching English abroad? It seems to me that people like yourselves chose this profession to get away from something or someone.

Is TESoL a means to a new beginning for some?

[denise]

I chose to teach simply for the sake of teaching. I realized in my final semester of college that I didn't want to continue with my chosen field (Peace and Conflict Studies--very necessary in the world, but also a bit too depressing!). I saw a flyer in my local laundromat advertising a TEFL training school, and I made up my mind to do it. I was a bit nervous at first, because basically I told myself, "OK, you're going to move to Prague and teach English," and I spent two years in bureaucratic hell ("administrative assistant/receptionist") trying to save up money for a TEFL course, flight, and whatnot--basically spent two years preparing for something that a) I had never tried before (teaching) and b) I had no idea if I would like or be good at, me being all shy and not liking to be the center of attention. Had it not worked out--had I hated teaching, hated Prague, etc.--I wouldn't have had very much to come back to in the States, but thankfully, I loved it instantly.

d

[MELEE]

[TonyT]

Thanks Denise and Melee for your honest responses. I read other threads relating to our discussion and I feel more and more comfortable about not trying to plan everything out and hoping to be able to live more decently than I am now if I go abroad to teach. I am not rich and my goal is not to become wealthy--just satisfied with a life worth calling my own.

[fat_chris]

An Icepick=The Perfect Icebreaker

[shmooj]

In the good old NZ tradition, I've bought my own so hope I can join the party. I couldn't help overhearing you are all working in EFL.

Well days after being kicked off a elementary school teacher training course with a report saying "This guy could never be a teacher" my pastor and his wife phoned me saying they'd not only seen an ad for a TESOL course but they would pay my way. Couldn't refuse and haven't looked back.

I walked straight out of the TESOL course into the leather, marble and glass office of the managing director of Samsung UK as his private tutor five days a week. My previous job: waiter at Pizza Hut. Talk about culture shock!

Anyway, England doesn't pay for EFL so I found a job in Japan in '98 at a private school, found myself in the DoS position by default and earned myself an MA fighting to get the school into shape over the last five years.

Looking forward to many more years in EFL.