Job Discussion Forums

[iknowwhatiamtalkingabout]

I worked in Poland for a number of years and am now working in south Asia. I make good money here, and the lifestyle is a bit fancier. However, every day at work I miss having interesting students. I miss students with an opinion. I miss classes where students would speak aloud instead of mouthing words silently. I miss interesting discussions in the class. I miss students asking questions when they need help. I miss students with clear learning aims and ambitions. I also dearly miss living in Europe.

A few ex-colleagues of mine now work in Asia and every one of them shares my view on the student comparison. We are based in a number of different countries yet all seem to have the same experience.

To be honest, I doubt I'll last much more than another 6 months here before a holiday and then European hiring season 2013.

You've only got one life, and I'd rather spend mine living in Europe and my career teaching Europeans.

[scot47]

I taught in Europe (Germany, Bulgaria) Middle East (Saudi and Qatar) and Africa (Zambia and Nigeria).

Looking back from the perspective of a pensioner, I liked the teaching in Saudi Arabia best !! Teacher has a central role and is an authority figure. It worked for me !

[kona]

[iknowwhatiamtalkingabout]

I'm worried about going backwards here, which is one of the main reasons I don't want to stay too long. Students expect very little from you here, and they offer very little in the classroom compared with Europeans.

Obviously, a teacher can find ways of getting there, but it makes your job harder when 80% of the students won't speak up when they don't understand something (or just won't speak up at all). It's a huge cultural difference and I find teaching here much less enjoyable.

Shame the money's so good, or I'd just go at Christmas to be honest.

[DosEquisX]

Bumping this thread to add in my two cents.

I will be moving to Europe from China to teach English starting this fall. At the moment, I have interviews lined up with CELTA programs in two countries.

I have to say that this thread certainly depresses me. I know that depressing threads and cynicism are the norm here, but this one hits a big harder than the others. I know the transition will be a difficult one due to the difference in education systems and teaching philosophies. However, reading that it will be near impossible for me to be successful in Europe due to only having experience in China/South Korea is disheartening.

I was looking forward to it because I am now finding teaching in Asia to be very tedious (been 3+ years between China and South Korea). You can coast by here just by having a pretty face and playing the guitar. I need a more serious teaching environment where I am actually expected to teach. I don't want to walk into another classroom where college-aged students will (no joke) ask me to sing and dance for them during class. I guess this type of thing was fun when I first started out and didn't really take the job seriously. Nowadays, I find questions like those kind of rude and insulting.

I suppose the only way to find out if I can hack it is to see what happens. I know this thread has certainly taken the wind out of my sails though.

[Sashadroogie]

No need to be so downhearted. If you are taking a CELTA, then you should be well equipped to start planning and delivering lessons to a range of adult learners in various settings. There will be no song and dance required in Europe - most serious students would be more insulted than you by the notion of this being a valid lesson.

However, on a different tack, be sure that you are allowed to work legally where ever you are planning to go in Europe. If you do not already know, check out visa restrictions and the Schengen Zone:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Area


Best of luck

Sasha

[DosEquisX]

Dual-national Irish-American. I have a passport for each country.

[Sashadroogie]

All systems go then. Welcome to the world of Celta lessons.

Go n-eirigh an bothar leat!

Sasha

[teacheratlarge]

Sadly enough, this thread does need another bump, but for different reasons.

Just a few stereotypes...


1. scanty knowledge of grammar and how to teach it

I'm assuming your school is not very large, you probably just have not been exposed to a lot of teachers who were based in Asia. You do need to be familiar with grammar if you teach academic writing, etc.. , which quite a few teachers sometimes handle here. But also I am skeptical as to why anyone would want to teach it 'directly' much of the time.

2. next to no idea how to teach lexis

Really?

3. fixation on teaching 'culture' and 'critical thinking'

I think it would depend on the course. If one is teaching debate, yes one might teach critical thinking. If one is teaching a culture class, the same rule applies.

4. few quals and very little training in EFL

Strangely enough, I work mostly with professors, etc. with MAs, MSs and PhDs in related fields as well as most of them having acquired various creditionals in ESL and EfL.

5. limited ability in exploiting materials, especially course books

Oh, my. In my case, I use a variety of textbooks in various ways as well make my own material. Many of the teachers I work with tend to do the same.

6. very teacher-centred classes (sky-high TTT)

Depends on the teacher, and certainly not the case for my colleagues as we do a lot of pair and group work.

7. unused to high level learners

Sigh...really? Depends on who you're teaching. If you are teaching professionals in Asia, expect higher levels. In addition, for example in Japan, we also teach classes with returnees with some very high level students.

8. unused to adult learners

That would seem odd as the majority of the market here is still adult (though the kids market is growing).

9. problems grading language

None that I have seen.

10. unused to developmental observations

We have those here, so I don't know why the few teachers you observed weren't aware of/unfamiliar with them.


One note aside, the comments earlier on student motivation are very true, as some Asian students are not very motivated to learn a foreign language.

[spiral78]