Job Discussion Forums

ebooktrial0001 · Joined: 02 Jan 2014 Posts: 156

I certainly like some parts of the ESL world:

- It's at most 8 hours a day for regular shifts
- Teachers are genuinely respected (everywhere except the Middle East)
- Any job you go will pay you enough to live decently there (save for those few volunteer positions)
- Some places even allow homestays (where you get to live with and get good local food cooked by the locals)
- You'll have more stories to tell than someone who sits at a desk
- You're more grateful when you come back to the West and get more stable HR, labor laws, etc.
- You're much closer to the rest of the world than living with the US
- Almost every country I've been to (even Mexico) has more efficient medical care than the US

So, coming to think of what I'm grateful for, I see this.

However, I eventually want to settle down to a more stable job with a pension, opportunities for advancement, etc.

Teaching in the Middle East is a great way to supplement income; I can't imagine many other jobs where every hour worked= ~$40 SAVED (not just earned), plus enough time for lots of sleep, exercise, leisure time, etc. That's equivalent of at least $100,000 salary back home for 2000+ hours a week. But, of course, unless I make it to Aramco, I'm not sure I could live in Saudi for more than 6 months or so at a time without going crazy.

Shroob · Joined: 02 Aug 2010 Posts: 1339

nomad soul · Joined: 31 Jan 2010 Posts: 11454 Location: The real world

BadBeagleBad · Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2014 7:55 pm Post subject:

TwinCentre · Joined: 22 Mar 2007 Posts: 273 Location: Mokotow

I felt a bit of a loser doing EFL (which I did for a very long time), but that is my own personal viewpoint based on the fact that I knew I should have been doing something else, which I am now finally doing (again).

So the question to the OP is how many people like me are in EFL?

I would suspect quite a lot because of the escapist nature of travel which is central to EFL. I do believe EFL can be a respected career...but I am trying to raise what is in the eye of the beholder here...and how that is passed on to others.

There was a famous article about TEFL (in Italy) in a British newspaper a few years back which, if I remember correctly, ended with the line "everyone (in TEFL) is a failed someone else". That certainly fitted me when I was doing it...by my own omission.

Now I know some won't believe me, but despite this, I think I was still a good teacher, simply because I have a strong work ethic.

TeacherTim · Joined: 10 May 2005 Posts: 89 Location: Deep undercover

There's no need to be bitter about teaching EFL. I started at the bottom and worked up. Getting the right qualifications and experience are keys to a successful/fruitful career regardless of whatever it might be.

I was a lecturer prior to teaching EFL and now I'm earning four times what I took home in those days.I might not have a career like back home but you should see my swimming pool. Smile

In other words life is what you make it. If it isn't working, change it.

MuscatGary · Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2014 4:15 am Post subject:

For me the short hours and high pay in the ME have allowed me to pursue my goal of writing. The result? 'Travelling teaching and tippling in Paris: the life of a tefl teacher' will be published before the summer whilst the much harder hitting 'Hookers and Hypocrites: an ex-pats view of life in the Middle East' will be later this year.