Job Discussion Forums

georgetzortzis · Joined: 17 Aug 2004 Posts: 2 Location: New York

Hi my name is George and I was interested in taking a TEFL course for the travel opportunities it affords. Before I take that leap I was wondering if you knew of any books that illustrate what life is like as an English teacher (books written by former teachers, for example). I'm curious about what the day to day routine is like, and what kind of difficulties and problems one usually faces. This is to help me decide if I would enjoy teaching English and if I would be any good at it, so I'd be looking for books that provide a glimpse into the teaching aspect of it more than the travel aspect, which I'm already experienced in. I have read some suggestions on these boards about taking a TEFL certification course to find out if ESL teaching is right for you but considering they cost about $1,000 (if anyone could point me in the direction of relatively cheap courses or ones that are a good value for the money it would be much appreciated), I need some cheaper insight.

Side note: Are there any fields that are particularly easy to make a transition into after long term ESL experience? For example the non-profit sector or international consulting work.

Billy Chaka · Joined: 20 Oct 2003 Posts: 77

If you're considering Japan:

Learning to Bow by Bruce Feiler
Beyond Sushi by Kenneth Januszewski

Both describe life on the JET Program.

Jetgirly · Joined: 17 Jul 2004 Posts: 741

There is a reality show on TV here called The English Teachers... it is about people who go overseas to teach English... it seems pretty realistic although I've only seen it once and found the people on it to be pretty annoying.

http://www.theenglishteachers.com/

Episode # Something: "Zen Meets a Woman".

Confused

lagerlout2006 · Joined: 17 Sep 2003 Posts: 985

I don't know of any books like this. The closest I can think of is

Pictures From The Water Trade---Morley. Good book but it's more about Japan life than teaching specifically. What was iteresting is he was teaching English before there was a market for EFL---a bit of a pioneer...

Iv'e met some people who disliked teaching but decided to "grind it out" for a year and had a pretty good experience.

Eeva · Joined: 05 Sep 2004 Posts: 4 Location: Guangdong

You could check out www.speakingofchina.com. Jocelyn has taught ESL in China, but has moved on to more interesting work.

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

There is a reflective diary tpe book by Joachim Schmidt(sp?) I can't remember the title though.