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stgeorge
Joined: 17 Jan 2003 Posts: 26
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Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2003 5:32 pm Post subject: |
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well i admire those who take a positive decision to spend their lives as an esl teacher and get job satisfaction and a good life from that.
i still think you do have to make that decision early on in your esl career so you don't end up doing it because you have nothing else to do.
there are some people in the esl world who wonder round the world because they have some sort of grievance against their home country. that's a bit sad i think and gives the more positive eslers a bad name.
the thing that most put me off a long term esl career was the lack of a career path and salary increases and the fact that holiday entitlement was poor (typically 10 days or less). ironically, i now have much more time and money to travel the world than when i was working in asia. |
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Canuck2112

Joined: 13 Jun 2003 Posts: 239
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Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2003 11:46 pm Post subject: |
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Not everybody seeks stability, seniority, etc. Sure, with ESL teaching you may well have some young, clueless upstart (like me!) walk into a similar position as yours at a school you've taught at for years. That may be par for the course...but think about the freedom you get with ESL teaching. With experience (and in some instances certification) you can literally travel the globe in this career. What other vocation, aside from drug lord and/or drug runner, allows you to uproot in this fashion and start anew elsewhere? There may not be huge pay increases, but many people are content with having enough money to get by. In my 24 years on this planet, I've learned a few things...one of them being that while some money is essential, the pursuit of wealth is usually an empty endevour. My father is a prime example...he used to make 200k per year at a job he hated. He was never happy...no matter how much he had he wanted more and more. Now, he's retired and does volunteer work in Peru, and finally feels like his life has some meaning. From what I've seen, ESL teaching...in most cases...gives you enough to "get by", which is fine by me.
I imagine an overseas teaching career isn't condusive with starting up a family and settling down (although some make it work), but for those who arent ready or willing to do that I think it's a hell of a career choice that swaps monetary wealth for life experience (a great trade in my opinion)
I turned down an acceptance from the best dental school in Canada so I could teach ESL for a few years. Some of my friends think I'm an idiot for doing this, but they don't understand...I'd rather see what's out there in this world than drive a Range Rover and have dinner parties with snooty aristocrats |
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Capergirl

Joined: 02 Feb 2003 Posts: 1232 Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
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Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2003 2:13 am Post subject: |
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I have to say that I think there is a huge difference between visiting countries and living in them. You definitely get to know and experience more of the culture when you are living in a place for months or years. As a tourist - going to all the tourist places and doing all the tourist things - you don't really get the true feel of a country and what the people are about. Sure, I could stay in Canada and have a "real" job (complete with cliched white picket fence and pension plan ), which may afford me to do a bit of traveling in the touristy sense (Is touristy a word? ). However, this would not be enough to satisfy my wanderlust. I just don't see vacationing and living in different countries as being the same or even similar at all.
Ultimately, I've come to the conclusion that when it comes to the career choice of EFL teaching, there are those who get it and those who don't (and never will). |
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Micro67

Joined: 29 May 2003 Posts: 297 Location: HCMC, Vietnam
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Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2003 6:07 am Post subject: Reasons |
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I didn't leave my home country to build a career and the longer I'm away the less likely I think it is that I'll ever go back permanently. |
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Klamm
Joined: 18 Jun 2003 Posts: 121
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Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2003 1:55 pm Post subject: That guy |
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This argument or topic is old and overdone. Yet another guy who left the ESL business and seeks reassurance that he made the right choice by getting out, giving up traveling, and getting on the "secure" corporate path. You miss it. Admit it.
I won't go in depth, but consider your wrong on the vacation time. Ever heard of getting an MA and teaching at a Uni? Ya, if you're in this business you should be into that teaching and studying thing. That's what you should like. Oh...teaching. Right. How long does an MA take? 1 or 2 years. What will that give you? Lots of options for longer vacations and more savings.
For myself, just going on the work itself, I'd be bored stiff. But I use the free time to study the local language, read lots, and enjoy life twenty or thirty years before that pension. I save money, I've have plenty of grad school options when I feel like taking that step, and i grew personally in ways so far beyond what grinding the corporate ax could give me...it's a good life. What's all that money going to buy you? Watch how fast you get tired of one toy then the next. And while you have a hand on all your securities and you're "moving up" you won't be moving...life will pass you by more and more each day. Get a good a treadmill; that's the secret.
I do agree that people need to sit down in their twenties and make a serious decision about ESL. But that's good advice for anyone in any career...
You can always come back though.  |
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