Job Discussion Forums

[ESL Hobo]

I have been encouraged to write a few of my ESL stories by other posters.
I would love to hear stories from other TEFLERS, so let's get started.

My first TEFL job was teaching in the refugee camps of Thailand. I got paid $50 dollars a month, plus room and board (1986). I lived in a small shack outside the refugee camp with concrete floors and had a charcoal brazier for cooking. The best part of the job was they provided me with a Honda 400 for transportation which I drove all over Thailand. Aside from teaching 20 hours a week we held meetings for native teachers of Vietnamese, Cambodian and Laotian camps, providing them with funds for school materials; also distributed food and clothing. My classroom was a three sided open ended structure made out of tin, with dirt floors, one chalk board, bamboo desks, no books, no paper, no pencils but I did have a box of chalk, about 30 students per class and a few chickens! They were the most attentive students I have ever taught over the past 25 years. The conditions were deplorable but the rewards in the joy of teaching were most excellent.

GOT STORIES?
We would love to hear them!

[globalgourmand]

Wow, I'm envious Hobo! That sounds really fantastic. Did you speak Thai when you arrived?

[ESL Hobo]

I didn't speak a word of Thai.
Everything seemed so magical my first time to Thailand. I arrived late at night and was picked up at the airport by motorcycle. This was 33 years ago and Bangkok had a lot less tall buildings. In fact the tallest buildings I remember were the temples when I woke up with the early orange, golden and yellow sunlight streaming across the horizon and gleaming off the temples; monks were also streaming through the streets in their golden garb and chanting.
But at the same time Bangkok had the old wild wild west feeling.

[ESL Hobo]

Oops,
I mean 23 years ago.

[MomCat]

I'm insanely envious. I fell into ESL by accident YEARS after I should have. I was finally lured into it by an ad from a school with "the Great Wall passing by".

[Gusss]

Whilst I was teaching English in Pucallpa in Peru I got some work with a school there. It was owned by a Colombian man and his wife. His wife was teaching an English class and as I listened from outside the door I heard ream after ream of complete gibberish being taught to the students , who didnt realise they werent being taught English. I couldn't say anything though or I would have been shot by the Colombian

Funnily enough I was offered a job teaching Karen refugees in Kanchanaburi by a monk in his temple. I didn't accept though as I had other engagements.

[Marcoregano]

I can relate a few weird tales from my two years teaching on the secondary schools 'EPIK' programme in Korea, 1997-99, though most of the whacko things happened to friends rather than myself.

One friend, on arrival, was chaffeured to his school-to-be by one of his new teacher colleagues. Arriving at the school he noticed that the playground and car park were full of cars. "What's happening?" he asked. His new co-teacher couldn't speak much English, so he was none the wiser. They got out of the car and headed into the school hall, where there were all the kids, parents and teachers assembled - obviously some big event was taking place.

Then, to his surprise, he was led up on stage and introduced to the guy who turned out to be the principal. He realised that he was the event. Using a microphone, the head introduced him to the audience in Korean, and then handed him the mic, asking him to "please sing us one of your favourite songs". What to do? Feeling like he couldn't possibly back down with all these faces staring at him, he managed to find the words to a verse or two of a Beatles number. In fact, it may well have been 'Yesterday', which would have been very appropriate. Anyway, whatever it was it went down well. He said he'd never been so scared and embarrassed in his life.

After this, he was taken out by some of his future colleagues and they ended up blind drunk in a karaoke bar - and more stories there. Welcome to Korea!

There are a few other bizarre first-day stories from Korea, but I better do some work.

[kaw]

I will never ever forget my very first teaching job in a little town in Italy. We had very limited resources, timetables were changed at the very last minute and all the usual rubbish that often happens.

The best bit though was the Dos - an alcoholic Australian woman. Being a newbie I was having problems with one particular student - a lovely older gentlemen who was studying with his wife and just couldn't understand anything. I went to ask her advice - and her gem of wisom was 'if he doesn't understand.....shout at him'.

What more can I say???

[nickpellatt]

My first EFL experience was a magical moment for me, and I wont forget it although it may pale in comparison to some of the stories y'all have.

I was in Kenya on a gap year type trip and it was suggested another guy and I visit a very poor school in an area in the foothills of Mount Elgon to take some English classes at a primary school. We had to go there by 'boda-boda' which is a 1950s style cycle that some poor African pedals like mad with us fat westerners sitting on the back .... and when we walked through the school gate, we were spotted by the kids, who were hanging out of a mud walled building. They started chanting 'mzungo, mzungo' which is translated into 'white men'...and we then had a chaotic morning with 100s of kids sitting on the floor following our (terrible) lesson.

It was just a really nice experience, and memorable for many reasons, one of which was hearing crowds of African kids doing choral repetition exercises copying my buddies very northern UK accent.

[globalgourmand]

Wow, these stories are all FANTASTIC!! Please keep sharing!!

...and her gem of wisom was 'if he doesn't understand.....shout at him'...

[ESL Hobo]

Great additions! Please keep them coming.

My first tefl job in Thailand, PART DIEUX.

In the back of the van I was driving, headed for Koa-E-Dung refugee camp near the border with Laos, covered by stacks of bibles(I swear!) was a man on the lamb from the ministry of interiors, if I told you what for, I'd have to kill you, so don't ask!

Being young and full of piss and vinegar, I was clipping along the open road at 90mph, when a shout arose from the stack of bibles, "Hey man, slow this thing down!" I had no idea he was hiding out from the authorities. In the van with me were my boss and 2 reporters from Finland, a very attractive woman (with whom I immediately fell madly in love with) and her boyfriend (darn it). On the way I asked them who they were going to interview when we arrived at the camp. Turns out no less than 5 generals from the North Vietnamese army who were still running operations out of the camp. Upon disembarking the vehicle and digging "007", in the back, out of his tomb of biblical tomes, I asked if they wouldn't mind if I joined them... "No problem." said my newest love interest and gave me a wink. "Sure, but keep you mouth shut." said 007.
to be continued...

[steviok85]

I've had a few fruitful and less fruitful experiences.
The rather unfruitful experience was in Ukraine where I was fired after a whopping two and a half hours in the classroom. The school thought I was not right for its 'image', whatever that was I will never know. I think it involved acting like the DoS, who seriously minced around like a wee-willy-woofter. What an unpleasant man.
I have just completed a year in Bosnia. Absolutely top draw. I saw the job advertisement on tefl.com last July and thought- why not? Of course, people close to me were 'concerned about my safety', but when I go back home I can tell them - it is the safest I have felt anywhere in the world. I can walk around at 2am in my town and feel relaxed. I wouldn't want to do this in Poland, Ukraine, and certainly not in England or the USA.
I have learned a great deal from a very experienced Principal, who has been teaching for over 30 years. Plus I have travelled around Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia. Sarajevo in winter was a sight.
Good times- heard a lot of stories from the war. People talk openly about those times although folk are not very open when it comes to general everyday chit-chat.

[ESL Hobo]

It must be very interesting to work there. It seems strange to me that people don't want to chit chat but are open to talk about the war, something that caused them so much pain. Perhaps it's one of the psychological aspects of war,,,but it makes sense in another way... when I go through a tough time, it gets stuck in my mind and talking about it seems to unravel it.

[ESL Hobo]

PART DIEUX, continued...
For my own safety I am going to leave out the part about the contents of the general's meeting, the international man of mystery, 007, is still out there somewhere, and I am keeping my shut, like the man said.

A few weeks later I was hauled in before the ministry of interiors and interrogated for 2 hours. My boss had told me to answer all questions with, "I don't know." After a night of tossing and turning in bed I decided I didn't want to be interrogated further and perhaps thrown in a Thai jail for who knows how long. So the next day I got together my hobo bag and took a bus south to Singapore where I met my first wife.(but thats another story).

next, part troi...drama at the border crossing.

[Janiny]

I happened to have an all-girl class of about twenty students in Indonesia in 1990. They were all 18-20 years old.

I have this game I made up. There are two sets of cards. One is 26 cards with a letter of the alphabet on each card. The other deck has cards that say things like:
-a sport with no ball
-something made of wood
-somehing you've never actually seen
- a large animal
- an action verb

That sort of thing.

So starting from one end of the classroom a student shuffles the alphabet cards and presents the letter she has randomly chosen. From the other end, students one by one take turns reading a 'somethig' card. Then whoever can shout out an approprite response first gets to keep the card as a point toward being the game's winner.

For example:
Student A: "gee"
Student B: "somehing you've never actually seen"
"Glacier!" says the student who will get the card. (What's cooler than a glacier? A gazebo? A grenade?

In the case of many different answers, I choose the coolest response.

So I have 60 or 70 of these cards to keep it interesting.

Here's how it goes in the sweet and shy young lady class:

Student A: "ef"
Student B: "something to do in bed"

Ahem... the rest I leave to your imagination. It was my most brilliant moment in years and years of teaching! Never one like it before or since. Lucky the DOS wasn't walking by just then!