Job Discussion Forums

doner · Joined: 21 Jan 2010 Posts: 179

tefl is not a career Mad

johnslat · Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 10:20 pm Post subject:

Dear doner,

Ooops - can I go back and start over, then?

Regards,
John

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

jdl · Joined: 06 Apr 2005 Posts: 632 Location: cyberspace

OMG, Doner,

You mean I have wasted a lifetime in learning and teaching, raising a family, travelling the world, building a house, enjoying the treasures of life such as diving with my grandson in the Indian Ocean, motorcycling through Oman with my daughters, living on a yacht in the caribbean, (blah,blah,blah), making life long friends with more nationals than I can imagine and being paid to do it? How did I miss the boat? I am filled with such regret.

John, I think you and I ought to have a beer or two, commiserate and consider the errors of our ways.....maybe have some bbq?

V.S., I will pick you up on my bike so you can join us....I am sure you need some consoling as well.

Such a waste! And to realize all this so late in life! Damn, and I thought I was so happy with the way things turned out.

Arabian Hawk · Joined: 12 Jul 2009 Posts: 79 Location: Mystical Kingdom

Of course TEFL is a career...and it is rewarding in more ways than one! Laughing

With Malice Toward None · Joined: 20 Oct 2009 Posts: 250

I suppose some of my learned colleagues have missed the paradigm shift. For most, now TEFL's not a career, it's a GIG.

doner · Joined: 21 Jan 2010 Posts: 179

doner · Joined: 21 Jan 2010 Posts: 179

johnslat · Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 7:52 pm Post subject:

Dear doner,

Projecting yet again, I see. Believe it or not, what may be true for you is not necessarily true for everyone else (and thank heaven for that.)

Regards,
John

doner · Joined: 21 Jan 2010 Posts: 179

johnslat · Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 9:06 pm Post subject:

Dear doner,

No - actually, I think I picked it up in a Psych 101 class, many years before I joined AA (which was in 2002.)

But I fail to see how where I picked it up is relevant. And you ARE projecting:

"Projection is a defense mechanism that involves taking our own unacceptable qualities or feelings and ascribing them to other people."

As other posts here have shown, just because you consider EFLing a "gig" rather than a career, that doesn't make it so for others.

I'm quite willing to believe that it has never been a career for you, but it was for me and has been/is for others.

Regards,
John

With Malice Toward None · Joined: 20 Oct 2009 Posts: 250

doner · Joined: 21 Jan 2010 Posts: 179

johnslat · Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 1:45 pm Post subject:

Dear doner,

So, what would you - speaking for your own case, of course - call it?

And, if it's not "fun", why, in heaven's name, are you doing it?

Life is way too short (or maybe too long - if you're young enough) to spend a good portion of it doing something that you dislike so much.

Regards,
John

With Malice Toward None · Joined: 20 Oct 2009 Posts: 250

Quote, doner: I did not say TEFL was a gig-gig implies some kind of fun.

Has it occured to you, doner, that when we begin doing something in life many of us don't know what we are getting into. Over time, we settle down in that or decide to quit before it's too late. I did that quite a few times.

But then we come across something, despite its pitfalls, that attracts us because it answers that inner voice of your being. I am not saying that you attain nirvana then and there but you feel some contentment that you are sharing your skills, expertise and knowledge with your colleagues and students. And helping in shaping young minds, too. Therefore, I would not only refute your argument, but also would say, TEFLing is not only a career, but a serious and responsible one, too.

And when I and my wife started teaching, it was for a pittance and we stuggled to keep the hearth warm, so to say. The story is vastly different today..In fact, I say without grudge or malice, some take their pay without any introspection. Here I am digressing from TEFLing to teaching, but both, essentially, are the same.
Regards.
WMTN Smile

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