Job Discussion Forums

[Iceman33]

I suppose we all have very different experiences with different peoples from around the world. Though, frankly, I don't like stereotyping ethnic groups, but it is often the case that certain traits do dominate within them; and to be successful as TESOL instructors, we must learn how to properly recognize them and manage them efficiently.

Although I never taught overseas (lived overseas), I've heard lots and lots of recurrent stories, one of which is that some folks didn't appreciate Asia until they went to teach in Europe (shocked me a lot).

Oops...we've continued to go off-topic again...sorry...

[Sashadroogie]

[artemisia]

if you�ve done a lot of teaching in a different area you will have some skills in dealing with classes that can carry you a bit if you�re doing an online teaching course in TEFL. If you�ve done no teaching at all you�ll most likely find it very difficult to go straight into a class without any practical teaching content on the course. To be an effective language teacher, you have to be able to come down to the level of students and operate from that viewpoint � which may be little or no knowledge of the language at all. This applies to some other subjects, too � e.g. Maths.

[Iceman33]

[spiral78]

There is no perfect country or culture


Hmmm. I'm not gonna try telling that to my Dutch students
Some of them are pretty sure.....

and with some justification, I have to admit!

[Iceman33]

[Sashadroogie]

[spiral78]

I'd be curious too. I've been here for years, and have taught students from all over the EU. Sure, individual students might be rude on occasion, but I've never noticed any patterns of rudeness related to nationality - and the vast majority are NEVER rude.

Dutch high-schoolers excepted

[Sashadroogie]

Teens aren't real people, yet.

To be honest, I have been rude on occasion to my teachers. Well, only the ones who clearly couldn't teach me anything. Not because I know it all - far from it. But because they didn't have the requisite skills to do the job they were paid for. Perhaps students in Asia can tolerate this, though I doubt it, but I and most Europeans that I know don't feel the need to suffer politely. I can be rude. Rudeness in the form of transferring out of poor teachers' classes, or even complaining about 'em.

Didn't realise that this is an alien concept to North American teachers and students. Can't be really, can it Spiral?

[Iceman33]

Again, we all have different experiences from wherever we are in the world. Some people love a certain place and others hate it. I know folks who adore teaching in Thailand, while others would never want to go there. Just like there are are folks who don't like Holland at all. Whatever floats your boat, I say!

As for the teachers who didn't like Europe: It was, I suppose, their general feeling in some of the countries (I'm not mentioning them), despite having some loving students. Arrogance, overt cultural superiority, lack of manners, etc. dominated for them in the classroom.

[Justin Trullinger]

Different strokes for different folks, I suppose. It's awfully hard, or perhaps imposible, to talk about "Europe" or "Asia" in general terms.

I've spent time in England. I've spent time in Spain. Also Italy. Visited France, Germany, Holland, Belgium. Spent some time in Poland ages ago.

All are in "Europe." Any generalizations that just might hold true for one are likely to be nonsense when applied to any others.

Likewise, Asia: Includes several of the world's most populous countries, and a diversity of languages, cultures, and histories... in my experience, you'd be hard pressed to say that Korea is any more similar to Vietnam than Italy is to Holland, ie not very.

If people start telling you very much at all about how things are in "Asia" or "Europe," know it for what it is- too much generalization from too little information.

And

[MrMrLuckyKhan]

[Sashadroogie]

[Iceman33]

[AGoodStory]