Job Discussion Forums

[naturegirl321]

Though as a foreign teacher, you probably get away with a LOT more than you could back home or than the local teachers do.

[Perilla]

[wiganer]

You have to laugh Sebastian Creswell-Turner the type of Englishman who wouldn't know what a hard day's work is if it hit him with a brick. Eton and Oxford educated, he probably thinks anyone who hasn't inherited their own PR firm by the age of 25 is a loser. The article says more about him than it does about any of us. Here is another article from the author about being homeless and living amongst Polish immigrants in London.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3651856/Down-and-Out-in-Poland-and-London.html

Despite being born into a privileged lifestyle and an education that is second to none, he is still a monumental screw up. There is a lot of projection in the TEFL article that he is there by accident and he shouldn't be there so he has took it upon himself to be the role of observer. I am sure his posh, upper class parents are really proud of him.

The reality is that TEFL is a honest living, I have never sold drugs to kids or killed anyone, I go to sleep at night knowing my money has been earned honestly. I have never took furniture out of an old granny's house because she couldn't pay her debts or bullied anyone into tears because they weren't 'performing' or done a job where I would be ashamed to tell strangers at parties what I do.

If someone wants to put a link up to a TEFL teachers article that has not been penned by some ignorant, screw up toff then I would be interested to read it.

NB: As for Alain De Botton, he of 'you become a TEFL teacher when life has gone wrong' : He is the only son of his father, banker Gilbert de Botton who co-founded Global Asset Management with Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild and Sir Mark Weinberg.[5] Alain's father and mother, the late Jacqueline Burgauer, married in 1962.[6] He has one sister Miel. De Botton spent the first eight years of his life in Switzerland where he learned to speak French and German. He was sent to the Dragon School, a boarding school in Oxford, where he learned to speak English. Describing himself as a shy child, he subsequently boarded at Harrow School. He achieved a double starred first in history at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge (1988�1991) and completed his master's degree in philosophy at King's College London (1991�1992).[7] He began a PhD in French philosophy at Harvard University, but gave up research to write books for the general public.[7]

It's allright for the likes of Alain De Botton isn't it? A man who was left a trust fund of 200 million pounds and has never done a day's work in his life commenting on people who haven't been born with his outrageous wealth and privilege who have to do a day's work to survive in the real world. Sebastian Creswell-Turner and Alain De Botton indeed - can a real person comment on TEFL? Is it too much to ask?

[Perilla]

[the_otter]

[johnslat]

Dear PC Parrot,

You're quite right - my mistake. I guess I thought I was on the Saudi thread.

Regards,
John

[slang_tang]

I think wiganer hit the nail on the head.

[Hod]

With a handful of exceptions, we�ve established the money�s bad for Europe�s TEFLers. For balance, let�s have some positives.

1. You can learn a useful language, e.g. French, Spanish or German. If you speak any of these to at least B1 level, loads more opportunities await. Those German classes at the Goethe Institut Bangkok or wherever, you�ll never achieve any sort of fluency. I learned Malay and Thai, and how useful was that on my CV? I don�t know; I didn�t think it worth mentioning. My C1 German, whilst far from fluent, has done me well, and German is a world language worth sticking on your CV.

2. I like football and English beer and have close friends in England. My parents are really old. They�re healthy but probably won�t be here ten years from now. I�ve had my fun in Asia and can holiday there any time with my Euros, but football, aging parents, etc, mean that Europe is where I�d rather be.

3. It may be subjective for some but not me. I like the fact that western Europe is developed. It�s great to become streetwise and haggle with traffic police and such types in a developing country. But that becomes tiresome, and meanwhile the general corruption and apathy spills over into more important areas of life such as medical care and crime. My preference would be to live in a country with decent medical care, ambulances and people who might just call an ambulance if I�m expiring on some pavement. I really like the fact my wife can take public transport alone after dark too.

4. I�ll probably end up sounding racist here but anyway. I�m a whitey and couldn�t care less if a thousand people stare at me as I eat my noodles in some northern Malaysia hawker stall. I know, however, that I will be treated differently by the locals, whether through shyness or whatever. It doesn�t bother me in the slightest, but a lot of people don�t like being the only foreigner/farang/mat salleh/kwailo/honky in the village. I get none of that in Germany, France or to be honest the whole of western Europe.

5. Sorry to non-EU citizens, but as an Englander, I can live and work freely in the EU. My wife is Asian but got a visa (which cost all of �6 and two hours) to live and work here, because she married an EU citizen. I�m not going to pretend the staff in the visa office were friendly or ever helpful, but they were OK and efficient. If they weren�t, I would�ve complained to their bosses big time, without fear of cultural differences, loss of face and all that nonsense.

6. Looking ahead, old age in a developed or developing country?

7. That�s more than enough from me. I haven�t even started on finances yet, but it�d be nice for someone else to have a go.

[Zero]

[Teacher in Rome]

Good for you Hod! Just a few additions to what you said:

[artemisia]

[Teacher in Rome]

Artemisia, that definitely happens in Italy. Most families want to take care of their aging relatives themselves. If they have the money, they'll employ a "badante" (a sort of home-help / nurse), typically from Eastern Europe.

But I also know of family members providing round-the-clock care because there are no other alternatives. Not every town has the facilities to provide adequate care for aging or disabled relatives, for example. Alzheimer sufferers are a case in point.

[Hod]

[wiganer]

[Perilla]