Job Discussion Forums

[JZer]

I am curious for those who are planning to continue teaching abroad until retirement, why you do so?

How are you saving for retirement? Is it really worth spending 30 years living in a foreign country?

[LarssonCrew]

Ok, let me explain a few things.

Firstly, it helped me learn a language. In school I was horrendous at foreign languages, had no motivation to learn them, however living in a foreign country changed that and I now speak 3.

Ability to save. In the UK you can take your income, imagine it's a pie. Now, take 1/3 of that pie and remove it for taxes and national insurance. Next, take another third and that is your bills and rent, possibly more if you're in/around London. So you essentially have about 1/4 of your salary in your hand. Teaching abroad I get housing paid for and get paid after tax, and/or pay no tax, so all of my salary ends up in my hand. Your money goes so much further, a taxi might cost me $2 in Asia, but in the UK it would be $40.

Adventure. Nothing in Asian seems to actually be planned or prepared, you can turn up at work and be told the students have end of your exams and it is your day for yourself, great! Or the little 4-5 day holidays that mean you can jump on a plane and travel.

Less stress. Working in an office means you get home and feel like a potato, and just bluerugh out on the sofa. In Asia I finish at lunchtime[although have an early start] and then take a quick nap and I'm ready to do whatever. It means by dinner time I've had 4-5 hours of time I wouldn't have had.

I lived in English speaking countries[first world] my first 23 years, I've done that, over and over, gotten used to that culture, that food, I want to do something new and exciting.

As for retirement, I put half my annual salary away, I'm 2 years in to a 5 year savings plan that will enable me to buy a house [which is close to a university and I will rent to foreign students], which will then give me around $1500 a month in rent. After another 5 years I can do the same again.

[spiral78]

My path has been slightly different from LC's but I think also fairly typical.

My 'foreign' country has become home via family ties, development of long-term friendships, and working my way into a very solid job that I happen to really love.

I'll happily retire in this country that has become home over the years, rather than back in the US, where I no longer have overriding connections.

[JZer]

[spiral78]

Relatively small, international, adults, mixed-range English ability from B2-C2.

[scot47]

I did it because I was good at it. It put bread on the table. Teaching in a school in the UK would have sent me to an insane asylum. Local worthy, JP and Tory said to me last year "I would have given my right hand for a career like yours." So maybe I did something right !

Retired now and in my dotage. I should be writing my memoirs- but who would read them ?

[JZer]

[scot47]

Possibly the PRC. Better if you can aquire some knowledge of Chinese before going. I wonder what percentage of our new EFLers could do that ? Proficiency in foreign languages does not seem to be common in our younger teachers. older dudes like me often had a reputation for being polyglots and philologists.

My interest in Language and languages was a great motivator for me - in my case German, which I learned at school along with French, Latin and Gaelic.

[JZer]

Fortunately, I can already speak Mandarin. I lived in Taiwan for four years.

[JZer]

[LarssonCrew]

So why don't you just pack it all in and go live abroad? If you don't have a family it's not hard.

If you find a good job it's normally just flight + first months living allowance required.

[Jmbf]

Left my home country for a bit of adventure. Loved it, eventually put down roots, started a family. Oh, and earning much more (and correspondingly saving more) than I would back home and doing so under my own terms.

[nomad soul]

[adventious]

"Because I'm good at it," is my favorite reply to this question in most contexts.
I first read it from Flannery O'Connor, but I've heard it from "everyday people" since first recognizing it as a simple and direct answer from her.

And not to suck up to Scot, I'll say my summer long practicum involved a class of seven different nationalities...all zero level, all adult. Being a polyglot had no uniform applicability, though I'll say my preparation courses covered the value of contrastive linguistics.

I agree with Nomad Soul's advice in spirit, but I have an alternative to their terms: Would were, Should is, Could be...and live a hundred times three!

[santi84]