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bograt
Joined: 12 Nov 2014 Posts: 331
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Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2016 9:00 pm Post subject: Re: TEFL Professionals: the one thing you wish you knew? |
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MsHoffman wrote: |
Greetings TEFL Professionals,
I'm about to start applying to my first TEFL position, and I have a question for you all:
What's the one thing you wish you knew before your first overseas teaching job? I've been teaching English to adult learners for 11 years in the U.S. but I know that doesn't prepare me for living overseas. So what do you wish you knew prior to your departure?
I realize this could be a country-specific question but I haven't settled on which country I'm focusing on quite yet. So I suppose it's more of a general "knowledge and attitude for working abroad" kind of thing.
Thanks for reading,
MsHoffman |
Looking back I don't think I would change anything. I was a lot more clueless and naive back then and probably a worse teacher, but in many ways a much nicer person. You can't have one without the other. |
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Sudz
Joined: 09 Aug 2004 Posts: 438
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Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2016 1:24 am Post subject: |
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I wish I had discovered the enjoyment of studying a second language earlier - spent 8 years in HCMC, and learned only a minimal amount of Vietnamese.
Also, I wish I had known earlier that upgrading my qualifications while continuing to teach overseas wouldn't be as difficult as I had imagined.
Oh, and I wish I had been a little more assertive with regards to improving the quality of my teaching earlier on (in my 20s). I pretty much got to a certain level, then more or less coasted. Now that I am teaching an intensive IELTS course to students wishing to study overseas, I feel I still have much to learn. |
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In the heat of the moment
Joined: 22 May 2015 Posts: 393 Location: Italy
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Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2016 7:42 am Post subject: |
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Non, je ne regrette rien.
Having gone through what I have, has made me the person I am. Also knowing very little at the start makes for an interesting experience throughout. Obviously there's an argument for getting good qualifications and starting out in a decent international school, but there's also an argument for starting out in some backwater in SE Asia and honing your chops on the job. I think it depends on whether you view life as a competition, a marathon, a series of sprints, an experience or something else.
YMMV. |
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SammytheSlug
Joined: 23 Nov 2016 Posts: 6
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Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2016 12:31 am Post subject: |
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Looking back to the beginning, I wish I'd known to just relax and enjoy it all. Too many new teachers spend too much time stressed out. It's a fun job, enjoy it.
I'm much better in that regard now.
Also, don't listen too much to people who are unhappy with how their lives have turned out. I'm a decade in now and still very much enjoying my tefl. |
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Kowloon
Joined: 11 Jan 2016 Posts: 133
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Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2016 7:37 am Post subject: |
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You've had a lot of great suggestions already. I will chime in with a couple of boring ones!
I wish I had gotten my CELTA before I started my first job and I wish I had held out for something a bit more respectable after I did eventually get it! |
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getbehindthemule
Joined: 15 Oct 2015 Posts: 712 Location: Shanghai
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Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2016 8:01 am Post subject: |
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SammytheSlug wrote: |
Looking back to the beginning, I wish I'd known to just relax and enjoy it all. Too many new teachers spend too much time stressed out. It's a fun job, enjoy it.
I'm much better in that regard now.
Also, don't listen too much to people who are unhappy with how their lives have turned out. I'm a decade in now and still very much enjoying my tefl. |
This!
Looking back, in my first year or two I was constantly stressing over all sorts of little issues. I still take it as serious and prepare the same as I did, but I've since learned to relax more and enjoy it and have become a much better teacher because of this. |
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