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Korean Job Discussion Forums
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creeper1
Joined: 30 Jan 2007
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 Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 12:55 pm Post subject: TEFL as a career |
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Sometimes it seems like an attractive option. I can think of many positives such as the adventure of living in foreign countries and experiencing different cultures. You can make friends with other teachers and the natives themselves. If you get bored with one country just up sticks and move to another. Here in Korea you don't have worry about housing, it's paid for you. In Japan you get to see their innovative technology. In Vietnam you can live a life of luxury because everything is so cheap.
And yet there are drawbacks. Certainly in Korea older teachers are in a minority. I'm not old yet but I think I'd get tired of pub and club scene before long. Then there are the problems associated with being a foreigner. It's not always easy to bank, invest and travel in a foreign county and you are at the mercy of a government that can change it's visa laws. Are you really challenging yourself? All you are doing is using your native language. And could you get trapped abroad with returning home begining to seem a less and less attractive option as each year goes by? After all the one thing about being great at teaching English is you are needed abroad. It's obviously a skill less valued at home.
Does anyone think they can teach English for the rest of their lives? |
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Bryan
Joined: 29 Oct 2007
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| Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 1:22 pm Post subject: Re: TEFL as a career |
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| creeper1 wrote: |
| I'm not old yet but I think I'd get tired of pub and club scene before long. |
What does that have to do with TEFL, exactly? There are plenty of people that go out and do their hobbies after work instead of socializing.
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| Are you really challenging yourself? All you are doing is using your native language. |
One shouldn't just be speaking their language, but be interested in teaching his students and becoming a better teacher. There are various avenues of study that you can spend time learning or earning advanced degrees: linguistics, education, curriculum development, foreign languages, and others.
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| And could you get trapped abroad with returning home begining to seem a less and less attractive option as each year goes by? After all the one thing about being great at teaching English is you are needed abroad. It's obviously a skill less valued at home. |
If you spend 20 years abroad gaining no skills and no expertise, then yes, it will be a horrible prospect for you to return home. However, if you spent those 20 years becoming fluent in several languages, earned an advanced degree, or saved money, you would be ripe for starting some type of business back home. As with any field, the amount of work and effort people put into themselves determine their results. Or, "You reap what you sow." |
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