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| Do you generally dislike people who do TEFL? |
| Yes |
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51% |
[ 24 ] |
| No |
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48% |
[ 23 ] |
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| Total Votes : 47 |
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Paji eh Wong
Joined: 03 Jun 2003
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 Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 5:20 pm Post subject: |
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I try to hate the game and not the player.
However, some players deserve a little hate. |
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MA_TESOL
Joined: 11 Nov 2007
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2008 7:29 pm Post subject: |
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| Justin Hale wrote: |
What I forgot to say in my OP was how badly dressed all but one of the interviewees were. One guy wore the typical fare of the TEFL chump - grubby sweatshirt, jeans and trainers (the latter two containing actual dirt).
That's something I noticed in Korea too though. A great many TEFL people did not wear attire to work. One guy (who lived in my apartment building and who I observed go to work on many mornings) even wore shorts, scruffy t-shirts and sneakers in summer....grotty and unshaven loser that he was. |
I think there are 2 or three different camps of so called TEFL'rs.
1. Very inexperienced in life and coming here to gain some experience and have some adventure.
2. Those who see this as their career and are thus behaved as professionals. (they wear suits to interviews).
3. The occassional one who is running from something back home and has an "I don't give a sh_t attitude" or perhaps not playing with a full deck.
Seems like you got some goodies for the interview  . I am curious though: what exactly was the position? Did it pay well? It doesn't sound like your company attracted many good candidates. |
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Justin Hale
Joined: 24 Nov 2007
Location: the Straight Talk Express
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| Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 1:22 am Post subject: |
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| MA_TESOL wrote: |
I think there are 2 or three different camps of so called TEFL'rs.
1. Very inexperienced in life and coming here to gain some experience and have some adventure.
2. Those who see this as their career and are thus behaved as professionals. (they wear suits to interviews).
3. The occassional one who is running from something back home and has an "I don't give a sh_t attitude" or perhaps not playing with a full deck. |
Are 1 and 2 by far the most common, I wonder?
| MA TESOL wrote: |
| Seems like you got some goodies for the interview . I am curious though: what exactly was the position? Did it pay well? |
The position was part-time and temporary and probably most suitable for students. Many of the interviewees were students but the offenders were two guys who'd just come back from full-time teaching positions in Poland. The job itself is part of a soccer course. My local soccer club is running a soccer and English course for teens (mostly Spanish clients). The pay is $26 per teaching hour (3 teaching hours per day generally).
| MA TESOL wrote: |
| It doesn't sound like your company attracted many good candidates |
Well, it was a TEFL position after all. |
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Dome Vans
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 2:00 am Post subject: |
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| Justin Hale wrote: |
The position was part-time and temporary and probably most suitable for students. Many of the interviewees were students but the offenders were two guys who'd just come back from full-time teaching positions in Poland. The job itself is part of a soccer course. My local soccer club is running a soccer and English course for teens (mostly Spanish clients). The pay is $26 per teaching hour (3 teaching hours per day generally). |
Go and shower now, scrub hard! |
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bejarano-korea
Joined: 13 Dec 2006
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| Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 2:06 am Post subject: |
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| Justin Hale wrote: |
| MA_TESOL wrote: |
I think there are 2 or three different camps of so called TEFL'rs.
1. Very inexperienced in life and coming here to gain some experience and have some adventure.
2. Those who see this as their career and are thus behaved as professionals. (they wear suits to interviews).
3. The occassional one who is running from something back home and has an "I don't give a sh_t attitude" or perhaps not playing with a full deck. |
Are 1 and 2 by far the most common, I wonder?
| MA TESOL wrote: |
| Seems like you got some goodies for the interview . I am curious though: what exactly was the position? Did it pay well? |
The position was part-time and temporary and probably most suitable for students. Many of the interviewees were students but the offenders were two guys who'd just come back from full-time teaching positions in Poland. The job itself is part of a soccer course. My local soccer club is running a soccer and English course for teens (mostly Spanish clients). The pay is $26 per teaching hour (3 teaching hours per day generally).
| MA TESOL wrote: |
| It doesn't sound like your company attracted many good candidates |
Well, it was a TEFL position after all. |
Are you working for Ardmore? |
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Justin Hale
Joined: 24 Nov 2007
Location: the Straight Talk Express
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| Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 2:34 am Post subject: |
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| no |
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Lekker
Joined: 09 Feb 2008
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 6:09 pm Post subject: |
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| I took an online TEFL course, took it seriously, and it has helped me immensely. I do dislike people who think they are better than I am at what I do because they spent a lot of money and time obtaining an MA in ESL yet lack the experience in the actual field. Wake up. You're in Korea. Get over yourself. |
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bassexpander
Joined: 13 Sep 2007
Location: Someplace you'd rather be.
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| Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 3:44 pm Post subject: |
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| Lekker wrote: |
| I took an online TEFL course, took it seriously, and it has helped me immensely. I do dislike people who think they are better than I am at what I do because they spent a lot of money and time obtaining an MA in ESL yet lack the experience in the actual field. Wake up. You're in Korea. Get over yourself. |
Ok... so someone who gets an MA in ESL, yet is teaching in Korea, has no experience in the field?
Umm..... could you please explain that?
That's like saying, "I hate qualified auto mechanics who work on cars in Korea but lack actual experience as mechanics." |
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Young FRANKenstein
Joined: 02 Oct 2006
Location: Castle Frankenstein (that's FRONKensteen)
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| Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 5:39 pm Post subject: |
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| bassexpander wrote: |
Ok... so someone who gets an MA in ESL, yet is teaching in Korea, has no experience in the field?
Umm..... could you please explain that? |
There's a difference between classroom theory and field experience. With the MA, you have a lot of the former, but probably very little of the latter. |
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bassexpander
Joined: 13 Sep 2007
Location: Someplace you'd rather be.
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| Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 8:19 pm Post subject: |
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| Young FRANKenstein wrote: |
| bassexpander wrote: |
Ok... so someone who gets an MA in ESL, yet is teaching in Korea, has no experience in the field?
Umm..... could you please explain that? |
There's a difference between classroom theory and field experience. With the MA, you have a lot of the former, but probably very little of the latter. |
The part that threw me was how he referred to current teachers in Korea who have MA's in TESOL. Wouldn't you say that teaching in Korea accounts for actual field experience? I could catch his drift if he were talking about MA TESOL types with no experience at all coming to Korea, but he said people teaching in Korea who have MA's in TESOL. |
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blackjack
Joined: 04 Jan 2006
Location: anyang
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| Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 5:44 am Post subject: |
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| Justin Hale wrote: |
What I forgot to say in my OP was how badly dressed all but one of the interviewees were. One guy wore the typical fare of the TEFL chump - grubby sweatshirt, jeans and trainers (the latter two containing actual dirt).
That's something I noticed in Korea too though. A great many TEFL people did not wear attire to work. One guy (who lived in my apartment building and who I observed go to work on many mornings) even wore shorts, scruffy t-shirts and sneakers in summer....grotty and unshaven loser that he was. |
you might be talking about me here. I admit I look pretty bad on the way to work, esp in summer. However when I get to work and dry off (in okay shape but have a sweating problem). I change in to my work clothes. Don't make judgements till you know the full story |
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Kikomom
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: them thar hills--Penna, USA--Zippy is my kid, the teacher in ROK. You can call me Kiko
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| Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 6:51 am Post subject: |
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Teachers never stop learning. That's their business, they should understand this?
I consider this job as both OJT (on-the-job-training) and a kind of PAID version of student teaching for those who are not education majors. Non-ed majors only have their experience of sitting on the other side of the class to be able to emulate good teaching methods. That and their desire to be a success at what they do. But they've got seventeen years of being educated under their belt, so they must have had some good ones if they made it this far. Even the bad teachers they've had in their past will remind them of what doesn't work.
Taking your training a step farther is always a good idea, when the time is right. And timing isn't universal.
1. Some of the professionals mentioned earlier may have chosen TEFL as a job-retraining program after a lay off in their previous industry. Maybe that pilot was grounded for some reason and didn't want to take the lower grade position he was offered, or they just wanted a career change. But the point I want to make here is that many US jobs are disappearing and TEFL may be an option they were given at the unemployment line. (govt handout)
2. Some people (dull) actually buy into the advertising and think they HAVE to spend the money for the added training to get this job. I have to wonder what percentage of cert holders actually make it overseas.
3. TEFL is a professional development preparatory step designed to better their chances of success in the classroom--which they obviously care about. It's about understanding the dynamics behind teaching. (good thing)
4. Getting an MA in Education is becoming the standard for dedicated teachers. Thank NCLB for that. If TESL is your degree field, let's hope you have the courses.
Yet this is a booming industry with job security if you become adept at it as your profession. |
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Kwangjuchicken
Joined: 01 Sep 2003
Location: I was abducted by aliens on my way to Korea and forced to be an EFL teacher on this crazy planet.
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| Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 2:37 am Post subject: Re: Do you generally dislike people who do TEFL? |
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| Justin Hale wrote: |
Excuse the crass and crude question. Obviously it's not right or nice to generalize about groups of people.....but sometimes I wonder, are people who do TEFL generally of dubious wits and character? And, in my experiences with TEFLers, have I disliked them more often than not? Ever read the questionably-titled "freakiest waygook contest" thread? And, frankly, reading some of the contributors to these message boards, one wonders "how in the name of Mighty Lucifer did that person graduate from high school, let alone college?". The Japanese are, I'm told, very condescending towards Western English teachers thanks to the many experiences of 'teachers' who can't spell, know nothing about grammar and, basically, can't teach and are absolutely useless.
Here's a funny story. I was part of an interview panel this morning and we were interviewing people for summer jobs in TEFL at my company (which I only intend to work for in the short term). It was a group interview and the interviewees introduced themselves. Guy 1 mentioned that amongst his interests was science. I said "excellent, me too! What specifically are you interested in?" and he replied "space, evolution, stuff like that..."
Then, after he'd finished speaking, Guy 2 said "oh, you're one of them are you?" (he was being jokey, admittedly)
Guy 1 said "excuse me?"
Guy 2 said "Adam and Eve and all that...."
Guy 1 (rightly of course) corrected him as politely as he could (given it was a formal situation) that Adam and Eve is to do with religion and has nothing whatsoever in the way of relation to an interest in evolution.
The point here is that Guy 2 (who has a degree from a Western university) is a total moron because of his lack of basic general knowledge and also for saying something so silly and unnecessary in one of the most formal situations one can find oneself - a job interview.
People in TEFL should be very grateful to our ancestors for making English the world lingua franca because otherwise God knows how they'd earn a living. Similar folks in France and Germany, for example, have considerably less scope for overseas travel and work, and despite their degrees must be screwed in the domestic market. |
This thread makes no sence. Why would you be a part of a committee in charge of hiring someone to Teach English as a Foreign Language, if you have some other occupation? Are you now or ever have Taught English as a Foreign Language? And do you/did you dislike yourself? But then, almost 50% of thoses who have voted that they do not like themselves. Very very strange!!! 
After so many posts I am shocked none have said:
TROLL |
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TECO
Joined: 20 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 3:45 am Post subject: |
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| For every hagwon that has standards and gives him the boot, there are 10-20 that don't give a shit and just want a white face in the room with a pulse. |
this is true. |
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Justin Hale
Joined: 24 Nov 2007
Location: the Straight Talk Express
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| Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 3:03 pm Post subject: Re: Do you generally dislike people who do TEFL? |
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| Kwangjuchicken wrote: |
This thread makes no sence. |
What a perfect thread in which to display your inability to spell such a simple English word as sense.
| Kwangjuchicken wrote: |
| Why would you be a part of a committee in charge of hiring someone to Teach English as a Foreign Language, if you have some other occupation? Are you now or ever have Taught English as a Foreign Language? And do you/did you dislike yourself? But then, almost 50% of thoses who have voted that they do not like themselves. Very very strange!!! |
To encounter the question of whether one generally dislikes a group of which one is also a part and then to ask 'do you dislike yourself?' is to display the reasoning capacity of a mollusc.
What if I asked a group of 17 year-old boys 'in general, do you dislike boys your own age?'? What if I were to ask a group of Republicans 'in general, do you dislike Republicans?'? What if I were to ask a group of lawyers 'in general, do you dislike lawyers?'? What if I were to ask a Londoner 'in general, do you dislike Londoners?'?
Other than the risk of causing offence in calling into question any particular group's likableness, I see no reason not to ask such a question and the near-50/50 nature of the answers in the poll suggest it's an interesting question to ask. |
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