Teaching english SUCKS (going abroad isn't everything)

[newlifeinphilippines]

This is why im busting my ass in america trying to save my money. i dont want to wind up as some chump teaching english like a slave in asia.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0YHo_U4Ufc

[Traveler]

You don't want to end up like this teacher:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwsvwanC ... 1PyPCBtBWQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vqs22S_t ... WQ&index=9

[Cornfed]

This is why im busting my a** in america trying to save my money. i dont want to wind up as some chump teaching english like a slave in asia.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0YHo_U4Ufc

Although the guy makes some valid points about what sucks specifically in teaching English in Asia, a lot of what he says sucks have their equivalent suckiness in almost every job requiring interaction with people. If it didn't suck it wouldn't be considered work. Also he is ignorant. Yes, "been" is pronounced like "bean" in British English. Having said that, teaching English does indeed now generally suck because of market conditions, so he is right for mainly the wrong reasons.

[newlifeinphilippines]

This is why im busting my a** in america trying to save my money. i dont want to wind up as some chump teaching english like a slave in asia.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0YHo_U4Ufc

Although the guy makes some valid points about what sucks specifically in teaching English in Asia, a lot of what he says sucks have their equivalent suckiness in almost every job requiring interaction with people. If it didn't suck it wouldn't be considered work. Also he is ignorant. Yes, "been" is pronounced like "bean" in British English. Having said that, teaching English does indeed now generally suck because of market conditions, so he is right for mainly the wrong reasons.

i think the moral of my point regardless of his is many people on this forum are thinking of using the job as a backup or goal to live abroad. personally it would be my LAST resort. im focusing on my income online. im living frugal and cutting out travel so i can retire young and not have to resort to that. the only other alternative is working minimum wage in america which would even be less likely situation for me and would even be more miserable (but i would at least be close to family).

[Cornfed]

i think the moral of my point regardless of his is many people on this forum are thinking of using the job as a backup or goal to live abroad. personally it would be my LAST resort.

Oh yes, I have made several posts saying the same thing.

[newlifeinphilippines]

i think the moral of my point regardless of his is many people on this forum are thinking of using the job as a backup or goal to live abroad. personally it would be my LAST resort.

Oh yes, I have made several posts saying the same thing.

probably better to work in america and go on brief vacations there (or even dreadfully bring a wife back) than to slave away as an english teacher in asia in either bad salary or at least a location you dont want.

[Ghost]

.

[newlifeinphilippines]

I do agree that it would or does suck for most people who do it.

I guess I'm an outlier here for a few reasons. First, I'm an actual teacher. I'm not a backpacker. (Fortunately, those are being phased out.) I do enjoy it. Can't say I love it, but I do like it. Second, my prospects are so grim in the U.S. that it seems like a career paradise by comparison. And even now, going to, say, third-tier city China and becoming an English teacher means you're instantly middle class living in a no-rent place of your own. Third, I think teaching and learning languages is a noble thing, and i dream of being bilingual, if not trilingual. Being an EFL teacher helps that goal along. i really enjoyed taking Chinese classes at my old school.

Guys making $50K plus a year? They'll feel humiliated at taking such a pay cut. It was a pay BUMP for me when I did it.

Guys who are married to Ameriskanks? They'll drag that misery where ever they go.

Backpackers or other fake teachers? They lower standards and tend to make things worse for people who are really interested in the field of work.

I think there is 2 types. Those who genuinely want to teach and the rest who are only do it cause they have no other choice. The happier abroad virgin/nerd who thinks they can roam around and teach english and get laid by hot asian students afterward. I think the odds are slim suddenly that will happen and even if it does the job itself may almost not be worth it for these types who are not genuinely do it out wanting it as a career. I heard vietnam they pay good so maybe thats the best place for the "fake" teachers to go if they want some action? Vietnam women are pretty conservative but im sure over time one could easily get laid no matter who they are.

For me if i lose my online income I really have no backup plan, no work experience and finding a job is slim plus id be stuck in a9 to 5 in america forever. so for me teaching in asia would be a good backup plan. it just would be one i would hate to resort to.

[Ghost]

.

[ezinho]

I only watched a couple of minutes of the video in the OP, so I'm not going to comment on that, but I taught English in South Korea in my late 20s and overall, it was a great experience to travel and save up some decent cash. I went there in 2008 after the economy took a shit. My first year I taught kids and it sucked, but after that I got a job teaching adults and it was much, much better. I actually ended up really enjoying my job, and got to travel to many places in Asia.

I personally would not recommend teaching EFL past 30, or maybe 35 if you're really desperate, but I think it's a good gig to do for a few years if you're in your 20s. Just don't get stuck in it and have a plan for when you go back to your home country, or if you decide to stay, transition into another line of work. It is a young man's game, for the most part, and there's a reason why the work visa for an EFL job is only good for one year at a time.

I think it's mentioned so much on this website as an option to live abroad because the qualifications are so low to enter. If you can do something other than teach EFL, I would recommend doing that instead, but sometimes that is the only option.

One more thing, see if you can get a job teaching flight attendants. A few of my students were FAs and those were my favorite classes. Rumor has it that the major airlines (like Korean Air and Asiana) actually hire teachers to just teach flight attendants English, but I never figured out how to get one of those jobs...probably need to know someone.

[newlifeinphilippines]

I only watched a couple of minutes of the video in the OP, so I'm not going to comment on that, but I taught English in South Korea in my late 20s and overall, it was a great experience to travel and save up some decent cash. I went there in 2008 after the economy took a shit. My first year I taught kids and it sucked, but after that I got a job teaching adults and it was much, much better. I actually ended up really enjoying my job, and got to travel to many places in Asia.

I personally would not recommend teaching EFL past 30, or maybe 35 if you're really desperate, but I think it's a good gig do to for a few years if you're in your 20s. Just don't get stuck in it and have a plan for when you go back to your home country, or if you decide to stay, transition into another line of work. It is a young man's game, for the most part, and there's a reason why the work visa for an EFL job is only good for one year at a time.

I think it's mentioned so much on this website as an option to live abroad because the qualifications are so low to enter. If you can do something other than teach EFL, I would recommend doing that instead, but sometimes that is the only option.

One more thing, see if you can get a job teaching flight attendants. A few of my students were FAs and those were my favorite classes. Rumor has it that the major airlines (like Korean Air and Asiana) actually hire teachers to just teach flight attendants English, but I never figured out how to get one of those jobs...probably need to know someone.

so where are you now and what you do?

[Bstyle]

Teaching English in Asia does suck a lot. More competition from young qualified westerners. Decreased interest in learning English in Asian countries. Low birthrates in many Asian countries. Increased interest in learning other Asian languages. A market that favors younger teachers over older teachers even if they are more qualified. Every year the English teaching market gets worse and worse. Then when you get back home you will have a much harder time finding a job because most employers laugh at ESL.

Teaching English in Asia won't get you laid either. The locals in most Asian countries know that English teachers are losers and most of the women want nothing to do with them. If you're happy with p4p then you'll be satisfied for a while but if you want a relationship that isn't p4p you're going to be miserable.

Those stories about English teachers who go do that just to travel and then get stuck? They are very true. They might be happy for even a few years. But eventually it catches up to them and they don't care about what they do. And most of them don't ever learn the culture and language either because they never cared about that stuff. So they end up bitter, smoking and drinking to pass the time.

Most career English teachers in Asia are like that. Most of them are lonely, bitter and depressed. A lot of them feel trapped. Some of them spent so many years in Asia that they feel like they have nothing to go back to when they go home. I was like that the last couple of years I was teaching.

[Ghost]

.

[xiongmao]

I met some great English teachers when I was in China. I helped a few out with their classes. Only one of the teachers I met had a Chinese girlfriend, so mongerers were conspicuous by their absence. Most were there for the cultural experiences of living somewhere totally crazy. It takes a special kind of Westerner to go and teach English in a non-air conditioned class room at 100% humidity and 35C heat .

I might well give it a go as IT is a young man's career and soon it will be time for me to do something else.

[Ghost]

.