CASE STUDIES: ENGLISH TEACHER M
English Teacher M, a self-described “frumpy, idealistic, in-search-of-a-real-cultural experiencesort of teacher” has taught in Hong Kong, Austrailia, and America. She answered a few questions by email on June 12, 2003, and she offers us the feminine perspective on English teaching. She even seems to see a few rays of hope . . .
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Where have you taught and for how long? Do you have any real credentials?
I "fell into" teaching ESL when I moved to Hong Kong in 98 with my husband and teenage son. I was quickly preyed upon to tutor Chinese students of rich parents and before I knew it, I had a freakin' waiting list. I answered an ad in the South China Morning Post for a secondary Buddhist school looking for a part-time ESL teacher and I got the job on the spot. The pay was good considering I had no ESL training at that time. When we returned to the US in 99, my husband decided he didn't want to be married anymore and faced with a life of being single, I embarked on getting my ESL credentials. I had friends in Australia so I went there to get my shit together while the divorce went through. I enrolled in a highly-reputable TESOL certification course at Bond University in Queensland and then began teaching Japanese kids part-time in Oz. In 2001, I returned to the US and got a full-time teaching job in a rural school district in North Carolina. (My first experience in the South as I am from Joisey!)
What about your colleagues? Have they been drunken whoremongers, or whiney kids who got their jobs off the internet?
I had friends in HK who were NET teachers and I have to say that none bitched too much about it. The pay was good (Experienced teachers made up to $10,000 USD a month). Australian ESL teachers loved the lifestyle...good wages and an easy-going life-style in a gorgeous country. Think about going there...it's a fantastic place.
$10,000 a month. . . sounds like somebody was yanking your chain a little. My god, you don’t actually think this is a good profession, do you?
I don't think my story fits the experiences you have had but I think your experiences are valid. I have heard the stories from others. I do love your website...it's so damn funny.
Would you recommend ESL teaching to a younger sibling?
My younger sister taught business English in Japan for a year and spent a lot of time fending off semi-drunk Japanese businessmen!
What do you imagine happening to you in the future?
If I were not now saddled with a house and three dogs, I would set sails for another overseas job. I am very easy-going and prior to my move to Hong Kong, had travelled all over the world and lived in Germany for a few years. I am 50 and still craving another authentic cultural experience, whatever the fuck that means.
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