You will have a significant impact on the lives of many children and adults if you want to teach English in Asia programs. Knowledge of the local language is not compulsory anymore. You will be warmly welcomed by students in Asia. Whether you are interested in teaching English or French, or even teaching computer science, several missions are currently available in urban, rural and semi-rural areas in Cambodia, China, India, Mongolia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. Volunteers teach children of all ages and levels, in primary and secondary school, and sometimes even adults. Volunteers often work alongside local teachers and collaborate in teaching.
How is teaching in Asia?
You will notice that schools in Asia often lack personnel and material and financial resources. Some schools are relatively well equipped with teaching materials, while others are largely lacking. Class sizes can be very large, sometimes with up to 50 children per class. No matter your environment and resources available, you will see that your best resource and teaching tool is yourself. Students will want to know more about you, who you are and what country you come from. They will want to know why you have chosen Asia to teach and give of your time.
No matter your skills or talents, teaching in Asia is a unique opportunity to combine a new, fascinating and changing adventure experience that will surely make you grow both personally and professionally. Not to forget the rich experience you will be acquiring in a new environment filled with culture.
English teaching is a highly rewarding career and it is even more rewarding in Asia where the sincerity to learn English is more. But is that the only reason? Why the native speakers of English are accepting teaching English jobs in Asia? There are several different reasons which combined make Asia the best destination for English teachers.
Great salary is obviously the first reason. With the rise of China, India, Japan and other Asian countries, the Asian economy is on the rise. The schools can now afford to pay better and even match the pay scales of international schools. Working in these schools is very rewarding in monetary terms.
Secondly, Asian economies are opening up and they are trading with the whole world. The language of international business is English and thus they must speak English to prosper in their business. Obviously, the sincerity in learning English is the highest in the Asians. Now, any teacher would love students who are eager and sincere.
Thirdly, Asian culture is completely different from that of the US or England. The teachers who are coming from those locations get to taste the unique and amazing Asian hospitality, culture, religion and religious practices, Asian spirituality, festivals of different communities and more. If the teacher wanted to experience different culture and the needed a job of teaching English abroad for that purpose, nothing can beat Asia.
Finally, there are so many different tourist attractions in Asia which can be toured free of cost if the candidate is working in that country.
We all know that to teach English in Thailand, the candidates need a TEFL certificate. Moreover, to work in Thailand as English teacher, the candidate would need a teaching license in Thailand and finally, he or she would also need a work visa for Thailand. While passing the TEFL test is the candidate’s prerogative exclusively, the employer often manages to obtain the other two permits for the candidates. However, all these are hard, cold paperwork. What about those little, soft skills which differentiate the average teacher from the great ones?
These qualities vary, depending on the location, the demography of the students, the subject being taught and other factors. In Thailand, for teaching English, the first thing you need is to be gentle. Teachers are revered figures in Thailand and Thai people are sensitive. They wouldn’t handle well if this revered figure suddenly becomes harsh or rude. For example, Thai students are not very comfortable when asked to speak English and they might repeatedly slip back into Thai language. Don't lose your patience. That's the key.
Secondly, Thai people tend to become bored very easily and thus, your lessons should be entertaining and interactive. You need to think of and formulate newer ways of incorporating lessons of English into fun activities. Dry lectures wouldn’t take you far in this. You need to think of real life situations and ask them to take part. Or you might think of little games which can strengthen their English.
Teaching English is a nice profession especially if you want to be a teacher and if you are a native speaker of the language. A decently educated native speaker wouldn’t need any special education to speak the language and if you always wanted to be a teacher, this is your dream profession.
However, do you know these two qualities can easily get you a job abroad? In fact, many Asian counties are eagerly waiting for candidates like you. You can earn handsomely, even more than what you can earn inn a European country and more importantly, you get to experience a totally new culture. Asian hospitality is the best in the world.
Thailand is probably the best destination in Asia. Not only because it has Phuket and those heavenly beaches, but because they are in bad need of TEFL certified teachers and they are ready to pay well. There are three types of school where you can teach English, public or government school, language schools and privately owned international schools. You can choose your target students and apply to any of these schools. However, applying directly is not always fruitful. You should go through one of those agencies and check out their “teach English in Thailand program”. These programs are aimed to finding the best job for the best candidate, getting all the paperwork done including work visa and teacher’s license and also provide the TEFL certification which every candidate would need to secure a job.
