Doing some volunteer teaching prior to starting is a pretty good idea. You could also substitute wherever you are now or show up in Taiwan on a tourist visa and find some sub gigs. It’s a good way to get your feet wet and test things out before signing a contract.

True you do not need a TEFL certificate to usually teach in Taiwan. The only circumstance I have heard from is if you only have an associates degree or 2 years and then a TEFL is required to get a visa. But all schools do not offer that normally you need as mentioned the 4 year degree.

I spent a $1000 on a TESOL qualification that I don’t think prepared me well for what I encountered in Taiwan. I thought it was a waste of money. Years later I created a site with a lot of resources like how-to videos and then later a practical online course. I don’t mean to toot my own horn or anything but that was the course that I needed to prepare me and help me in the classroom.

I would judge a course merely by money either.

Hi Beatrice, Where are you considering ESL teaching? Very good luck with it!

When I say stress, I mean all of those things. Actually, just standing up in front of a class full of kids is stressful for me. The thought that I’m responsible for their learning. Trying to manage behaviour is another stressful thing, and I don’t only mean difficult classroom behaviour. More challenging for me was when a child would confide something about their home life or their ‘friendships’/being bullied in their public school where you are in a position of helplessness most of the time. Work days were tiring and often you would be expected to do much more than was initially said; my workplace also had issues that I would morally object to including racism towards other foreign teachers, discipline from Taiwanese teaching assistants that I did not agree with, and managerial decisions that were senseless to Western staff.

I think that teaching adults is very different from teaching children, and actually had a house mate who changed jobs to teach adults during evening classes instead of working with children. She took a pay cut to do it but said it was more than worth it.

All of this very much depends on the country, school, staff, environment and your own personality of course. Everyone is different and ESL teaching is a very broad thing to be discussed. I’m speaking from my own experience in this article, but I’ve heard many different stories from different teachers.

P.S. I don’t know how I sleep at night. I’m a terrible person.

Super tip about doing some volunteering first or another kind of work experience before jumping into the deep end.

Ultimately the most important thing about being a successful teacher is having passion and an engaging personality, eh? The course can help you prepare and understand what to expect but it can’t give you a personality transplant. I lived with a girl in China who had a CELTA qualification and a degree from a top UK university, and when she told me all this I felt quite intimidated by her experience but then in the first week during our induction we had to watch each other take some classes and she really struggled to get a rapport with the kids. After that I realise that teaching is less about someone’s qualifications but more about someone’s ability to adapt to situations and other people.

Saying that, although I had a rapport with my students I was a lousy teacher – a really lousy teacher! All the girls at the college I taught at in China just wanted to talk about clothes and nail vanish with me, and sometimes I just let them :s

Hi Sam, I’ve heard that Trinity Cert. is incredibly challenging too. I’ve spoken to well-respected academics who have said that nothing in their career has been as challenging as the CELTA/Trinity Cert! Those teacher trainers really don’t pull any punches.

Hi Brenden, I can only take about my personal experience, but I was treated with a huge amount of respect by the local community – more so than when I was a new language teacher in England. Parents went out of their way to thank me, and I received so many gifts that I had to give most of them away to friends.

Yes, there are bad teachers out there (as there are bad apples in every profession), but in my experience this made parents even more happy when they had someone who cared deeply about their children. Hess respected my contract, and they made it very easy for me to start work in the country without jumping through complicated legal hoops. When it comes to choosing a language school to teach at, I would say that Hess makes for a (relatively) easy ‘first school,’ but by all means do your own research and make an informed decision!

Hi Sarah, if you have worked with kids before and you are a parent that thinks teaching kids is a big responsibility, then I would say that you’ll probably make an excellent teacher! I haven’t yet met a teacher who is ‘stress-free,’ but I would completely agree with you in saying that personality and attitude make all the difference in how you handle that stress. Some people feel stressed and put that into a great lesson plan, others feel stressed and decide not to show up for class.