One of My Lovely Nieces

What countries will you teach in? One of the first decisions that needs to be made after deciding that you want to teach and what age group you want to teach. As I have mentioned previously I love the Philippines and have lived there for extended periods of time since 1977. It is a beautiful country and it is close to many of the countries where the opportunity to teach English is bountiful. Countries such as China, Japan, and Korea see learning English as a necessity to prosper in this world. It is the language of business everywhere. As such, and also since my wife’s family live in the Philippines we will be based out of there in the area of Manila. We built a house in a very nice subdivision on the outskirts of the city and for what it cost, we are very happy with it. Actually, my nephew was one of the first residents of the subdivision and the lot beside him became available and we jumped right on it.

With the Philippines being our base we have not only the opportunity to take contracts throughout Asia, but the Philippines happens to be the country in which many Asian countries such as Korea have opened English language schools. Parents are actually sending their children and teens to these schools which provide them with room and board while they attend. Another factor in the favor of the Philippines is the fact that the calls center industry has recognized the Philippines as a top country to do business in. Don’t be suprised if when your computer breaks or you have a problem with your credit card account, you end up talking to a Filipino. The only problems in this case are that some Filipinos have an accent that can make them hard to understand while talking to a native English speaker. Couple that with them not knowing general American slang, and communication can be a problem. Many call center companies now give an English proficiency exam to potential employees. Many Filipinos that want to get hired obtain native English speakers as tutors. So the opportunity to stay in the Philippines while teaching TESOL is great.

I hope through this post that you see the opportunities in various countries available for TESOL and if you are a potential teacher you may want to explore them.