My First Day Teaching English Abroad

My first job teaching English abroad was in Vietnam. I didn’t do much research beforehand – I’m not the kind of person to pull out the guidebooks or spend hours online reading about my destination. I’m more of a go-with-the-flow type. When I travel, my pre-trip planning usually consists of deciding where to go and then buying the plane ticket. I worry about the details once I’m there. So far, it’s worked out pretty well for me.

So when I got a job teaching in Vietnam, I took the same approach. The school that I would be working for was a small school in a small town about an hour outside of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). I heard about the school because one of my cousin’s friends from high school was also teaching there. If it was good enough for him, it was good enough for me.

I didn’t do any research on the country or the town where I was going to live. I did look at the school’s website briefly, but it was all in Vietnamese. I didn’t speak Vietnamese, so I merely had a look at the photos posted there of happy Vietnamese students with English books open in front of them, and then quickly forgot about it. I expected that I’d figure out the particulars once I got there.

I arrived on a Wednesday after over 20 hours of traveling. The very next day they had me teaching classes. No time to get over my jetlag and settle in, no orientation, no training. No one even asked me to prove that I was certified to teach. They just handed me a textbook and said, have at it. I finally understood that the school I was working for didn’t really know what they were doing.

Luckily, there were other options. I soon started looking at schools in nearby Ho Chi Minh City in hopes of finding a more stable teaching environment, but found that most of the schools there – even the big name schools – also didn’t know what they were doing. After sending my resume to one school, I got an email response saying that they were sorry, they couldn’t hire me because I didn’t have a TEFL certificate. They hadn’t noticed that I have a Master in Teaching English as a Second Language!

I finally understood that the school I was working for didn’t really know what they were doing.

That’s when I decided that perhaps I should do a bit more research. I started investigating schools online, and took notes on the pros and cons of each. I expanded my search to other countries as well, and found several established programs in South Korea, Japan and China.

I came across the EF English First website one day and was impressed by the amount of information available there, including interviews with current teachers and Directors of Study. After my experience in Vietnam I was skeptical, but through every step of the recruitment process, the company seemed to know exactly what they were doing. Once I got to Shanghai, I knew without a doubt that EF was the right school for me.

Here’s a little of what I wrote after my first day on the job:

Teaching English in China

Today was my first day of orientation at EF, my new school here in Shanghai. There were five other teachers who were also new to EF. A school representative met us at the hotel and showed us how to use the bus to get to the main office near People's Square. There we had coffee and took a look around the center.

Later another representative took us to open bank accounts, get passport photos for various administration purposes, and buy cell phones and SIM cards. We took a break for lunch and in the afternoon we met more of the staff and signed our contracts. Everyone was very nice and welcoming.

The main office takes up several floors in a high-rise building downtown. It's very stylishly decorated, with banks of computers for student use, as well as several classrooms, lounging areas, and even a pool table! It looks like a well-organized forward-thinking company.

A year later, I still think that EF English First is one of the most progressive organizations out there. I’m so glad I did the research necessary to find a job that fits my style, in a city that fits my personality.

Although I still like to travel without much of a plan, teaching English abroad is not the same as a few weeks vacation. It’s a commitment to live and work in a foreign country for an extended period of time – usually a year or two.

Of course, it’s impossible to know if a school or country is perfect for you until you actually get there, but it’s definitely a good idea to spend the time researching schools and locations. You’re much more likely to find a position that you really enjoy, and you’ll have a much better experience living and teaching abroad.