3 Benefits Of Being An English Teacher

Updated: 08/02/2023

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English teacher in class

Some people argue that teaching is terrible and under-appreciated. Sure, some English teachers pulling their hair out with unruly teens and oversized classes but stay with me here, I've been teaching for 15 years and have never loved it more than I do now. 

In fact,  it's never been a more exciting time to be a teacher. Let me share why:

1. Travel


A is a huge motivator for me personally. My family is dispersed across the globe, from South America, throughout Europe, to Australia. How can I possibly teach people in any one place? So when I pack my suitcase, my first consideration are my teaching devices; trusty laptop, headphones and smartphone. 

Teaching on the go is thrilling. I've taught while in Venezuela, Spain, Italy, France, UK, Thailand, Qatar, Indonesia and it continues. While in Thailand, I would enjoy the pool and the beaches in the morning, shower off, have lunch, teach for 3-4 hours and get ready to explore again in the evening.  

Now this may not be ideal for everyone, especially if you're on a short romantic getaway for example, but if you're travelling for extended periods of time or are a digital nomad, you only need to sacrifice a small part of your day to work! 

Teaching while travelling in Thailand
This isn't only true for online teaching. There are so many language institutions in every country now, it's an amazing opportunity to see the world. Apply to schools and see what their minimum term requirements are. You could go for 6 months or do summer camps as I have done in the past. They usually last from 1-3 months teaching children or adults, are a LOT OF FUN, and do not lock you in for the long-term.

2. Meet People From Around The World


I started in the classroom, passed my training courses and gained experience teaching groups of 16 + students. This was certainly a valuable experience because I interacted with big classes and enjoyed collaborating and learning from my colleagues but thanks to the magic of the internet, teaching knows no boundaries. 

Today, I teach exclusively online. I connect with students in Moscow, Beijing, Korea, Brazil and many others. Conversations with people from such a variety of places is incredibly insightful and stimulates fun and engaging discussion topics. This is incredibly motivating for a teacher and for the student as well, who is often curious to learn about you and your background. 

Teaching can take you anywhere you desire.
Your teaching environment will also impact who you meet. I usually teach from a coworking space which gets me out of the house and into a teaching mindset.

Coworking spaces are great for joining local communities and meeting others who are working remotely.

3. Helping people


The first two reasons are truly great but this one is a knock-out. The feeling of satisfaction when helping someone is overwhelming, especially when you see students crying with joy at having passed their IELTS or Cambridge exam, allowing them to get the visa they need to move abroad and change their lives. 

Taking students from illiterate to a career is something special and not something that happens everyday, but as you can appreciate, teaching people any skill, changes lives by creating opportunities. 

It's often difficult for native speakers to understand how disadvantaged people can be sometimes by simply coming from a non-English speaking country. Due to globalisation, our communities are coming closer together and English has become the lingua franca of our times.

The number of non-native speakers is growing RAPIDLY and if you don't know English, you are going to have to wait in line behind those who do speak fluently, when job hunting.


Don't forget that as a teacher, more often than not, you can choose who you're teaching and who for. It doesn't have to be unruly teenagers for cowboy companies that exploit their employees, no!

You can teach anyone from toddlers, young learners to business professionals or pensioners and they're plenty of great institutions with career prospects, excellent work environments and training opportunities. You make every class your own. You can design it to be as fun and engaging as you like, for your students and for your own motivation. As a teacher, you mould your world and not many jobs offer so many perks.


Steve

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