Adventures in Asia

Longing to travel the world? Interested in teaching? Looking for a different, new adventure? It may have crossed your mind: What about teaching English in Asia…? Rural area of Zhejiang province You aren’t the only one. It’s incredibly easy to get a teaching job in several Asian countries, including China. All you need to apply is… -Be a native English speaker -Have a bachelor’s degree (any field) -Be willing to commit for a year -Have an “aptitude” for teaching (literally the wording they used on my first application) You do not have to speak the local language. You do not have to find your own housing. Your flight will be reimbursed upon the completion of your contract. You can literally just go. It’s the wanderlust dream of my generation. On top of that, many teaching jobs pay very well. Even if the salary doesn’t look like much in US dollars, it can go a long way in a place like China that has much lower living costs. I’ve been able to...

对不起，我中文不好。什么意思？ Duìbùqǐ , w ǒ z hōngwén b ù hǎo . Sh é nme y ì si? Sorry, my Chinese is bad. What do you mean? I’ve been living in China for over 3.5 years and my husband is Chinese. It’s only natural that curious friends and strangers ask: “Do you speak Chinese?” 中国梦 The Chinese Dream This really isn’t a fair question, as grammatically I should answer yes or no, though the complex process of learning a language is not so clear-cut. What people usually mean is, “Can you speak Chinese fluently?” so I usually answer with, “No.” Many people believe immersion is the best method for learning a language, and I do agree that living in China provides motivation for me to acquire simple sentences. From buying food and clothes to traveling and getting around on public transportation, I need and am able to use some basic Chinese. However, I can easily maintain my career and social life completely in English, so immersion motivation is limited in my context. (Side...

Even though my particular teaching placement right now isn’t ideal (Ha! That’s an understatement), I’ve come to realize I love this thing called teaching a foreign language in a foreign country. Here are some of the reasons why. Teaching is so satisfying. There are many helping professions where you don’t get to see the results of your efforts, where you put in countless hours on faith and hope that it’s worth it and someone, somewhere, has a better life because of your sweat and tears. Though we probably don’t truly realize the full repercussions of our good deeds in general, at least as a teacher I get to see some of the results of my investment. At the end of a unit / term / year, I watch my students use more language than before. On top of learning stuff, students write me notes, draw me pictures, give me gifts, and smile when I walk in the room. Teaching is fulfilling.   The best part of this job: the students. As a teacher, I get to plan, organize and be creati...