Recently fresh College grad with questions to ESL teachers

[kelch]

I just finished college in april 2007. I took architecture and I have been working in my hometown for about 10 months now saving money. Recently I have been getting a bit restless and I have a lot of options of what to do.

I know I want to travel a bit before I possibly try ESL teaching abroad.

Right now there's a lot of stuff going on in my mind about it all. When I find something I want to do I think about it way too much before I actually do it, which leads to stressing a bit too much.

I consider myself a pretty reserved person and it takes me a while to warm up to new people. Thus meeting people and making friends is a bit more difficult than normal for me. I guess I'm pretty self-conscious. I think ESL teaching may help me to be more outgoing and less uptight about that stuff.

Anyways, I'm considering ESL teaching because I think it would get me out of my mental rut and out of my element of comfort. I don't know anything about teaching though. All I know is that I think it would be really neat to experience a culture in everyday life for some time. Back in elementary school/highschool/college I was pretty good at helping people out 1 on 1; however I have difficulty catering to a group of people since I tend to focus on one thing/person and help that one person as best as possible.

As of right now. I know the Asian countries have the best offers and are the most in need. I would love to teach in Germany or Italy, but I know living expenses are huge and it's very hard if you're not an EU citizen.

On the other hand, my current life back 'at home' is pretty comfortable. My parents have been gracious enough to let me stay at their place for a while to save money for whatever life plans I have. (this is also a good thing since I'm not tied down). My current job here is very good and I work with very friendly/humourous people.

I could also further my architecture education with a univ degree, but I'm not sure if that's a logical choice financially. Plus I don't think I would enjoy it that much (haha). My current college education has served me fine so far.

The only thing I would need to do is sell my car, or pay it off with my saved money and store it for a year.


Any feedback would be great! Thanks.

Oh yeah. I haven't traveled alone before. Would you recommend me just traveling out of the country once or twice before I give ESL teaching a shot?

[gfell]

Based on your background, I would suggest you first see if you can take 3 months unpaid leave from your current job and work in a summer camp or short-term contract in either China or Korea. I have seen quite a number of these type of jobs advertised. That way you can try getting your feet wet and see if teaching is for you or not.

Don't sell your car, and don't close off your ties with your current employer JUST IN CASE you come back to Canada to settle again.

First time I went overseas to work I was VERY homesick and found it difficult being immersed in a totally strange and different culture. That was in the days where there was no internet. So it was really expensive calling back home, I couldn't hear about news events and felt so isolated.

So, try it out for a short-term contract first and then make up your mind about committing to a 1 year contract.

Teaching is a lot of fun, and will help you become more positive about yourself and stronger inside.

Take care.