Teach English in Laojun Zhen - Hanzhong Shi

I am just about to touch 50, Asian, non-native English speaker, located in South East Asia. I completed my schooling partly here and partly in the United Kingdom. Having obtained my undergraduate degree and postgraduate diploma in the United Kingdom, I came back to start work in the corporate sector in 1992. I went through the routine of growing up and getting old. After sometime, I decided to look into other options in life which could possibly provide me better satisfaction and work-life balance. A chance meeting in 2016 with a retired American Caucasian gentlemen possibly provided me with an answer. This gentlemen had just embarked on a paradigm shift in his life and career from being in the corporate sector in the USA to a life as a TEFL teacher in Indonesia. This piqued my interest in TEFL. I started to read up more on TEFL and search online about the TEFL course available and read the various testimonies by those who have completed their TEFL course and now teaching English in various countries. The more I got to know about TEFL the more I believed I could do this. After all, in my mind, I thought: a) I do have extensive knowledge of the English language b) I have used it since childhood c) Majority of my education was done in the English language d) I used it extensively during my corporate working life and indeed now in my daily life. e) My above average understanding and usage of the language compared to the norm here in this country The option and the attraction of teaching the English language as a foreign language as a new career for me made my interest in the TEFL course grew even more. I believed this could be a viable option for me as I believed: a) It provided a work-life balance b) I was qualified and capable to do this c) I could contribute positively towards the wider usage of proper English language by teaching those who want to learn the language I decided to proceed with the TEFL course in late 2018. I registered online and paid the necessary fees and started my 120-hour course online. I subsequently passed this course after a few weeks and received my TEFL Certificate by post. The TEFL course was interesting and challenging. It made me respect the teaching profession more as oppose to before where I took my teachers (who taught me before) for granted and never thought that such preparation and such thought were put in to teach us. Once I finished the 120-hour TEFL course I started to look online for employment opportunities. I never thought, before starting the course, looking for employment as an English teacher on a world-wide market stage would be a severe challenge. At a glance, there were so many websites, so many employment offers, all over the world. Like many others, through their various testimonies that I came across the internet, I thought the challenge after having obtained the TEFL certificate, would be the actual job (of being an English teacher) and the prospects of relocating and settling into a new environment in a new country, that you may or may not be able to adapt to. Unfortunately, I never got to that stage of worrying. To my disappointment, as a Non-native, Asian, Asian-country passport holder, with no previous English language teaching experience, I was faced with a next-to-impossible situation to go forward. The adverts/listings for candidates to fill the various vacancies in various countries would normally have one or more of the following requirements: a) With teaching experience b) EU nationals (for positions in Europe) c) UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand passport holders only (citing it is an immigration requirement in order to obtain a visa to teach English language in that country) d) Native English speakers The above criteria put someone like myself in a situation where it is next-to-impossible (so far until today – totally impossible) to find a suitable teaching position anywhere. Had I known before I started taking the TEFL course that a Non-native English language speaker Asian like myself, holding an Asian-country passport, with no previous English language teaching experience, will find that my chances of gaining suitable working position as an English language teacher in any/most country be almost impossible, I would not have seriously considered this option at all in the beginning. The fact that I studied in the English-medium during most of my school days, was in a British boarding school in The UK for a few years, sat for the “O” Levels and subsequently “A” Levels, went on to do my undergraduate degree and postgraduate diploma in two reputable Universities in England, subsequently worked in the corporate sector here for over 20 years with a lot of international exposures (where dealings were all done in the English language) does not seem to matter at all. The fact remains that I am not a native English speaker and/or I do not hold a passport from a relevant country. Thus my chances are very slim. Such an exclusion does seem to be odd but seems to be widely practiced in the international market for such positions. It does limit the opportunity for non-native English language speakers like myself to be able to contribute to such a cause and it does give the perception to those in such countries who are seeking to learn the language that only native English language speakers from certain countries are qualified users and teachers of such language. I am now in a situation of having to look elsewhere to seek that work-life balance career and possibly not being able to utilise my TEFL certificate at all.