The benefits of teaching English abroad

Deciding to break free from the daily grind and go on a teaching and traveling adventure for six months is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I combined backpacking with teaching English in Thailand, which gave me a chance to work and save money while getting to know the country and its people from the inside, as a worker and not simply a tourist.

In many Asian countries, to secure work as an English teacher requires only that you are a native English speaker. To increase your chances of getting a teaching job, there are plenty of TEFL courses to choose from, which also provide you with useful lesson ideas and invaluable advice. Some of these course can be completed through distance or on-line learning within months (visit www.TEFL.com).

My insight and absorption into Thai culture grew as I began work as an English teacher in a Bangkok school. I became friends with Thai teachers, and we socialized after work to eat, drink, laugh and talk for hours about the children we taught and our contrasting ways of life. They gave me many insider tips’ that tourists find out the hard way.

I was a bag of nerves on my first day yet teaching a class of nearly 40 excitable children aged three to thirteen turned out to be a life changing experience. I was swept away by their warmth, willingness to learn and instant respect for me as their teacher; each lesson I was greeted with big smiles and hugs and small hands reaching out to take mine.

On a salary of 28,000 Baht per month – which, at around 380, was higher than the national average wage – I had more than enough money to cover the low costs of living and to save any extra for travelling, which I did nearly every weekend.

Getting around Bangkok was made easy by the skytrain, a station of which I was lucky to stay right next to in subsidised accommodation near the school’s main office. Running through the heart of the city, the skytrain – when compared to other transport on the hazardous, congested roads – is a relatively cheap, quick, air-conditioned and more reliable alternative.

A city that never sleeps, Bangkok is a 24-hour feast for the senses. From the intoxicating aroma of Chinatown and the buzz of the Night Bazaar to Chao Praya River, where a hop on, hop off’ cruise takes you to temples including Wat Arun and the golden Reclining Buddha. There are moments I remember well – like hearing nothing but the sound of water gently lapping and the occasional croak of a frog while bamboo rafting down the River Kwai; taking a bumpy ride on an elephant or an even bumpier ride on the aptly named Death Railway in Kanchanburi.

Living and working in a foreign country was an authentic experience I will never forget. Now I have been badly bitten by the traveling (and indeed the TEFL teaching) bug, I plan to take off on another adventure as soon as I can. I became completely immersed in a different culture in a way that I wouldn’t have had I stayed only a few weeks. Teaching brought me closer to the people and gave me the chance to make a real and lasting contribution to the lives of children.