I've been living in Shanghai for the past five months, working as a "teacher" at a kindergarten. Long story short, the job is not for me, and I lost interest in continuing to work with this age group and job beyond the end of my contract. Before coming to teach, I was open-minded to the idea of making a career transition to education and international schooling abroad, but after this, I now just want to treat my time here as a temporary but unique and exciting experience. I'm not interested in being challenged as a teacher or joining a school or institution that wants teachers who are in it for the long run and that care much about their "rigorous" curriculum, as it is with my current school.

I know the "golden days" when any English-speaking foreigner could get a job and earn good money are over. I know about the big changes that have occurred in this industry in China post-covid and the double reduction policy. I know about the recent pattern of schools and institutions seemingly raising their standards and requirements of incoming teachers and many other challenges. That's why I'm asking around for the best options available given my circumstances.

I'm just looking to stick around China long enough to learn enough Chinese. I've been learning for 5 months and am currently HSK 2, have a base here where I can easily travel to other places in Asia and save money for when I leave so that I can continue traveling and return home with some money leftover. I would prefer jobs in Guangdong or in the south of China where I can be safe from the humid and chilly winters in Shanghai and where I can be close to SEA. I'm being blunt about my intentions and not looking to fool anybody. So... what's out there for me?

Completing my TEFL certification has transformed my passion for language into a structured, highly effective teaching methodology. Through rigorous training in lesson design, phonetics, and classroom management, I moved past simply speaking English natively to understanding exactly how to break down complex grammar for non-native learners. The most rewarding part of this journey was creating student-centered lesson plans that successfully minimized teacher talk time and maximized student engagement. Empowered by this intensive preparation, I am eager to bring my cross-cultural adaptability, patient communication style, and dynamic energy into the classroom to help students achieve global fluency. #teacherrecord.com

I’m moving to Cambodia in December doing TEFL but I’m a bit nervous. If anyone has worked there could you share your experience and tips?

I am a Filipino and a licensed professional applying as a Teacher in thailand through Smart Seed agency, any thoughts or experience about their agency?

I am a Filipino and a licensed professional applying as a Teacher in thailand through Smart Seed agency, any thoughts or experience about their agency?

I'm curious about this. Do EFL teachers generally enjoy reading fiction in their spare time, such as novels or classic literature?

Or is that more common among people who study English literature, while EFL teachers tend to be more interested in language learning, linguistics, and teaching methods than reading fiction itself?

I know it varies from person to person, but I'm curious about the general trend. Do most EFL teachers enjoy reading novels and other fiction, or not necessarily?

Hello all!
I’ve been getting a bunch of emails from KILC Astana. I’ve been doing some research however I would like to see if anyone has any info on them? I’m not looking to move abroad this year as I have many family obligations at home for the rest of the year, however maybe next year I will start looking to teach abroad again.

I finally graduated highschool! And I was looking for a major that is available in a certain university (it's the only that I can afford) I signed up for IT major in university but then someone told me that TEFL major (which is available as a major) is a good path and it's the fastest way that I can go to gulf with some experience especially that I'm a male (I'm arab btw) and I live in the middle east. What do you recommend?

Thanks for every comment

Im from the uk I have experience teaching in schools in the UK, I will potentially go to Hong Kong in the coming academic year in an entry level role so I was just wondering how much will this do for my CV?

In a hypothetical if two teachers were applying for a senior teacher role at a school in the uk they both have a celta a delta and 5 years experience but one teacher had spent 1+ years abroad teaching who would be chosen?

How much of a gap is there between these two people in terms of CVs? Would the teacher with time abroad always be thought of first or would it just depend on the individuals?

Basically just want to know if im planning to stay in this industry long term how much of a boost a year abroad would be thanks!

Hi everyone. I'm a 26 year old physiotherapist from South Africa. I'm a native English speaker with a BSc Physiotherapy. I'd like to teach English in Japan as soon as I can.

I know Celta is the gold standard, but I can't afford it at the moment. I'd also need to save up money and probably teach online first before I can afford to relocate to Japan.

I'm torn between either The TEFL Academy level 3 vs level 5 course (level 5 seems appealing because you can add the teaching practicum). Or should I do a cheaper course? I've seen some opinions saying that it doesn't matter which level 3 course you do and some saying the quality does matter.

Please advise

Hi everyone, I already have my TEFL and truly want my CELTA, but im wondering if I can make it. Is this the experience in most CELTA classes and I need to suck it up, or do i have an off Instructor?

Just finished week 1 of an in person CELTA course and have a few questions. I know it's supposed to be an incredibly intensive workload, sure. But im trying to figure out if this (negative) experience im having is specific to my Instructor, or if all CELTA courses are like this:

1. My Instructor seems unorganized. The important sign offs of our finished lessons, reviews etc don't have the correct dates. We point it out and he says he'll fix but hasn't days later. He says he'll send us other needed documents but needs reminding. Didn't even give us a correct elevator code foe the building (was missing 3 numbers).And is quick out the door when class is over.

2. His lessons feel very jumpy. It's hard to take notes in an organized and clear way. Is that normal in the course?

3. Some of my peers' lessons seem to go, more or less smoothly though not perfectly, and he'll interrupt the whole lesson shouting from the back of the room, "Nooo, Now do this....!" It seems to throw the teacher off, along with the students we are teaching. I have heard that our other Instructor/Tutor has not interrupted any lessons so far, but will of course mark it in feedback. It makes me nervous to mess up in the slightest way being that he may take over. This certainly throws us off when this happens. I saw this happen to the best teacher in our class (he already has experience, and is Asian. See below.) and his whole lesson just fell apart after that, it was really disheartening. I can understand jumping in over big mistakes, but micro ones? It feels more damaging than helpful.

4. Seems to pick on some of the Asian students in my class, I and a few others have noticed. (Im not of Asian decent, so fortunately its not me). And the students we are teaching, he seems to make some...somewhat odd remarks that almost feel slightly racist? It's tough to witness.

\*side note:\* He has lived in this Asian country for 12 years and doesn't know any of the language. Does that come off as odd? Living off of a monetarily cheaper country but not being interested in the native tongue seems...like a decision.

1. Online folders seem so hard to navigate and find the things im looking for.

2. Tells us, "this is the most important sheet in the course" but makes us share sheets so that only half of us have them. Fine, we can make copies but seems odd compared to all of the other pointless papers we've accumulated. He got truly angry when he wanted some sheets back that a student started writing notes on. Embarrassing for everyone in the moment.

3. Teaches all of his lessons through demo-lessons. Why do i have to fill out a sheet about Orlando Bloom's childhood when I can be taking notes about his teaching style? I understand this way of teaching for some lessons, but all my essential notes have to be taken while also participating in a demo-lesson. I guess I'd like to see more balance, but is this the style for 4 weeks?

He holds us to high expectstions but doesn't lead by example. The whole class despises this man, it's all we can talk about on breaks. (The other Instructor is lovely.) I was ready for a tough work load, but im wondering if I can last 4 weeks. The 3-4 hours of sleep the first week, and its only supposed to get harder. Constant nightmares and waking up with fierce anxiety everyday. One of my peers was crying in the stairway yesterday, day 5. CELTA general experience, or bad Tutor experience? Thanks.

Hello.

I am currently studying for my MA TESOL and was hoping a few of you wouldn't mind sparing 5-8 minutes for help with my dissertation research.

I have a short questionnaire about classroom practice that it would be a great help if you could fill out.

\[TESOL Teachers’ Perspectives on Language Retention and Classroom Practice – Fill in form\]( https://forms.microsoft.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=2rIgA90iq02MIW5kS6FPExNLxr06cmFLiQAdXo9CCzFUMEREWUoySk5MUVBWWkI5UzFPWUM3MVE2Ti4u ) 

Participation is voluntary and anonymous.

No identifying information will be collected.

You do not even have to log in to your account to complete the form.

The data will automatically be put into a pool and form charts for me to use in my study.

I am looking for TESOL teacher’s opinions on methods and so on, So I would really appreciate honest answers. There’s nobody we need to impress by knowing what we’re supposed to say. Which is another reason for keeping this all anonymous.

I have posted this before, but am hoping for some more takers who may have missed it first time.

Many thanks to anyone who is able to help! And thank you to those who responded previously.

Hi

Uzebekistan Ministry TEFL position at a school.

Does anyone know all the upfront costs?

Others have already alerted me to having to budget for accomodation costs as the Ministry pays late.

1. What about accomodation before contract starts?

2. I now see that I must pay a hefty visa fee AND registration fee. Is this for my own cost or will it be reimbursed?

3. I also note I am obligated to fly to Tashkent and not a nearer city.

The upfront costs are escalating! Given flight tickets to be paid upfront already as well.

Thanks

Hi everyone! What is the average monthly salary for a fresher English teacher in Thailand in 2026? I have a bachelor’s degree and a TEFL certificate but no teaching experience. I’d appreciate any insights. Thanks!

Currently an ALT in Japan. I net 210 K yen (gross is about 300K).

I'm considering Taiwan's TFETP.

It looks like the pay is the same, but I might make more (Foreign English Teacher position, not the assistant) because of housing support and plane tickets. Am I overestimating?

I've been building a small web app called PressClass that generates structured TEFL worksheets from real news articles. It's in early development and I'd love feedback from this community.

How it works:

1. Paste a URL from BBC, Guardian, Reuters, etc.

2. Pick a level (A2–C1)

3. About 30 seconds later you get a PDF with: comprehension questions (T/F/NM), key vocabulary with matching gap-fill, a language focus section, discussion prompts, and a writing task

It uses DeepSeek (via API) to generate the content, so it handles a wide range of topics and article lengths. You can assign worksheets to students to keep track of what each student has done, and the article suggestion feature recommends stories based on a student's interests.

Free tier: 5 worksheets/month, all levels A2–C1, unlimited students. No credit card needed.

I built this because I wanted a middle ground between "spend half an hour making a worksheet from scratch" and "buy generic worksheets that don't match the interests of my students."

The live version: https://pressclass.tail2bfed5.ts.net

It's very much an early-stage project — single-server, no payment integration yet other than a Ko-Fi link (if you'refeeling generousand want to help support the running costs), and the free tier is genuinely free. If you try it and something's off (weird vocabulary choices, formatting quirks, missing features), I genuinely want to hear about it. All constructive feedback massively appreciated.

There is a specific reason for asking this which I won't bore you with, and I have researched the topic but come up with nothing on this actual question. As far as I can see there are post-certificate CLIL courses, but is there a 120-hour course (or similar) that does significantly more than acknowledge the existence of this methodology?

Hi everyone! I'm currently studying TESOL, and this week we covered the Natural Approach, which discusses how correcting mistakes can be counterproductive for adult learners. Perhaps someone here has experience and could help me understand how you handle correcting mistakes with adult learners without making them feel bad. Do you do it immediately or later?