Taiwan

1. Stinky Tofu – You will know when you are within 10 meters of a stinky tofu place. It lives up to its name. It is basically tofu that has been left in a brine to ferment for several months, creating an extremely strong odor which doesn’t always sit well with the western olfactory system.

2. Pigs blood cake – This dish usually comes as a black square shape on a stick and is a mix of sticky rice and hot pigs blood, usually found at night markets.

3. Oyster Omelet – Due to the unforgiving texture of oysters this can be quite the gloopy dish. Usually served with a spicy sauce, these can be very addictive.

4. Chicken hearts on a stick – Braised chicken hearts that come with 4-5 hearts skewered on a stick

5. Flash-fried chicken bum – Yes, chicken bum! Don’t be put off by the anatomical area of the chicken this comes from. It’s very succulent and tender. It’s a popular treat in Wulai.

6. Braised meat and organs on a stick – These stands can be found in any night market where there’s food. From squid to chicken testicles to ducks tongue, basically if it’s a popular meat and you can put it on a stick they will BBQ it!

7. Hot Pot – If you come to Taiwan you have to go for hot pot. You cook your own food in a boiling broth at your table. You select what you want to eat from the all-you-can-eat station and cook it at your table. This can include frogs, congealed duck blood, chicken testicles, smoked shark, and fungus, amongst a selection of things that are more suited to the western palate. The best part? Unlimited haagen dazs ice cream for dessert.

8. Rooster Testicles – They are bigger than you might think. This fine Taiwanese delicacy is popularly found in Snake Alley, but you can also find them in hot pot restaurants. Once you bite through that outer membrane the inside has a soft texture to it, similar to tofu.

9. Snake – Visit the famous Snake Alley in the Huaxi Street Night Market for a unique experience. You can eat the meat of the snake and even drink the blood. Every last bit of the snake gets used up.

China

10. Dog Meat – In the west this is probably the most well known weird food that China has to offer. You can find this pooch in your soups, hot pots, stir fry’s, and just about anything that the other meats can go into. It’s said to be a very tasty meat, once you get the image of the family dog out of your head.

11. Mao Dan (also known as Balut) – This is a dish made from boiled duck embryos which are eggs that are fertilized, left for 17 days and then boiled for eating. This is also a popular Filipino dish.

12. Scorpion – Yes, fried scorpion on a stick can be very popular. Don’t worry, the sting is harmless, but the taste can be bitter.

13. Century egg – Also known as Pi Dan, this is basically a rotten egg. Century eggs are left for so long to rot that the yolk turns into a black/green color whilst the white of the egg turns into a green jelly.

14. Frogs – Poor Kermit, he just tastes so good! You can find them barbecued in most night markets, on a stick, of course.

15. Chicken Feet – Usually served marinated, you can nibble on the knuckles of these for a short while. Not much in the way of meat on these little runners, but the flavors are good.

16. Fried starfish – Also a popular street food, usually food on a stick next to its fried seahorse and fried scorpion friends, I hear it’s an acquired taste.

17. Black chicken – That’s right, it is a black chicken. Prized for being healthier than its regular chicken cousin. It can be found in soups, rice, and pretty much anything a regular chicken can be found in.

South Korea

18. Hongeo – Also known as fermented skate. Hongeo is particularly smelly due to the fact that skate, unlike other fish, don’t urinate. Instead it passes its uric acid through its skin, which smells a lot like ammonia when fermented. Yum!

19. Dead body soup – This takes its name from its foul smell. Despite its extremely off putting stench, it is supposed to taste delicious.

20. Beondegi – Silk worm larvae that is either steamed or fried and served as a street food.

21. Sannakji- Brace yourselves, this is live octopus. Taken from its tank it is gutted and chopped up and served, with the tentacles still moving. Danger warning: chew the tentacles thoroughly; the suckers still work and can even kill if not chewed down.

22. Gaebul – These pink pieces of meat are served to you on a plate, and on second glance you notice they are moving. That’s because they are alive, they are live spoon worms. Tasty, and safer to eat than the live octopus, but it looks like something from a sci-fi movie.

23. Juipo – This flat almost see through disk is actually fish jerky. It won’t stink up your fingers like dried squid but it still has that powerful fishy smell.

Have you eaten any strange foods in Asia? Let us know. We’d love to add it to our Asia Food Challenge!

Hi Guys! Thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with a short introduction, please. 

Hiking Wuliaojian

To start, our names are Zach and Shay. We are both in our early twenties. We met in high school, and we have been together ever since (seven years). Our hometown is the suburbs of Chicago, but we both lived in the city for five years while attending university.

Zach:  I attended DePaul University in Chicago where I studied Political Science. I love living in big cities. The crowds, the nightlife, and diversity of environments are all big draws for me. At the same time, I love getting away from said city and its high-energy and high-traffic life and out into nature and its tranquility.

Shay: I spent a ridiculous amount of money studying architecture at the School of  Art institute in Chicago. However, I like to tell myself it was all worth it because I loved my major (and still do). After graduation, instead of jumping the gun on an unpaid internship while simultaneously working vampire hours in a bar, I decided to take a break and let the spirit of travel float me away- beginning in Taiwan.

How did you and Zach decide on Taiwan for a teaching destination?

Well, both of us studied abroad during our college years. Shay visited Copenhagen and studied architecture and urban planning. Zach went to Ireland and worked in their parliament and studied for a semester. So, for us, travel and living abroad was something that was embedded in our ethos and something we both wanted to do.

Zach:  Specifically speaking, one day when I was walking back from class I just had an epiphany and called Shay to tell her we should spend at least a year abroad, living in a country rather than travelling as tourists. She didn’t take much convincing and, therefore, we began our search in earnest. After volunteering was nixed due to financial considerations (thanks a lot Sallie Mae), we stumbled upon a connection for teaching in Taiwan. After hours of online research on the subject (teaching) and the destination (Taiwan) we found Reach To Teach. Shay sent an email. We started our TEFL course.  We finished our TEFL certification and the application process. Alas, though, none of it seemed real until the day of my graduation when Carrie called us while we were sitting in a Mexican restaurant with a little buzz going and told us we had been offered jobs. 18 days later we were on a plane to Taipei. The rest is history.

Shay: Yep.

Would you recommend Taiwan as a teaching destination? If you would, what would you say about Taiwan?

We both highly recommend teaching English in Taiwan. We did some initial research in other countries prior to our decision and certainly came across other countries that offer a higher pay or different benefits. But, it really comes down to the culture of Taiwan being the biggest draw and what is keeping the two of us here for an additional year. That being said, it is still very easy to save money. Teachers in Taiwan are in the top 10 percentile of earners and compared to the standard of living, one can easily save up a few extra bucks to send home each month.

In general, teaching here is a relatively easy job if you are willing to put the work in, if you have a fun and outgoing personality and if you understand what you are getting into.  At the same time, people who come here have to understand that not everyone can be a teacher.  You must be willing to be goofy and fun, but you must also be willing to be loud and authoritative.  But, alas, that is something most people already know.

Finally, there are some frustrations that come with working here.  The most annoying one for us, and for many other fellow teachers, is the lack of communication within the workplace.  It seems to us, at the very least, that the workplace and the job would go much smoother if management and co-workers would just tell you exactly how to do something and/or tell you what the problem is. The second main one would be that there is a distinct possibility you will be working six days a week, which can become exhausting.  So, clearly, that must be taken into consideration.

Were your first few months in Taiwan particularly challenging? What are some challenges that you had to face together?

Well, when you decide to up-and-move halfway around the world, you are going to face many challenges. The biggest universal difficulty here is language. The first few months are spent pointing at food and hoping it’s what you think it is. There are times when the barrier can make you feel helpless in situations where you would normally have complete control over back home. To alleviate this difficulty and make your experience here even more enjoyable, Taiwan is an amazing place to learn Chinese. But, in the end, whether you learn Chinese or not, it is not insurmountable because enough people speak enough English here to get by.

Staring. Lots of staring. Unabashed, blatant picture-snapping staring. Sometimes you feel like a celebrity, other times you feel like punching someone. The good news is that you’ll get used to it or at least become immune to it.

Moving on, we wanted to quickly talk about something that couples may face if they choose to come here together. Before we moved here, we had lived together for three years. When we moved here, then, we chose to do the same thing. The difference being, though, that the apartment we moved into here is the size of a prison cell. (This is not something that happens to everyone but, rather, is a result of our naivety and impatience while choosing housing in Taiwan.) Living with another person in such a small and confined space on the other side of the world can and probably will be stressful. It was for us. Ultimately, though, we came out stronger and more prepared for anything in the future.

Photo by Zach and Shay

Let’s start with the “bad” news; the lack of a “personal bubble.”  By this we mean that in the United States/North America the people seem to understand themselves and others as having a “personal bubble.”  We walk, drive, stand, etc., at least a majority of people anyway, in a way that minimizes the chances of disrupting other people. It is a sort of cultural social contract.

One of the things that you will quickly notice while living here is the people’s seeming disregard for other people around them. It is a seemingly endless focus on themselves and their endeavors.

You will take an umbrella to the head, whether it is raining or sunny.

No one will move to the center of the MRT in order to make room for people getting on.

People on iPads/iPods/iPhones and various other technological devices will not pick their heads up and, if given the chance, will walk right into you.

A walk symbol for pedestrians is merely a suggestion to stop for drivers of scooters, taxis, and other vehicles.

In summation, this is something you will probably notice. It isn’t rude. It’s just their culture and their cultural social contract. But, it will probably annoy you.

Now, the “good” news:

People:  The people in Taiwan are incredibly accommodating, helpful, polite, and a number of other superlatives. Part of this is no doubt due to their pursuit of “saving face,” but for us it also seems to be much more than that. It seems to be an honest, sincere pursuit to interact and assist foreigners, and it seems each other, whenever they can. We can guarantee that if you were to stand around looking lost, you would be approached and helped within minutes. For example, two of our friends were lost trying to find a beach north of Taipei and were approached by a few middle-aged Taiwanese people who proceeded to bring them to their beach house, invite them in, invite them back, and then take them to the beach.  This is not something that is uncommon or unheard of either. (And, no, it is not a dumb idea to get into a car with Taiwanese people. Taiwan is incredibly safe. No stranger danger here.)

Food in Taiwan:  Food is everywhere here, which causes you to think about it constantly. Making matters worse, or better, is that the abundant food is amazingly delicious and the selection is fantastically diverse.  Whether it is night markets, restaurants of varying culture and cuisine, or just random street vendors, it is consistently good. You get the point. (Must tries: Taiwanese “$100” restaurants, dan bing, and cong zhua bing.)

Diversity of Environments: In Taiwan, at least in Taipei where we live, there is an amazing amount of diverse and seemingly incompatible environments. Within the matter an hour you could spend your time in the concrete jungle or in the actual jungle. You could be on a flat street at a night market crawling with people and filled with stands, or on a mountain crawling with wildlife and filled with trees and bamboo, all just an MRT ride away. The possibilities are endless. This makes escaping the city life and its pressures easy. It also makes living in a big city mind-bogglingly simple. Taiwan is truly a place where you can experience everything that is good about the world, and it is all packaged in a relatively small and convenient package. What’s not to love?

What is your favorite travel destination in Taiwan?

So far we feel like we haven’t traveled enough in Taiwan, but we are staying another year so we hope to accomplish much more before we leave. From what we have experienced in our time here, we have two places that stand out in our minds. The first is Taroko Gorge, located in Hualian. This is Taiwan’s version of the Grand Canyon, but instead of red stone it is made of white marble. The second Wuliaojian, located near Taipei. This is a challenging, fun and beautiful hiking trail up one of Taiwan’s many gorgeous mountains. We’ve tackled quite a few hiking trails in our time here thus far, but this one has been the most spectacular, though not the safest.

Is there anything else you’d like our readers to know about? 

Toroko Gorge, Photo by Shay and Zac

In conclusion, we feel that whether you travel in Taiwan (you most definitely should) or somewhere else in this wonderful world, you must embrace BOTH the similarities and differences in Taiwanese culture. We have seen amazing similarities between the people here in Taiwan and people back home. In general, people all over the world have incredible resiliency, adaptability and drive. Accepting this is something that really helps you accept and adapt to living abroad. At the same time, you must be willing to accept the dissimilarities as well. Some will be irritating and seemingly irrational. Others will be amazing and eye opening. But, they all are important. Living abroad has proven to us to be the greatest and most effective mirror into understanding our culture and ourselves. We have learned more here from observing those around us and ourselves than it is possible to learn in any classroom. It has been and will continue to be a truly amazing experience.

In summation, jump into the deep end and travel.  You will be rewarded.

Do you have any favorite blogs or websites about Taiwan that you’d like to share with our readers?

Shout out to:

Hungry Girl in Taipei

Travel Asia – My Several Worlds

Traveling Vanilla Bean

Hopefully we will get our own up and running soon!

We can’t wait until you do. Thanks for a terrific interview! 

My name is Dean Barnes, and I’m originally from the UK. Back in England I had a multitude of jobs trying to find what I really wanted to make a career from, until finally I landed upon teaching. I began working as an ESL teacher in Denpassar, Bali. I then took up my second position in Taipei, Taiwan where I now live.

I began my ESL teaching career on the Island of Bali, Indonesia. I wanted to experience living on a tropical island in my free time coupled with a strong ESL teaching position, and for the most part I wasn’t disappointed. I went with three friends and we decided to take a risk and land ourselves on the island and hope that we would find a job during our three-month landing visa.

In the beginning we completely threw ourselves into job hunting and networking to try to find ESL positions, but temptations of the island’s beauty and surf time got the better of us on occasion and our focus became somewhat confused between job hunting and beach living.

Bali is a small island, so naturally there are only so many job openings that the island can offer you. Lady luck was smiling down on us one day when our networking finally paid off and four positions had just opened up at English First School (EF) in Denpassar, one of the better schools on the island, teaching ages 6-16. We couldn’t believe how lucky we were so we threw our all into the recruiting process. We were all successful in getting the jobs and they provided us with an excellent training program.

My position at English First offered classroom based teaching and online teaching. I found the classroom based teaching very stimulating and more suited towards what I expected out of a teaching position. With online teaching it’s hard to show any teaching flare or initiative as its mainly guided slide shows for an online classroom. It’s extremely easy work but not overly exciting for a teacher.

The pay in Bali for a teacher is OK. In relation to the cost of living on the island you can live comfortably, but in relation to what you usually earn back home, you are working for peanuts. This means that there isn’t much room to save money for further travel, and if you have bills you still need to pay for back in your home country, as I did, then this takes a significant chunk of what you earn in Bali. You can expect to earn around USD $600-700, which seems fair but then you have to equate travel and rent and food into this, so actually you aren’t left with very much.

After I felt my time in Bali was up I moved home for a few months to save up enough to come to Taipei, Taiwan. I decided to employ the same risk tactic in finding a job by relying on my three-month landing visa time to find employment. It really didn’t take too long to find a job here, but I don’t know if I’d recommend coming to Taiwan without something lined up in advance. These days, it’s becoming harder and harder to find a teaching job in Taiwan, especially if you have your heart set on Taipei.

I was lucky because I found a position on my own through a well known chain school shortly after I arrived, but I ended up leaving that school because I didn’t like the hours or the low rate of pay. Even at the low rate of pay that I was offered, it’s still an attractive salary compared to what I was making in Bali, and it’s easy to save money in Taiwan because of the low cost of living here.

Overall I found that the process of teaching, and even living in Taiwan, quite smooth. The visa process is handled by the school so you barely have to even think about it and the training that was provided to me was of an excellent standard lasting for a week.

After I left that position I spent months looking for work in Taipei without luck. I found plenty of sub hours, but no one was willing to offer me enough hours for an ARC. I found that there are dozens of qualified teachers on the ground and looking for work in Taipei at any given time. Some of them have been here looking for work for 6-8 weeks already! I’m thinking those teachers are going to have to expand their search area or take what they can find. I know a lot of Taipei teachers that are working two jobs to make ends meet. They find a school to sponsor their ARC, work the requisite 14 hours, and then add additional hours to their roster through private tutoring, sub hours or by adding a second job to their ARC. If you’re willing to consider locations outside of Taipei, you’ll find that the rate of pay is often higher, the cost of living is much lower, and you’ll get more hours. That means you can save more money overall!

There also seems to be more of an expat teaching community in Taiwan. More often than not the westerners you meet in Taiwan are either teachers or students. In Kuta, Bali you meet backpackers trying to ‘find themselves’ or Australians who are there on an 18-30’s alcohol fueled club focused party-of-a-life time vacation.

In Bali it was hard to lay down roots. Sometimes you would meet these amazing people and really connect, but they were only there for a one-month stint during their backpacking journey, so you find yourself either having to get used to saying goodbye or not even bothering to make the effort. The only other friends I had there were some of the locals and the other western teachers I worked with.  But because of the large expat teaching community in Taiwan it’s easy to make friends that are going to last at least a year.

I’ve also noticed a difference in the work ethic between countries. The work ethic in Taiwan is really strong and it’s evident in all ages, which is of great use as a teacher. Students here tend to really want to do well and excel. The students in Bali tend to be a little more unruly; I found my classroom management skills were greatly strengthened by my time in Bali, which is good as I now have a whole mental library of techniques for controlling a class.

There are also non-teaching differences to consider which greatly affect your time in the country. For example the infrastructure in Bali is very limited; there are no train services and there tends to only be two buses a day to get anywhere, one in the morning and one at night. Assuming you don’t want to risk your life everyday on a scooter journey to and from work, the only other option is a taxi, which you can set up a contract with. It’s expensive to do this, though. Taipei has a very convenient, clean and cheap MRT system, which allows you to cast your net further when looking for a job.

Although Bali was tough going at times I wouldn’t call it a bad experience. It helped me grow as both a teacher and a person. It was always nice to know that any challenges throughout the day are erased as soon as you hit that beach to do some surfing and watch the sun go down. Taipei on the other hand has been very smooth sailing for me, and I feel integrated. This feeling came very quickly and has only continued to grow.

I feel blessed that I have had the chance to have these two insightful experiences, which have shaped me as a teacher and an individual.

Taiwan

Pros

• Pay – Taiwan offers a very attractive pay that allows you to enjoy the island whilst saving.
• Transport – The transport system here is so cheap and so clean. With the high speed rail you can get from one part of the island to another in no time.
• The locals – I was very surprised by how friendly and happy the locals are here, particularly towards foreigners. Most people have a good level of English and want to practice that on you, so conversations can be struck up pretty much anywhere.
• Visa – Most schools will handle the visa process for you so you don’t even need to worry about it.

Cons

• Saving Face – It has an effect on so many aspects of life here. From people not apologizing when they accidentally stab you in the face with their umbrella to having a parent deny that their child may be slower than the rest of the class or even that he/she actually may have some mild learning difficulties. This is just something you have to accept, or at least buy some protective eye-gear when it rains.
• Stinky Tofu – It’s everywhere! And certainly lives up to its name. A friend and I unknowingly tried this in our first week here in a soup form, we named it farmyard soup. Word to the wise, never leave the house if you have a hangover and you know there is going to be a stinky tofu place billowing its fumes at you.

Bali

Pros

• Surroundings – I can’t even put into words the sheer beauty of Bali, the pictures I have provided don’t even do it justice. No matter where you go it’s apparent that you are in one of the most beautiful spots on Earth.
• Food – The food in Bali is amazing, always presented to you in such an artistic manner and the taste is sensational. If you’re like me and my best friend who I traveled with and you like spice, then you will love the Balinese food.
• The locals – The locals have a very laid back approach to things, sometimes it’s a little too horizontal but this you learn to love. Lots of people take things in their stride and this relaxed feel is a nice change from London, and you find it rubs off on you a little. There were days when we would do things like go harpoon fishing with some locals, and then build a fire on the beach to barbecue our fish whilst one of our local friends climbed a nearby coconut tree and fetched us natures thirst quenching drink. Its experiences like this that will stick with you forever.

Cons

• Tourism – This being Bali’s biggest economical trade it is apparent in most places. The 2002 and 2005 Bali bombings, plus the 2004 Tsunami hit Bali’s tourism hard and you can see the locals desperation in clawing back their number one trade. It has ruined certain areas of the islands beauty, and tainted some of the locals’ perception on westerners. It’s hard to escape being viewed as a filthy rich white guy, be prepared to be dragged into every shop you pass, and I mean physically, to have knick-knacks thrown in your face at high prices, or having every scooter driver that passes you try to get you to use them as a taxi.
• Pay – The pay is fairly low in western terms. You can live comfortably but don’t expect to be able to pay off any debts or travel much after Bali. There is room for increasing your teaching to earn more but then you just feel you are putting in a lot of effort for not much return.
• Transport – Unless you get a scooter you can be quite limited. Getting a scooter can be dangerous, and it’s usually the foreigners you need to watch. You see so many drunk drivers and so many foreigners with huge grazes down the sides of their bodies from where they have come off a scooter, most likely drunk.

For some Bali blogs check out Jack McQuibban who went there as part of a teaching program. Or Tara’s Bali Blog where she reflects on her time there.

Today we hear from one of our teachers in Georgia. Britney is a Reach To Teach teacher who hails from Florida and teaches her young classes in Georgia. Read on to hear about her teaching experiences and how heart warming she has found her time there.

Please tell us a little about yourself.

I’m a graduate from Florida State University in Tallahassee Florida, however I was born and raised in Miami Florida. I received my degree in International Affairs with a minor in Japanese.

How have you enjoyed teaching in Georgia to date?

I’m really glad iv’e had the opportunity to teach in Georgia, the students are genuinely happy to have me there and to have me assist them in learning English.

What advice can you give to new teachers interested in teaching in Georgia?

The best advice I could give any teacher wanting to teach English in Georgia is to just go with an open mind, and a willingness to give all you have to your students because a lot of them do not have much and for many of them what you as a native English speaker have they want and need and they are willing to listen and learn. Basically if you give your all so will the children.

Can you tell us about a particularly powerful moment in your classroom?

Perhaps the most powerful moment for me happened when my Co-Teacher allowed me to give my own lesson to my 6 graders. It was my first time leading a lesson and although it was a simple matching flashcard game based on the days of the week, the smiles that the children held on their faces and the fact that they were able to say and recognize the days of the week a little better was so heart warming and it truly opened my eyes to just how much those children needed me there.

What are the positive and negative aspects of living in Georgia?

Hands down one of the most positive things about Georgia is that when you step foot into that country you will be stepping foot into one of the most hospitable countries in the world. The people are warm and friendly and always ready to help. On the flip side the Georgia hospitality can be a bit overwhelming if you are a person who values their space.

Have you had the opportunity to travel much in Georgia or the surrounding area?

I was able to do a bit of traveling throughout Georgia while I was there. I lived in a tiny village about two hours away from Georgia’s second city Kutaisi, so I was able to go to Kutaisi a lot. I’ve also had the pleasure of traveling to Georgia’s capital and biggest city Tbilisi, I’ve also been to Batumi and many other small villages. I’ve been able to visit some of the oldest churches in Georgia and discover much of the beauty that lies in the tiny country.

Is there anything else you’d like our readers to know about?

I don’t have much else to say at the moment because I’m jet-lagged and need some time to get all my thoughts together about my time in Georgia but I will say this, Georgia is an extremely beautiful country, with amazing people who are just begging for visitors. This is one place where you will truly be welcomed!

Do you have any favorite blogs or websites about Georgia that you’d like to share with our readers?

A friend of mine, who I met while working in Georgia has a blog and it’s really interesting I think! Her name is Candice and this is the link to her blog. http://zuriabroad.blogspot.com/

Have you seen any great grammar or spelling mistakes lately? What are your grammar pet peeves? We’d love to hear from you!

The Oatmeal

Spelling mistakes are intolerable. You should know the differences between these words, and so should your students.

How many mistakes do you see here?

Watch those extra letters.

Great! Lucy can fly, but does she know where an apostrophe should go?

Yes, you are indeed unique in your use of the apostrophe.

Over 130 years of apostrophe catastrophe

 The use of correct punctuation and spelling in a sentence is essential. Hot vegetarians?

So who is supervising the adults supervising the adults? Re-read what you have written to see if it makes sense.

Your or You’re? Think about it!

Too, to and two sound the same, but they mean different things!

I wonder if they have an issue with customers attempting to make their own sushi?

Congratulations to you on your fine spelling! Again, spelling mistakes are not tolerated!

Atrocious! TThose extra letters just love invading words.  Also, rogue apostrophe on the loose! What do you think the baguettes are in possession of?

Seriously! It’s outside of a school!

A must for everyone! There is a huge difference between your and you’re. 

]]> http://www.reachtoteachrecruiting.com/blog/common-grammar-and-spelling-mistakes/feed/ 0 http://www.reachtoteachrecruiting.com/blog/common-grammar-and-spelling-mistakes/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ReachToTeach/~3/As4WoMy6lNw/ http://www.reachtoteachrecruiting.com/blog/why-personality-matters-for-tefl-jobs/#comments Fri, 12 Apr 2013 02:12:22 +0000 Dean Barnes http://www.reachtoteachrecruiting.com/?p=4460

image source

Thinking of becoming an ESL teacher but feel you lack the right personality? Think again! You may be more qualified than you know. There is a whole range of different experiences and life situations which go into shaping an ideal candidate for an ESL position.

It’s true that overseas schools are looking for evidence to show how you are confident, fun and interesting. This is because you’re going to need those qualities to keep your classes interested and motivated in learning English. You also need personality and confidence to be able to deal with living abroad in a new culture.

In many cases, personality can be more important or as equally important as your teaching experience and TEFL qualifications. Recruiters and schools will want to know that you have the courage to work on your own without constant support. They also want to know that you can handle the challenges of your first few months abroad without doing a runner. But how can you showcase this? Here are number of tips for you to display the greatest aspects of your personality within your CV when applying for a TEFL position.

What Makes Me Unique? - Include a sentence or two at the top of your CV that showcase your personality. Here are some of the unique responses that we’ve received from our teachers. Can you spot the one that isn’t oozing personality?

• Although I’m 29, I am still clinging on to (what is left of) the part of me that doesn’t want to grow up! Thus, I feel I can relate well to all my students.
• I’ve never seen Snow White! Nor do I have any desire too! That doesn’t make me unique but my information in my resume does.
• A quote I live by: “What you can do is often simply a matter of what you will do.” -Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth
• I love crafts and am very creative – one year I even dressed up as a fish tank for Halloween! I won first prize in the costume contest that year.
• I was involved in a drama production called The Demise of Imam Faustus. I played the roles of Satan, Vanity and Jennifer Lopez.

Work experience – Have you ever been a leader of a Boy Scout group? Organized events? Have you built houses for charity in another country? These, plus many other types of work experience that show leadership or show that you are a positive or caring person, are great ways to showcase your personality to future employers.

Extracurricular – This can easily be construed as one of the most meaningless parts of a CV, especially if you write something like, ‘I like to read and socialize with my peers’. or ‘I enjoy reading, hiking and listening to music.’ Instead of writing something that has absolutely no bearing on the position you’re applying for, use this section to impress potential employers with extracurricular activities that are in some way related to your sparkling personality or activities that are related to your job. Talk about how you love a good challenge, whether it’s rock climbing or sky diving. Write about events that you’ve hosted, classes that you’ve taken, or activities that have involved working with young learners. Get creative! These are the things the employer wants to know about. They don’t care that you read all of the Twilight books and are most of the way through The Hunger Games.

Been traveling? – TEFL employers want to hear about the travel experience you have had. Why you ask? Travel experience can show a multitude of personality aspects, such as your independence, adaptability, or outgoing spirit. Having been miles away from home in a far off country shows how well you can adapt to things like culture shock; this shows the employer you aren’t going to run a mile when you don’t have your home comforts around you.

Tailor your application – Not every ESL job position is looking for that energetic, creative, fun-in-your-face teacher. These teachers may be well suited for summer camps or young learners, but other employers, such as Business English schools, also have their own ways of working and they are looking for somebody who can adapt and fit into their systems. So it doesn’t matter if you are like a firework explosion of creativity or if you are slightly more reserved and methodical, there’s something to match all personality traits.

No matter what your personality is, from shy to extrovert, there really is something for everyone. Use these five handy tips to promote the best parts of your personality and you should be well on your way to landing that TEFL job you thought you couldn’t get. 

From the big city of New York to the big city of Taipei, Katy made the move to Taipei following a year abroad in China. She has been teaching English in Taipei for almost a year, and in that time she has managed to see and do a lot of things all over Taiwan. Read on to learn about some of Katy’s adventures in Taiwan, and her insights into the positives and negatives of teaching English as a Second Language. And don’t forget to check out Katy’s blog!

Hi Katy. Thank you so much for interviewing with us today. We really appreciate your time, and we’ve been very eager to hear about your experiences in Taiwan. Please begin by telling us a little about yourself.

My name’s Katy Lucid. I’m originally from New York in the USA. Back in the US, I worked as a social worker with kids with a variety of Autism Spectrum disorders. But I’ve been teaching ESL in Asia for almost two years now. I worked in the southern part of China last year, in Foshan, a small city outside of Guangzhou in Guangdong Province.

This year I’m living and teaching in Taipei, Taiwan. I love coffee, spicy hot pot, sleeping late, and “Mink”- my playful black cat that I adopted from the “Animals Taiwan” shelter here in Taipei. I also REALLY love Hip Hop Dance and Musical Improv comedy. I’ve taken dance lessons at Broadway Dance Center with Eric Jenkins and Bev Brown, and I studied musical improv at The Magnet Theater in New York City with Tara Copeland and Michael Martin.

How have you enjoyed teaching in Taiwan to date? 

After almost 10 months in Taipei City I feel like I’ve learned a lot. I’ve definitely grown in terms of my lesson planning skills, I’ve added a variety of new ESL teaching games to my mental arsenal, and I’ve met some really good kids who work SO hard and are a real pleasure to teach! But it was a struggle at first. My school here this year was a big chain buxiban that has branches across Asia – China, Taiwan, Vietnam, etc. Despite being so big and being the most expensive in Taiwan, I don’t feel like that always equates to necessarily being “the best” at least for the teaching staff in terms of benefits.

Sometimes it felt more like a part-time job given the limited amount of hours that were available. There were times when I wished there was more of a sense of community within the school. There were no staff meetings, there almost wasn’t a staff holiday party this year … but it was a good first year learning experience in Taipei, one that I hope to continue to build on and grow from.

You taught in China for a year before moving to Taiwan. Can you tell us a little about that experience?

Last year in China was my first year living and teaching abroad. I had traveled to Europe in the past but this was my first real BIG move outside of New York. I had never even lived off of the East Coast in the USA. It’s hard to sum up China in a paragraph because it is SO big and every city and town is so different. I can’t even make generalizations like that about the USA. As an American I know that Brooklyn, New York is very different from Boise, Idaho. But for my personal experience in China – the people were kind, the food was delicious, the kids were cute, and the internet/”great firewall”/CCP government censorship was frustrating…..but not impossible to get around with a good VPN code.

In China I was the only teacher at my school for the first six months that I was there. It was a brand new school and the emphasis was really more on marketing and attracting students to the school- I had lots of demo ‘promotional’ classes to start. After about two months I really got into teaching.

By the end of the year I had developed good friendships with my teaching assistants who I still chat with on QQ (instant messaging service), built relationships with some of my kids and their families – who invited me to birthday dinners and new year events, I learned how to sing my first song in Mandarin, and I traveled to Hong Kong and Macau several times, so it was a very full year.

How would you compare living in Taiwan to living in China? 

Ultimately, I’m glad to have had both experiences, but Taiwan feels much easier. The difference in living in a big city now- Taipei- plays a part in that, but in general I’d say Taiwan is easier to navigate than China. Taiwan is a small island country of 23 million people. That’s the size of the city of Shanghai in China. For traveling around Taiwan, the high speed rail is great for getting to different cities and towns around the island – from Keelung to Kenting. The MRT is clean and reliable and efficient in terms of getting around Taipei.

There are plenty of options to learn Mandarin in Taipei, but I also have many more Taiwanese friends who speak English- so living in Taipei specifically has been easier both in terms of communication and learning. I also find that community demonstrations are more common here- whether it is protesting against a proposed media monopoly or proposed nuclear plants, you can tell that ROC Taiwan takes pride in free speech and embraces the fact that it is a democratic country. I also feel like there is always some sort of interesting festival going on in Taiwan. I smell incense burning here everyday!

What are the positive and negative aspects of living in China?

Positives
Amazing and interesting food. Plus so many varieties depending on where you travel in China. I had some Chinese friends in Foshan who told me that they could never live in certain cities or areas of China because they could not get used to the food there.

So much history and culture. From Beijing to Xi’an to Guangdong every city and province has its own stories and local languages/food/dialects and pride.

Negatives
Internet censorship. If you are someone who uses Facebook, Twitter, likes to read the New York Times online etc, you will have to get a VPN – virtual private network – to access these sites because they are blocked by the government over in China. A VPN that I used last year that was very reliable was ExpressVPN.biz. Every month about $11 would be charged to my US checking account for the service. But I think it’s worth it to stay connected to friends and family. I also found that the internet was generally much slower when trying to access websites in English in China.

Indirect communication. Sometimes Chinese managers are not so direct in their communication with staff regarding their expectations. Plans for the day might be changed at the last minute. As someone who used to take improv classes in New York City, I often compared it to playing the improv game “New Choice”. It can be frustrating when, as a Westerner, you expect a black and white “yes” or “no” answer. It’s important to remain flexible and go with the flow. Last year, in these situations, I found that everything usually worked out for the best. But definitely speak up if you feel overburdened or feel like you are being taken advantage of.
 
What advice can you give to new teachers interested in teaching abroad?

Research where you want to teach. I knew that I wanted to teach “in Asia”. But it was a process of researching and looking at my options to narrow down exactly where I wanted to go.

Ask questions. Once you are offered a job and given a school contract by a school read the contract thoroughly and communicate directly with your new manager so both know what the other expects/what you’re getting into.

Language. Try to learn some of the language of the country that you are going to! Whether through classes or podcasts/online tutorials- it’s really helpful and you’ll find that it can be fun too! Especially in little everyday ways – like buying vegetables at a local market or singing songs at KTV.

How would you describe moving to Taiwan from China? Was the process fairly simple in terms of things like getting a visa and obtaining the proper paperwork?

Very simple…. and fast too! I was home in New York for about a month visiting family after I left China last April 2O12. While in NY, I kept in touch with Reach To Teach regarding new teaching options, obtained my Taiwan ROC visitor visa from the TECO office in NYC and and came to Taiwan in mid May 2012. I obtained my full Taiwan Resident Card once I was in Taiwan.

Do you have any favorite blogs or websites about China and Taiwan that you’d like to share with our readers?

For China: my go-to’s are usually Shanghaiist- at times both funny and informative. Also, Greg Autry’s blog, he’s a US economist who visits the region often, has co-authored a book on China, and recently testified before the US Congress regarding the CCP/increased cyber espionage coming from the PRC.

For Taiwan, I love reading The Taipei Times news website online, and for blogs I read Hungry Girl In Taipei and the Far Eastern Sweet Potato.

image source

The first day of school sets the tone for the entire school year. It’s important that you make an impression and create a successful first day experience for your students. We’ve created ten tips for teachers to follow on their first day of school. Let us know how your day turns out!

1. Make sure you’re prepared for your day, dress professionally and get to class early. There is no such thing as being too prepared for that first day. Teaching can be unpredictable, so make sure you have a plan that prepares for all contingencies. Be over prepared  rather than underprepared. That way, if you move through your activities and lessons too quickly, you’ve got other activities to fall back on.

2. Greet all of your students as they come in the classroom. By greeting the students one by one instead of as a group you make that first greeting more personal to the student.

3. Introduce yourself to your class and pronounce your name for your students. Students want to know about their new teacher. Don’t start class without introducing yourself first. Write your name on the whiteboard, and ask students if they have any questions. Share a little about yourself and set a comfortable tone at the beginning of class. This will benefit you greatly in the long run.

4. Have your students introduce themselves to the class. Not only does having students introduce themselves allow other students to learn about their classmates, but it also serves you in getting to know the names of your students.

5. Ask each student to share a few details about themselves. The class doesn’t want to hear each student’s life story, but sharing a little information can be fun. This also allows you to assess each student’s speaking ability.

6. Talk about classroom rules and consequences. By setting the rules at the very beginning and talking about consequences, you set the standard for your classroom. If you try setting the rules a month into teaching, you are going to be hit with a lot of resistance by those students whose behavior may already be out of control or in question.

7. Engage your students in some ice-breaker activities. Playing ice-breakers instantly diffuses any uneasy feelings new students may have, and it gives you that ‘fun teacher’ persona. Students in Asia love having a teacher in class that is engaging and fun. This is because they don’t often see this style of teaching in public school. Here are some of our ideas for icebreaker activities for the ESL classroom.

8. Involve your students in activities that involve movement and group work. If you give your students a series of written tasks or individual work to do on their own, it’s likely they’ll become bored fairly quickly. Have your students interact with each other by playing some fun role plays or have them participate in some team games.  This will aid in strengthening critical bonds between students, but also between you and the students.

9. Finish your class with an activity that gets everyone working together. By doing this you finish your class on a high, leaving your students excited about what they’ll be doing in the next class. Creating a feeling of unity within the classroom at this stage is key to a good student to student relationship.

10. Don’t forget to have fun! If you start your first class with boring activities, then your students are going to be bored, and this means trouble! Fun activities plus engaged students equals a successful teaching experience. Active team games which get the students moving around will benefit both yours and the student’s experience.

By using these 10 tips and trusting in your skills as a teacher, you should get through that first day with some valuable experience and probably some humorous stories to share. So don’t forget to smile, and have some fun!

Samantha is teaching young learners in Taiwan in Tucheng, New Taipei City. We are especially excited to hear about Samantha’s adventures here in Taiwan, so read on to find out what challenges she has faced and interesting stories she has to share. Connect with Sam through facebook, or twitter. You can also check out her blog and instagram for more on Sam’s adventures. 

Hi Samantha, thank you so much for taking the time to interview with us today. Please tell us a little about yourself. 

I am a 24-year old American. I was born in Bremerhaven, Germany; grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and went to school at Coastal Carolina University in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I was a 400m hurdler on the CCU track and field team to put myself through school, and I graduated with a degree in English (writing and linguistics). I also worked in a circus performance troupe, an improv theater troupe and in various other entertainment positions.

My first job after graduation was in China, and now I’ve made a home here in Taiwan. I eat way too much sugar and drink way too much caffeine. I am obsessed with The Beatles, Batman and Charles Bukowski. I am pretty (very) accident-prone and have broken a lot of bones and torn a lot of ligaments. I have been an athlete and a performer since I was 3 years old, and I haven’t stopped since, even being abroad. I can breathe fire, walk on stilts, make balloon animals and do acrobatics. I sing and dance all the time, and I really believe in doing whatever makes you happy—even if everyone else thinks you look stupid while doing it.

How have you enjoyed teaching in Taiwan to date? 

I love teaching in Taiwan. The experience is so much more personal and intimate than in China. I love all of my students and have formed very close bonds with them. I just go in and have a blast. My school is very laid back, and I have a lot of freedom in my teaching. I really like being silly and ridiculous all the time, and my students react so well to that kind of attitude. I am able to be myself while teaching in Taiwan, and I am able to put everything I have out in the open for my students, and I believe it really helps them learn. It is something I look forward to every day.

You taught in China for a year before moving to Taiwan. Can you tell us a little about that experience?

Teaching English in Xi’an was an experience. I taught at both primary schools and high schools. I didn’t simply work for one school; I worked for a company that contracted me out to different schools. So, I would work at one school in the morning and a different one in the afternoon. My classes were HUGE; I had around 60 kids in each class. I only saw my students once a week, and I had 26 different classes, so I had well over 1,000 different students every single week. I barely knew anyone’s name.

Xi’an is a cold city, and buildings are not heated there. The pollution is very high, and the locals weren’t particularly fond of foreigners–more like tolerated. It was a crazy experience, and one that I definitely do not regret, but it was not the environment I wanted to be living in or teaching in. I did, however, get to see some awesome things. I visited the Terra-Cotta Soldiers and some of the oldest and most important cultural relics in China. I got to see beautiful mountains and spend time in the very rural parts of Shaanxi. It was just a bunch of different things, especially from America, that I took on all at once and by myself. It was, in a word, insane.

How would you compare living in Taiwan to living in China?

Taiwan and China are like night and day. The entire atmosphere is just completely different. Not to mention, I lived in Xi’an, which was about -10 all winter (so cold!). The people here are much more friendly towards Americans and all foreigners, the cities are cleaner, there is more to do and everything is so much more convenient. I feel much more at home here than I ever did in China. There, I almost felt like I was counting down the time I was there instead of really enjoying it. Here, I can’t even believe I’ve been in Taiwan for 2 months already, and I can’t see myself going anywhere any time soon.

What are the positive and negative aspects of living in China?

China is a very old, very traditional country that is set in its ways. It has a lot of culture and history, and it is a really awesome place to visit. There is so much to learn and take in. It was an eye-opener to be in a place that is so vastly different from where I had lived my entire life. I met people who lived in ways that I would never even consider. I encountered ways of thought that I never thought would be possible. I got to see so much and learn so much, and it has all helped me grow as a person. It is an experience that I could never get anywhere else, and I am grateful for it. I also got to work with some incredibly smart and beautiful children who just made my days so much easier. And, the travel to Hong Kong is pretty cheap, so that was also awesome.

On the other hand, it was hard. Very hard. I was alone in a city that was less than welcoming. I did not enjoy the pollution, the traffic or the attitudes of most of the people. Everything was just a mess all the time. There was very little pride in personal appearance or the appearance of the city. They were all about the culture and the history, but very much detached from what was going on NOW. I was happy to have been there, but I was happier to leave. I can honestly say some of my favorite moments in China were actually not in China at all, but in Hong Kong. Still, I wouldn’t trade it.

What advice can you give to new teachers interested in teaching abroad?

Ask yourself beforehand how comfortable you are going out to dinner by yourself. I’m talking about a sit-down restaurant packed with people on a Saturday night and you’re all alone. Could you enjoy yourself and not be uncomfortable? Could you be content in your own company? Are you happy? If the answer is yes to these, then absolutely go abroad. Don’t think too much about it. Don’t be afraid of it, but know that you’re going to spend a lot of time on your own and in places that are unfamiliar and generally uncomfortable. If you can be OK with those (and be happy), then do it. It is the best experience you could ask for.

How would you describe moving to Taiwan from China? Was the process fairly simple in terms of things like getting a visa and obtaining the proper paperwork?

Fortunately, I didn’t have to do very much. My school took care of everything. Unlike China, I didn’t need to have a tourist visa to get into the country, and once I got here it was pretty much out of my hands. All I really had to do was hand over my passport and diploma. The most difficult process was the actual moving. I had a lot of stuff to drag around, especially because I took a few days vacationing in Hong Kong and Shenzhen.

You’ve got quite an interesting background as a circus performer and as an entertainer. How are these skills translating to your life here in Asia?

These are actually some of the most important skills I have used here in Asia. Being a performer translates incredibly well when interacting with people on any level, but especially in a country where language is an issue. Through circus performing and entertaining (improv troupes, theater, etc.), I have learned how to show emotion and meaning through my actions and body movements, how to bond with an audience without saying a word, how to keep conversation moving without a break, how to think on the fly and how to make people happy. These are things that I love to do, and they have been so valuable while living abroad. They also translate well to children.

I love working with kids because I know how to act like a kid. I am used to playing all day, and I am used to putting on a show, so my job now is really very similar. My stage is a little bit smaller, but I do a lot of the same things. I even make balloon animals at school sometimes—just because. On top of that, I have a lot of stories that start with, “Hey! I can breathe fire!” And those always go over well.

Wow! Sam, it has been awesome speaking to you, you really seem to be making the most of your first few months here. Hopefully we’ll see you around entertaining the good people of Taiwan. Thanks for a great interview and enjoy the rest of your time here. 

Guest post by Carolyn Henderson from www.ThisWomanWrites.com 

Writing, and writing well, is a challenge.

When students write in a second language — English, in this case — the challenges increase, but the same techniques that they use to write well in their first language apply, with a few modifications.

First and foremost, to write well, one reads well — good books, preferably, written well themselves, in order to get a sense and grasp of tone and cadence. For a second language learner of intermediate ability, higher-level chapter books written for teens and young adults are a good start — C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia come to mind as engaging stories with a delightful (albeit British) tone; Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House series as well provides a good story with good writing.

While it is tempting to pull out contemporary vampire and zombie fiction, these are not necessarily well written; my own glancing at some of this fare leaves me irritable and frustrated, encountering a series of simplistic subject/verb, subject verb sentences over and over that always make me weep for the literacy of our upcoming English-writing generation.

But reading is the first, crucial step — lots and lots of reading, rounding out literature with magazine articles, newspapers, ads, pop culture publications like People Magazine, cookbooks, good blogs (like mine – www.thiswomanwrites.areavoices.com) and such to absorb what a sentence written in English — American English, British English, Canadian English — looks like.

From that point, one embarks upon writing, and it’s important to remember that one’s writing ability — especially when learning a second language — lags behind one’s reading ability, but that’s okay, because the more you do something, the better you get at it.

I homeschooled my children — all now adults — and our writing program consisted of just that — writing, from a half-hour to an hour daily, with the topic chosen by the child himself. Some days and some children focused on writing about animals; other times there were treatises on that day’s science or history lesson; once a week there would be a book report; many times I read through short stories featuring the adventures, and conversations, of our rotating supply of farm cats. (I especially enjoyed these conversation stories, since they allowed me to teach the children about quotation marks, and how to punctuate with them.)

My part as instructor was to read these essays and gently correct — because too much correction, all at once, is overwhelming for the writer. So I would focus on a few misspellings out of many, a run-on sentence here and there, the inevitable mixing up of they’re/there/their, and ensure that the mechanics of those few chosen corrections were understood and practiced.

But most important to me was the content of the works and how that content was presented — was the subject interesting? Did the writer use an appropriate tone — formal, informal, something in between? Were the writer’s points clear and understandable? These elements are not as concrete as a correctly placed comma or a proper agreement between the subject and the verb, but they are ultimately what makes a person a good writer, or not.

In teaching writing in a second language, an added, and crucial element is whether the English sounds like “real” English; as a native English speaker, I quickly spy that the message from my phone company is from a non-native speaker by little cues — too much verbiage, for instance, along the lines of,

“I am so happy to be able to answer your question, Mrs. Henderson, and I thank you for the opportunity to answer these questions,” as opposed to,

“Thank you for writing us, and I will do my best to answer your question.”

The distinction is subtle yet concrete, and while a non-native English speaker may never fully get there, he is more likely to succeed if he writes — lots and lots and lots — and is read and critiqued by a native English speaker.

This article was written by Carolyn Henderson, a professional writer who has published Grammar Despair — Quick, simple solutions to problems like, “Do I say him and me or he and I?” designed for both native and non-native English speakers, and written in a colloquial American tone. It is available in paperback for $8.99 or digital Kindle for $5.99 at Amazon.com.