Troy's Blog - 18th June 2009

The First Job

Getting started in the teaching game

A question that often arises during a TEFL course is the inevitable: “How did I get started?” So, let me outline to the best of my memory how I began my life as an English teacher, and how I worked my way from some very humble beginnings into a career EFL teacher, and by default, an expatriate living and working in Asia.

My first 'real' class in my career was in late 1999. At this point I was in Asia with a view to looking around a few places to see what the best country in South East Asia would be for me to live and work in. It occurred to me that I had come to the realisation a few years earlier while I was on holiday in Vietnam that teaching is fun, I enjoy it, and I had made the wrong decision when I gave up on education in favour of working in the 'real world'. With these thoughts rolling comfortably around in the back of my head I found myself in the capital of Cambodia: Phnom Penh.

After two weeks there – a little over my planned whirlwind 10 days – I noticed a handwritten and photocopied piece of paper posted on a notice-board advertising positions for English Teachers. I figured I had nothing to lose by taking a look, and it would be a great way to get a feel for what would be expected of me when I started looking for real. I called the attached number, arranged to meet the following day at noon and went to rummage through my bag for the tie I always carried in case an occasion arose where I might need one.

The following day I set out early and managed to arrive around fifteen minutes before my appointment, at what looked like a closed and run down high school on one of the main streets through the capital. The friendly motorcycle taxi assured me it was the right place so I tentatively walked through the gate. I found the office almost immediately. It was a six foot square building standing on its own looking like a forgotten garden shed. I somewhat clumsily explained to a secretary of minimal English that I was there to meet the director and she replied' "Sit down please, director late".

I sat in a chair essentially blocking the doorway of this tiny room and began a sweaty wait in the 35 degree celsius heat. After around twenty minutes the secretary looked at me from the phone that she was talking on and told me again that the director was late, then handed me the phone. I quickly realized that this was the director that I had spoken to earlier. He asked me some questions about nationality, checked carefully that I was a native speaker, then asked to speak to the secretary again. At this point I was simply going with the flow. I wasn't sure of the purpose of the phone call or where the director even was, and if I was being avoided or perhaps they hadn't expected me to actually show up. After speaking on the phone for a few minutes more the secretary hung up the phone, and handed me a book. “It's room 8” she said with a gesture out the door, “you are late”.

28th February 2010

How to be prepared for an interview

6th December 2009

The Asian fascination with appearance

25th November 2009

What does a teacher look like anyway?

28th September 2009

Three simple pointers to avoid becoming a nervous wreck

5th September 2009

Ten easy pointers to reduce stress during your TESOL course