Jobs For Ex English Teachers

Taiwan is a modern, industrialised megalopolis of big cities that benefit from booming trade with the US and other countries. Its thriving cities skirt glorious mountain ranges, and despite the hi-tech, developed aspect of the country there are still grass-skirted, indigenous tribes slightly at odds with this image. The official language is Mandarin, and twenty-three millions squeeze into an area of fourteen thousand square miles. Religions practiced include Taoism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Christianity. There is such a wealth of opportunity for TESOL teachers in Taiwan that it is hard to describe. For example English kindergartens are highly fashionable, and the trend for English goes from there up in the education system. In addition to this there are many corporations that need...  [Read more]

For the TESOL teacher the countries that comprise the bulk of the Middle East include Dubai and the rest of the UAE, Bahrain, Israel, Palestine, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Yemen. As a region it has many stark contrasts. The oil-rich states, such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE, offer generous salaries, and very pleasant living facilities. At the other end of the scale Palestine, on account of its difficulties, attracts few TESOL teachers. Even within the oil-rich states one can find considerable contrast. For example, Qatar is engaged in a programme of rigorous westernisation - including the free availability of alcohol; however, in Saudi Arabia, one is dealing with very much more an Islamic state. In general TESOL teachers report of the region that the salaries...  [Read more]

Bulgaria is a country striving to adapt to the new economic order that prevails in the country. Much has changed for many people, and what were formally regarded as ‘peasants’ now have satellite television, if not a great deal else! Bulgaria has remained remarkably immune to the political turmoil of the recent decades. This has brought with it stability rather than the boom and bust that has characterised some countries in the region. Hence, the currency is fairly stable, and working conditions are predictable. The population is about seven and a half millions and this fits into a landmass of forty-three thousand square miles. Languages spoken include Bulgarian and French, and the religious orientation is eighty five percent Bulgarian Orthodox, with thirteen percent Muslim. Since 1989...  [Read more]

Mighty big place, Partner. As Ferdinand Braudel, the great French historian observed, ‘the land dictates the people’, and it is a good idea never to stray too far from this theme. If you want to know what ‘cold’ is then head up to Minneapolis, north of Toronto, in the mid winter. If you want to know what ‘hot and humid is’ then try Orlando in the height of the summer. If you transcribe a line from Los Angles to Miami and turn this into a road trip then the number of different peoples and environments you will encounter is immense. By all means there is a thin veneer of Americanism, and everywhere you will find both McDonalds, and the presence of the Federal Government; however, you shouldn’t let this take your eye off the ball of the fact that the people and environment of...  [Read more]

British english vs american English With English being recognised as the global language of choice, which one is considered the official language? So just how did American English diverge from British English in the first place? American English roots back to the early colonial days of the late 16th century, were a whole gamut of cultures converged into a single society. In some colonies English wasn’t even a spoken language and in those colonies that did speak English it was quite different from the English we know today. The Elizabethan English of the day consisted of many varieties of regional English dialects. All these different dialects, intermingled with a multitude of cultures formed one big boiling pot, of which over time, a new variant was produced – American English. And...  [Read more]

Pronunciation Problems for Chinese Students of English As a global language, English has been popularly taught as the second language in China for quite a few years. Now there are more Chinese people learning English on various purposes, such as applying for a higher paid job, studying and living abroad, or establishing business with western countries. According to my experience of learning and teaching English, it is harder to master English pronunciation than English grammar for Chinese students. Chinese grammar may appear quite simple compared to that of many highly-inflected Western languages (e.g. Russian, Latin, etc.), or even the low-scale verb conjugations, for instance, of English (e.g. "swim, swam, swum") because of the lack of inflections. Even though there are similarities...  [Read more]