subject: Your New ESL Teaching Career [print this page] Your New ESL Teaching Career Your New ESL Teaching Career
Making the decision to become an ESL teacher is an exciting time. There's so much planning to do, as well as think about where exactly it is in the world that you want to teach. A lot of people make the decision to begin teaching ESL in a particular country after visiting. There's no better way to choose a place to live and work other than by personal experience. This will ensure that you have a fair idea of what the place is like. It's also likely that you will have made a few friends and contacts before you arrive.
But what if you haven't visited a place before and have applied for a position from your own country or a university recruitment fair?
Probably the easiest way to find out about living and working in a place is to get online. There are thousands of ESL bloggers out there in the webosphere, a quick search engine search of ESL bloggers in a certain country will likely produce lots of good and informative reading from ground zero. Sometimes however, blogs fall by the wayside or people move on, so you must check the dates of publication to make sure that the blog is up to date and the information is fresh and relevant.
Another way to research your ESL teaching destination is to search for esl forums on the web. Again there are lots to choose from, some cover worldwide esl experiences such as www.esltweets.com , which is a new esl teaching worldwide forum and blog combined, whereas other esl forums are country or even city specific. Again, take the time to search for information on your chosen destination, forums are great for this as you will often get all the information you require such as job leads, reviews of bars and restaurants, visa requirements and even classifieds which can give that all important lead to finding good accommodation or a second-hand TV.
ESL teaching forums are far more interactive than traditional blogs and up to the minute conversations are often found which can bring the latest news and opinions on what's on in the area straight to your laptop or smartphone. You will often find picture threads and comments, users personal blogs and region specific news which can be discussed in the forum. ESL Forums are also great for social networking and finding friends in your new town. In fact a lot of people use forums to make friends and network before they even get to a destination. This is invaluable for the new visitor to a city.
So if you're still in your own country looking at a map of the world and wondering just where it is you want to call home. Get online, get searching for ESL forums and get the lowdown on what you need to know. Remember, a good worldwide forum like www.esltweets.com can provide everything you need for the best possible start to teaching ESL. Job leads, accommodation, the latest visa situation, what's hot and what's not can all be at your fingertips. Best of luck with your new esl career!
