IAMA English as a foreign language teacher who has lived and worked in Colombia, Japan, Mexico, and now Vietnam

how true is the “Sexpat English Teacher” stereotype? Have you ever met any colleagues who fit into that stereotype and what is your opinion on it? I only ask because I’ve come across some subreddits on here that seem to be populated by those types of people and I’m hoping that it’s not as widespread as I’ve been led to believe it is lmao

It's definitely true that there are lots of people who are in it to meet women. In fairness, probably no more than in any other job. They just have more success because they're 'exotic'.

I've moved up the ranks a bit now so I don't see it so much.

How hard is it to teach English as a non-native in Japan (I can see that you are a native speaker) ? I have a B.A. in English Language and Literature and 4+ years of experience teaching children.
Also, is teaching English a good long-term plan in Japan?
If not, which other of the places you worked in would you recommend?

There are way too many people who really want to work in Japan so wages are low for entry level jobs. It's also really competitive for higher-level jobs.

As a non-native, you'll have difficulty getting a visa for a start. On top of that, you'll be competing with loads of native speakers for jobs which aren't that great to start with.

I see, thanks for the reply!
Are the wages sufficiently high to live by yourself?

Yes. Depending where you are, they are either just enough or comfortable. I was on JET, which is one of the better-paid options. They only hire people of some specific nationalities, though.

I am not planning on becoming a English teacher but I have a question: I have dual citizenship, one of them is from an English speaking country. Do I theoretically qualify as native English speaker for them even when I have never officially lived there?

Hmm, good question.

Probably not everywhere but the passport is what most countries are looking for when they determine who is eligible.

Hmmm, just looked it up. They want to do interviews face to face, understandable. Is it easier to land a job while in Japan or in their requirement countries? If I don't land a job, it will be a nice tourist trip either way.

How much money should a person carry with them when visiting Japan looking for a job?

It's illegal to look for a job on a tourist visa in Japan.

If you found a job, you'd still have to leave the country to get your visa if I remember correctly.

For JET, you do the interview at the embassy in your home country.

Can you point me in the direction to learn english better? I am just awful at it... not that it is a second language

Read and write more. If you're a native speaker then you already have all of the skills, it's just a matter of polishing them.

Also, if you're not sure how to say something, look it up. Apps like grammarly are great for drawing your attention to common mistakes, too.

Do you ever find yourself mixing them all together? My grandmother would always break in the middle of a few of her Italian sentences with a word of English or two.

Very rarely. My wife's Mexican and we speak Spanish at home. I basically never speak Japanese now so I've forgotten a lot. My Vietnamese is terrible.

How did your wife accompany you abroad? Does she have any other citizenship? How does she get a visa to move with you to new countries, and how do you afford it? Did she abandon her career in Mexico to be with you?

Also an English teacher here with a Mexican partner, who has been long distance for too long.

If you're married, most countries will give your spouse a visa if you're working there. Generally this doesn't give the spouse the right to work. This is why she's doing YouTube and italki.

Pho, arepas, ramen, or tacos? If none what were your favorites meals from each country?

They're all good and they're all a bit samey if you eat them all the time.

Favourites:

Mexico: mole

Japan: sashimi

Colombia: empanadas

Vietnam: chả cá

What type of course did you do/ qualifications do you need? I've heard the Cambridge TEFL one is the best but it's very expensive and takes a long time (I have a degree from a UK university but in science so I think I'd have to do TEFL).

How much do you earn abroad teaching in a typical month?Do you find that you can live comfortably on your salary or do you have to supplement with savings/ side jobs? Is it usually contract work? Do you work in schools or 1:1?

The first couple of jobs I had were while I was still at uni and then straight after. I didn't have any teaching qualifications but that wasn't a requirement with British Council (language assistant) or JET.

Now I have a masters in TESOL. I never did the CELTA.

The money you can earn depends a lot on the country you're in. Markets are very different around the world. I've always been able to live fairly comfortably and save a bit but in Mexico that required working two jobs.

Where in Mexico and Colombia have you taught? How did you find those jobs? I'm a Canadian teacher having taught in South Korea, Honduras, the Dominican Republic and now Mexico and am debating which Spanish speaking country is next for me.

I was in Barranquilla, Colombia and Querétaro, Mexico. Both are great places.

I'll be back in Mexico in the not-too-distant future but it's difficult to make a career out of teaching there if you're working for someone else. I think Colombia's a little better but the wages are still pretty bad.

I'm making decent money where I am currently in Mexico, but the expat community is non-existent and I'm lonely as heck, so looking to move to a more expat friendly community - any suggestions?

I really loved living in Queretaro. There are plenty of expats and it's just a nice place to be.

It's difficult to break $1k/month, though. I ended up teaching online because it paid much better.

What is it like working as an English teacher in Vietnam? Surely it must be difficult at best?

Where were you working in Mexico? I've heard that working near the border/cartel-controlled areas is quite dangerous...

Who was the best student you ever taught (in terms of speed of learning)?

The English teaching industry is huge in Vietnam. Salaries are very high compared to the cost of living and there's more work than there are teachers. I'm not a fan of the Vietnamese management style but I'm not sure why you think it world be difficult.

I was in Queretaro in Mexico. It's very safe there. There are some very dangerous parts of Mexico but it's a big country.

It's difficult to say who my best student has been. Ultimately the ones who do very well are the ones who study on their own so I can't take much credit for them. I have a couple now that I'm pretty sure have learning difficulties and they're not up to the standard of their classmates but that kind of makes the progress that they do make that much more satisfying.

Was there something that shocked or really impresed you in one of those countries?

Racism in Mexico. My wife is quite dark skinned and I'm always appalled by the comments that she gets from other Mexicans. The more I have to do with Mexico, the more ubiquitous it seems.

Do you need a degree to do this? I'd like to do it but I don't have a degree. Are there routes into the profession via courses? I've seen courses advertised but I'm skeptical there will be a job at the end. Thanks!

In most countries you need a degree for the visa.

I know plenty of people in Mexico who were teaching without degrees. I've heard Cambodia is also an option.

What's your knowledge of Spanish, Japanese and Vietnamese?

Spanish - fluent

Japanese - studied very hard, got pretty good, now very rusty.

Vietnamese - atrocious. I am studying though.

Currently teaching in Japan on the JET programme. Did you ever have any trouble with rude/hard to teach students? Did you find a tactic that worked?

My second years are driving me crazy.

Japanese kids on the whole are way better than in other countries. I had some tough classes there but they are nothing compared to Mexico and Vietnam.

There's no magic bullet, I'm afraid. Keep reading about teaching and trying the things you discover. You might never quite tame the class but you will be a better teacher for it. The really bad thing about JET is that there's no professional development or mentoring so, unless you have amazing JTEs, you're all on your own.

Hi. How do you manage being away from family and friends? Do you ever miss them?

The good thing is that you end up with friends all over the world. Especially since teachers move around often, you end up with a very wide network of contacts.

It doesn't bother me that I don't see them very often.

Do you speak the native language? Is that necessary?

It's not necessary. I always try my best to learn because it helps you to understand student errors and I feel that it's something that you should do if you live in another country.

As I've said, my Vietnamese is pretty shocking, despite my efforts.

What resources do you use to search for jobs? I tell people to start with Dave's ESL Cafe, as it has been around so long and only one I can both remember and believe is still up.

I've applied to (semi) governmental schemes like British Council and JET. Otherwise had more luck through contacts/reddit.

My wife use to teach English in China but we have moved back to the U.S. Do you think online teaching is still possible for her? What reputable websites do you suggest?

I did Landi for a year and they were really good.

My wife now teaches on italki. They take a hefty percentage but she gets plenty of bookings and it's easy because the students are adults.

One project I want to do is set up a course on Braincert and market it as a freelancer. I've never got round to it but I'd be curious to hear if someone else does.

As someone from the UK, do you teach your students British or American English?

I know the spelling is a pretty minor thing but there are some bigger variations in terms of like Americans saying “I got to” vs British “I’ve got to”, words that are completely different like egg plant vs aubergine and collective nouns where British English considers them plural and American considers them singular.

I try to teach them both.

One of the big challenges is teaching them the difference between non-standard English like "I got to" and what's acceptable on a test. Some people are very fluent but because they learned everything from TV and the internet, they struggle with more formal communication, not just for tests but also professional settings.

Its not proper American English to say "I got to" people here just can't speak their own language. It's sad.

We should try to teach language as it is used, not how some people wish it were spoken.

Using non-standard forms can be a good way to build rapport and put people at ease. This is very difficult for language learners to navigate, because it's not always appropriate.

In some instances, we have to use standard forms to show that we can. For example, if you receive a CV with lots of slang in it, you assume that the person is uneducated, not because they use slang - we all do - but because they can't identify when it's inappropriate to use it.

Do you ever feel trapped in the English teaching career?

I did, then I got out and worked in student recruitment for UK universities for a while before going back to teaching.

ESL is an enormous market with much more to it than just teaching. I think it's important to keep developing your skills and not stagnate in any job because you never know what's round the corner.

Have you always worked legally? What did you have to do to accomplish that?

Aside from my first couple of months in Mexico, yes.

Lots of paperwork, running around government offices, fedexing documents around the world etc etc. Visas are the worst thing about moving from place to place. Fortunately, teaching English means that you can pretty much always get a visa through your job. It's still a ball-ache.

What is the pay like in Vietnam? SO and I taught in China and loved it. Great pay, saving$2000-$3000/ month with great vacation benefits. What are tutoring options like? We'd like to go at it again in the near future, but would like to escape the pollution of China if possible. How does Vietnam compare?

Vietnam is still very polluted. The pay is good and living here is very cheap but anything is going to be a step down from China. I try to save $1500-2000 a month between my wife and I.

Lots of tutoring options and the pay is normally $20-25/hour.

My wife's taking advantage of the travel to make a living as a Youtuber.

I am curious. Apart from ads, how do you earn money on YouTube? Does it involve tying up with travel agencies?

She's making $100~ month from ads. The channel gets her students in italki which makes up the rest. There's still a long way to go but she's working hard and the channel's growing steadily.

Everybody I've talked to in Japan, both locals and expats living there have told me that everybody looks down on foreigner English teachers. Did you feel that when you were there? Do you feel that in other countries, where I'm guessing the sentiment is similar?

I was in a smaller city and honestly, I never felt that in Japan. The sentiment exists around the world, though. It's true that many people are in this because it's easy and they couldn't get a good job in their home country.

It's a shame because some people have been doing it for years and are very well-qualified.

Which agency did you do for Japan? What's the initial cost to move and whatnot? Decent wage? Tell me about your Japan experience please!

I did it through JET. I made 250,000¥ a month after taxes.

The flight and visa were paid for so I only needed enough to get through the first month.

It was OK. The job was very easy but very boring, too. I didn't have many classes and I was always just the assistant so what I actually did depended on who my Japanese co-teacher was. A lot of them just had me read out loud from the textbook.

Japan is fine. It's not really weird and exotic as a lot of people imagine. It's a developed country where the people are very nice. I never really saw it as somewhere I'd want to spend the rest of my life but it was a nice place to live for a while.

Do you travel light? Or have you guys progressively have got more stuff to travel with?

We sold all of the stuff we had accumulated in Mexico and now we don't own that much. It's quite good for keeping costs down because you're less tempted to buy things if you know you'll have to move in a couple of years anyway.

Where did you begin? Did you start off young learning languages and learning to become an English teacher early on? If not, what was your beginning. I tell myself that I've missed my opportunity, I want teach English in Japan. But the journey from A to B is years long, how do I find the resolve to start and stay the course?

I always liked learning languages and then I found out about this career and it seemed to make sense

As long as you've got a degree in anything, it's not hard to get into teaching English.

Did you like Colombia?

Yes. Colombia is amazing. I hope to visit again soon.

I did some EFL teaching in the past but it was always in countries whose major language used the Roman alphabet. What particular challenges come from your students having had no contact with the target language's alphabet, in the cases of Japan and Vietnam for example?

Vietnam uses the roman alphabet, just with lots of diacritical marks so it's not an issue.

It makes it a little bit more challenging to learn a new alphabet but roman letters are so common, I think most people already have some exposure to it.

Thinking about it the other way around. Learning katakana and hiragana for Japanese are easy. You can understand and use them within a week. I'm not as fast reading them as roman letters but it's not an impediment at all. I guess it's the same for them.

Why do so many bald white losers become foreign english teachers?

We've got to pay the bills somehow.