I Was a Terrible English Teacher

When I came to Taiwan and started teaching, I didn’t have a clue.
I was so bad that after my English class, some students started speaking French. I used to give extra credit to the student who stayed awake the longest. I used to pay my private students. I was blacklisted from Tealit.
I did work very hard and improved over time, but I think I am one of those people that just should not be a teacher. I have gained an appreciation about how hard a job it really is. I have gained a deep respect for those that do it and do it well. I hope I never have to do it again.

And how did you get out?

When did you get out?

What are you doing now?

Did the warden try to shoot you on the way out?

Seriously, making a change in Taiwan is a big move. Unless your Chinese is super, there are not a lot of choices. Did you make your own way out, or… were you pushed?

It finally came to the point where I had to get out for my own sanity. I found a technical writing job. It’s the kind of job that you don’t need a whole lot of Chinese, but it helps. It’s been almost six years.

:bravo: I used to teach here in Taiwan too. And although I think it’s fairly easy to be a bad English teacher, it is very tough to be a good one. Well said, Richard.

Bassman: I’m not sure if Richard can tell us what he does now. Not without revealing his secret identity. It’s really for our own protection.

(However… shhh… --and you didn’t hear this from me-- :saywhat: , but I believe Richardm is currently making his living as some kind of masked crime fighter!)

Good on you. It has long been a dream of mine to find my way out, but fear of the unknown and attachment to my blankie, have kept me exactly where I am. Strange really, people who are like that aren’t usually the kind that pack up and move to Taiwan. Something happened along the way.

I was talking to a teacher the other day about career English teachers, because she is 28 and having her first mid-life crisis. I said to her that I can’t think of anyone who DECIDED to be an English teacher in Taiwan. They were teaching English, and then it was 5 years later…or ten. It just happens. I think that is how the good ones are. They know they’re good at it, and they do get a good deal of satisfaction from teaching, and they let the downers and BS float by without much ado.

I honestly can’t imagine anything I’d rather be doing…and still maintain the same level of happiness that I now enjoy, aside from early retirement which means cruising North America in a Winnebago! :slight_smile:

I was and still am a terrible teacher. Yet it keeps me legally in da country, and pays amazing. :slight_smile:

You don’t feel you owe it to your students to try to improve? I suppose not; you sound like you’re proud of your incompetence!

You don’t feel you owe it to your students to try to improve? I suppose not; you sound like you’re proud of your incompetence![/quote]

Lighten up a little. Sounds like the guy was just having a little fun.

I am trapped in the perfectionist cycle. I’d like to change, but I keep finding things to do better and can’t rest until it is better. I came here for 6 months and it’s been 6 years already. The original plan was to earn some money, go back home and buy an awesome bass guitar set up and travel with the band again, but I stretched it out to a year, and now … it doesn’t look like it will end.

If I could just stop myself from getting my fingers in too many pies. I just found a little An Ching Ban that needs an overhaul and, if I don’t slap myself soon, I may just jump right on in. July, July, July… gotta , must, need to… st…st…sto…p…s t o p; will I or wont I?

Actually, I am a great teacher and on top of that my classes are fun. Wow, fun and they learn something… :astonished:

Teaching can be a mix of highs and lows, glorious highs and average lows. All in all, not a bad job.

However, I have met many teachers that don’t belong in the classroom, but they’d never know it because their schools don’t give a rats patootee (spelling?) what they do in the class. The fastest way to burn out is not to be taken seriously and not taking your job seriously. Of course, you should never take yourself too seriously. (but I do :blush: )

Wow :notworthy: Is there no start to this man’s talents ? I’m being to think there is nothing that Richard isn’t terrible at :notworthy:

[quote]One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one’s work is terribly important.[/quote]–Bertrand Russell

I guess it varies with the person. It may also vary according to position.

I’m not in control of very much about my current job, which is at a buxiban but mainly involves editing a small dictionary. But looking back on it, when I was just doing teaching, I also had little control over things.

In certain instances–for example, in a kindy situation where I thought that the kids didn’t even understand how to use the workbook, much less its content, or where I felt the reading material was substantially beyond the kids’ comprehension–I became pretty regularly infuriated with management. Eventually, my fury for the most part settled down to a simmering resentment, in part because they actually changed things a little. But I was still resentful.

If you’re in management, or at least if you’re an owner, I suppose you can change situations like that yourself. I’m not saying I envy management, but at least there’s that upside.

Generally, I’m at my wackiest when I start taking my job very seriously, and I’m at my calmest when I think, I’m just a little guy here, doing my small part to make up a crowd, and nothing I do matters that much.

I remember reading somewhere that Joseph Kennedy advised his sons with something like this: Always do your very best, and then, after you’ve done your very best, the hell with it.

I have an 80% rule that works well for me.

I used to be like you Bassman, worked at the top of my abilities every single class, and I did this for a couple of years :loco: …after I came out of the loony bin, I realized a change was in order.

But what to change? I couldn’t NOT care about the job, because it meant too much to me. So I came up with the 80% rule.I try to teach at a minimum of 80% every day, day after day, class after class. Sometimes it’s higher, but never lower. I don’t burn out and the quality is B work or better.

This seems to satisfy me as a teacher, and as a boss, because I must be doing something right as the kids are still there.

I thought I would be a terrible teacher because I’ve only tutored before coming here.

Now nine months later, I’m a wanted English Language Assistant (that’s what I call myself). My students specifically request for me. I don’t know, what am I doing right?

I make them laugh,
I tell jokes,
I ask them to tell me jokes,
I act,
I over-exaggerate,
I use Chinese,
I tell them don’t write everything I write on the board,
I tell them if you learn only one thing today, let it be “I don’t think so!” or some colloquial phrase/slang,
I emphasize speaking is foremost, grammar is secondary,
I dress nicely for class.

Edit: I’m still learning, but so far my method works for me. I hope this helps some newbie teachers out. :slight_smile: It’s actually not as scary as you think.

Now, if I can only have a natural flair for computers, technology, etc… :unamused:

[quote=“914”]I don’t know, what am I doing right?

I make them laugh,
I tell jokes,
I ask them to tell me jokes,
I act,
I over-exaggerate,
I use Chinese,
I tell them don’t write everything I write on the board,
I tell them if you learn only one thing today, let it be “I don’t think so!” or some colloquial phrase/slang
I emphasize speaking is foremost, grammar is secondary,
I dress nicely.[/quote]
Depending on what you mean by “nicely,” I think we may have found a winner :laughing:

[quote=“914”]I thought I would be a terrible teacher because I’ve only tutored before coming here.

Now nine months later, I’m a wanted English Language Assistant (that’s what I call myself). My students specifically request for me. I don’t know, what am I doing right?

I make them laugh,
I tell jokes,
I ask them to tell me jokes,
I act,
I over-exaggerate,
I use Chinese,
I tell them don’t write everything I write on the board,
I tell them if you learn only one thing today, let it be “I don’t think so!” or some colloquial phrase/slang,
I emphasize speaking is foremost, grammar is secondary,
I dress nicely for class.

Edit: I’m still learning, but so far my method works for me. I hope this helps some newbie teachers out. :slight_smile: It’s actually not as scary as you think.

Now, if I can only have a natural flair for computers, technology, etc… :unamused:[/quote]

So, you looking for a job? :wink:

[quote=“914”]I thought I would be a terrible teacher because I’ve only tutored before coming here.

Now nine months later, I’m a wanted English Language Assistant (that’s what I call myself). My students specifically request for me. I don’t know, what am I doing right?

I make them laugh,
I tell jokes,
I ask them to tell me jokes,
I act,
I over-exaggerate,
I use Chinese,
I tell them don’t write everything I write on the board,
I tell them if you learn only one thing today, let it be “I don’t think so!” or some colloquial phrase/slang,
I emphasize speaking is foremost, grammar is secondary,
I dress nicely for class.

Edit: I’m still learning, but so far my method works for me. I hope this helps some newbie teachers out. :slight_smile: It’s actually not as scary as you think.

Now, if I can only have a natural flair for computers, technology, etc… :unamused:[/quote]

But do they actually learn any English? You’re good at keeping the kids entertained, obviously. But are you actually doing any teaching?

That’s the problem with the buxiban system in a nutshell. Schools primarily want teachers that can play the clown and keep the kids happy. They couldn’t care less if the kids actually learned any English. And in Taiwan…most of them don’t.

Judging from that list, you’re a good entertainer, 914, but are you a good teacher?

Oh yeah, I wasn’t really clear in my last post. I don’t teach kids. I teach adults. Half of my students are one-on-one at their office and the other half are corporate at their boardrooms or lecture hall.

I’m good at what I do, I believe that. And that’s where I’m surprised because it came so easy. But I’m not very confident sometimes because these are Japanese expats, local professionals, and government employees so at times I feel awkward for entertaining so much. However, the feedback has been good and they pick up words and phrases that I use.

Instead of talking when defining a word, I act them out. I bring a pair of slippers to my three-hour lecture hall class because I have to stand and talk/act/write/walk around so it’s a drain on my huge manly feet.

I am the first to say that I still need a lot of improvement, but I’m constantly upgrading myself, so as to keep on top of the teaching game.

As well, I think as a “teacher,” I have so much to learn from my “students” too. They tell me about their jobs, what they do, and because they’re usually older and wiser than I am, they have much more interesting stories. I’ve learned about semi-conductors, tax, hotel management, electrical engineering, Okinawa, Vietnam, etc…And when you get them to talk about themselves or things they’re interested in, there’s no stopping them!

I hope these posts help those that are just starting out. I’ve only done it for nine months and so far so good…

Oh. Well, teaching adults is a totally different ball game than teaching kids. Teaching adults, the main requirement for sucess is personability…getting along with people. Good personal rapport with your students counts for more than anything. Teaching kids, on the other hand, requires knowledge of a vast bag of tricks and carefully structured lesson plans - you have to know how to play several dozen skill-building games that will keep the kids both entertained and learning at the same time; if you don’t play games or keep repeating the same games in every class, the kids will get bored quickly, and you have to tailor your game to the specific grammar/vocabulary targets so that they’re learning, not just playing. It’s a real balancing act. Unfortunately, in the Taiwanese system, the balance is tilted way too far to babysitting entertainment.

Let me use an example using a couple of my Taiwanese co-teachers. I know one co-teacher whom all the kids love and say is a “good teacher”, but when I give her kids an oral test, most of them can barely speak English. I have another co-teacher who isn’t very entertaining and some of the kids are a little afraid of her because she’s strict and often gets angry in class. But when I give her kids an oral test, they all pass by with flying colours. The moral of the story? There are different definitions of a “good” teacher. Just my opinion that in Taiwan buxibans use the wrong definition.

It sounds to me at least 914 like you are doing a great job. You’ve got them talking and you are presenting the language with the kind of flair that makes it memorable. I don’t know if you’re students are using a tape recorder but it sounds like they should be. Switch it on when you come to something particularly fun or useful and then back off again when things slow down. If your students listen to the tape as they review their notes related to the class their retention will double and their listening comprehension improve much more quickly. I tell my students that the purpose of our class is to create a good tape related to “their” needs and interests. I can’t imagine teaching without a tape recorder now. It allows you to proceed much faster because there is not such a need to make everything so clearly understood in class. Just be sure that the difficult stuff is written down. It is also fun sometimes to rewind the tape and work through it with them discovering stuff that can be expanded on as you go. If you take your cues from them about what those things are you can hold their attention and help to ensure that they will review. Tape recorders - the ultimate language learning tool! (Just behind dictionaries of course and slightly ahead of DVD players.)