6 Reasons To Teach English Abroad
I was lost. I was about to earn my Bachelor’s in English and Psychology, but I couldn’t have been more lost. What I mean is, I had absolutely NO idea where I was going with my life. I was extremely anxious about my future. When I thought about my future, it felt like I was looking into a black hole. It was terrifying. I had entered university thinking that I wanted to become a therapist. But as time went on, I realized that path wasn’t for me.
I woke up most days in a panic. It was awful. What was I doing with my life?? Then, amidst my panic, one day I remembered something. One of my professors mentioned once that she had taught English abroad for a couple of years after graduating. Then she embarked on her writing career. Ah ha! I thought. This was my way out.
Traveling has always been a passion of mine, so there was no way I wanted to stay in my home state of Vermont after graduating. I began to research how to make this teaching abroad thing happen.
I found out you can teach English in many countries as long as you have a Bachelor’s Degree. Any Bachelor’s Degree. That’s right. It doesn’t even need to be in Education. Some countries require a Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) certification as well. But this doesn’t take long to complete and isn’t terribly expensive. Even still, some places only require a TEFL, or require neither. You just have to be a native English speaker. To teach in South Korea, where I ended up, I needed both.
I’ll spare you all the other nitty-gritty details of my research and the process for now, but I made it happen. Nine months after graduating I boarded my flight at JFK and was off to Seoul, South Korea. I had NO idea what was in store for me. But I could not have been more excited.
I am writing now after having recently returned from Seoul. I ended up living and teaching there for a little over two years. Between living abroad during a pandemic to experiencing a whole different work culture, let me tell you, it was the adventure of a lifetime.
If anyone is considering teaching abroad but on the fence, this is for you. And even if this is an opportunity you never knew was a possibility until now, keep reading. You might find that this is an experience you’ll want to have by the end.
I will say, an experience like this is not for the faint of heart. You’ll need to be open-minded and willing to push yourself out of your comfort zone to make the most of it. I’m not saying this to deter anyone, all I’m saying is you’ll need to know how to go with the flow.
Now, let me tell you all the amazing reasons you might want to drop everything and teach abroad right now.
- Learn more about yourself
When I moved to Korea, I went by myself. It was a blessing that I happened to be moving on the same day as a guy who was also going to work at the same school as me. But I didn’t know ANYONE when I made the decision to go and when I left.
And of course, I made other friends along the way, but this journey had a lot to do with me discovering myself. You’d be surprised how much you can learn about yourself when you live across the world by yourself for 2 years.
I’ll be honest, it wasn’t easy adjusting to a whole new culture, language, and city. I definitely struggled in the beginning. That’s not to say I wasn’t having any fun at all. Like anything in life, there were ups and downs. It took me about 7 months before I started to feel settled in. But I am SO happy I stuck it out and stayed.
I learned so much about myself in the process and I gained the confidence and mindset that I can do anything. This is one of the most important things I have taken with me from my teaching abroad experience.
2. Immerse yourself in a new culture
It’s one thing to take a vacation to a foreign country for a week or two. It is a WHOLE other thing to actually immerse yourself in the culture. You will experience so much more from living and working in a place for an extended period of time. This will get you out of your comfort zone, which is a great place to learn and grow!
This feels like a good place for me to say, you will actually be working. Like full-time. This is not at all going to be study abroad round 2 if that’s what you’re looking for. But there is so much value in experiencing the work culture in another place. It expands your worldview. I found that communication styles were different, the way they taught the students was different, and the way they had meals was different. I could keep going.
To say it bluntly, it kind of put me in my place and made me realize that there are many different ways of doing things. Just because where I’m from does something one way doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s better than how another place does it. Okay, I’ll get off my soapbox. But you get the picture. So. Much. Value.
3. Meet people with similar values and goals
I met many people during my time in South Korea. Not everyone became my best friend, but I’ll never forget any of the faces I met. One cool thing about teaching abroad is that many people who do it are young, like-minded, and adventurous.
Most of the other foreign teachers I worked with were in their twenties and thirties. They didn’t want some boring 9–5 back home, loved travel and trying new things, and craved fun and adventure. It was a blast being around so many people who I felt were just like me.
It also made it easy to find people to explore the city and try new things with. I traveled to South Korea alone, but I was able to meet so many people who had similar interests and who I got on well with. This made my teaching abroad experience that much better.
4. Travel! Explore new places!
Unfortunately for me, I arrived in South Korea the day before their Covid 19 outbreak. There were curfews, limits on social gatherings, and quarantine periods for foreign arrivals for much of my time there. This limited what I was able to do, and I never got to travel to other countries while I was there. Yes, it was a bummer.
BUT, I was able to do a fair amount of exploring around South Korea itself. South Korea is a beautiful country. About 70% of its land is mountainous, so there are lots of mountains to climb, even in cities like Seoul. It is also a peninsula, so it’s never too far to get to the ocean. And living in Seoul was incredible. It is such a fun city to explore. For anyone reading who’s getting excited about teaching abroad, I would highly recommend Seoul! I’ll get into why in a later post.
If you were to go now, you’d be able to travel to other countries during your vacations and weekends, now that Covid restrictions have been lifted in a lot of places. I even met a lot of people who were in South Korea pre-Covid who said they used to take flights to Japan just for a night. That’s how convenient and inexpensive some of this traveling can be. Traveling is, of course, a huge perk of teaching abroad.
5. Say goodbye to the comfort zone
Maybe you’ve heard this expression, the comfort zone is where dreams go to die. Sounds a little dramatic, I know, but it seriously could not be more true. If you want to get the most out of your life, to live your dreams, you need to be able to say goodbye to your comfort zone.
One great way to completely ditch the comfort zone is, of course, picking up and moving your life across the world. An experience like this is jam packed with novelties and new, exciting experiences. Every day is an adventure with new things to see and do. Korea’s cuisine was one of the most exciting new things for me. I tried so many different kinds of food I had never tried before. It was fun and very delicious.
If you decide to teach abroad, definitely don’t stay at your apartment and stick with what you know. There can be comfort in seeking out things that are familiar and remind you of home, and that’s okay sometimes. Being homesick is natural. But make sure that you’re meeting new people and experiencing all that your new home has to offer. If you’re one to take a leap like this, I imagine you enjoy putting yourself out there and trying new things, so this shouldn’t be a problem at all!
6. Have the adventure of a lifetime
When I first started telling people that I was moving to Korea, most of them were like, what now??? And with a puzzled expression, North or South? Some friends and family definitely didn’t understand my decision, but that was okay. I was doing what I knew I needed to do for me.
If you’re someone like me who craves adventure, new experiences, and travel, teaching abroad is a great opportunity for you. Don’t worry about what other people may say. This is YOUR life! Take the leap!
I never regretted my decision. Nope, not once. Not even when I was struggling. Nothing could ever give me what I got from teaching English in Seoul for 27 months. And if you resonate with me, I truly believe you will feel this way too. So, now I ask you, are you ready to change your life?
