Anybody here ever teach English overseas?

Other foreigners might look down on you as being "just an English teacher" but fuck em. At least in Japan you were still considered a sensei which is very venerable and honestly totally undeserved. But yes there are tons of turbo plebs teaching there which is a total shame, because there are also truly gifted teachers who are hard to discern from a random jackass with a bachelor degree from an English speaking country. Most people teaching English here are not here because they love teaching or english, they are doing it as a means to be here because they cant speak the language and dont have any other valuable skills. I do get some more respect here now since I am considered a doctor here now and work in the hospital with Japanese doctors, but desu it is mostly other foreigners who like to look down on each other for "just teaching english." For example they might teach english for income, but introduce themselves as being a "freelance writer" because they also contribute to some crappy publication every month etc.

I fell in love with Japan during my year there (I was in Osaka) with the people and genuine kindness etc. as cliched as it sounds, but many people I know who did similar things in other countries had similar experiences. I went with a dispatch company that sent me to a public school to teach with the Japanese english teacher, which is very common in Japan.

Biggest piece of advice to truly enjoy it is to learn the language of the country you are going to. Use things like anki to drill thousands of words into your head etc. I had easily one the best years of my life and built lifelong friendships with the natives and am back in Osaka this year doing pubs at a hospital but still see all my Japanese friends I made 3 year ago nearly every weekend. Whereas other gaijin I knew just bitched about what they didnt like in the culture the whole time they were here, never learned the language, and never made true friends with natives. Their lives will generally suck compared to mine.

Learn the language, don't complain, read hundreds of books, befriend the natives, especially ones who dont speak English, and you are pretty much guaranteed to have a wonderful time no matter where you go.

Also what I meant to say was I worked everyday and taught at a public JHS, but there was a company that had a contract with teh government to provide the ESLs (ALTs) to the school. I technically worked for that company but I never saw or talked to them other than orientation when I arrived. opposed to teaching private lessons or tutoring int he evenings or days to people paying for it.

Interac was the specifically the company I went through to get to my JHS. They are a shithead company constantly screwing you in tiny ways. But where many of my colleagues got majorly butthurt and just complained, I wasnt too bothered as it was still more than enough to do tons of traveling (to China, S Korea, and all over Japan), eat nice restaurants go out on weekends and so on. And I knew it was temporary for only one year. But I think not bitching about stuff or getting butthurt is a pretty broadly applicable practice in anything desu

Go to a country whose language and culture interest you. China is generally shittier than Japan in every way desu, but learning Mandarin is obviously more useful than Japanese and I hear rural China is amazing (I've only been to the big cities in China as reference) and they have tons of interesting culture etc. Or somewhere in S America where you could get really good at Spanish, or somewhere in Europe etc. tons of options. Idk about the specifics of finding a job or the routine of life in countries besides Japan for teaching English. But I'm sure a lot of that info is readily available online

You say they're kind but I stopped learning japanese because people told me there was frequent xenophobia there, and I think I would become hostile and paranoid in that kind of environment.

I think it depends on where you go, But of course, in contrast to expat businessmen or diplomats or normal tourists from whichever your country is, your station will always be lower than theirs

People will bitch and complain about anything, regardless of what it is. If someone routinely talks shit on stuff or is contrarian (aka most of Veeky Forums desu) you should honestly just avoid them, as they liekly will be pretty miserable, never accomplish much etc. I saw zero xenophobia unless you consider being offered an English menu offensive because they assume you cant speak Japanese (which gaijin always complain about, aka SJW-tier bitching), but if you are a person who easily gets upset or gives up on something easily, then you probably shouldn't go overseas, or rather it won't be as enjoyable. I studied every day for hours, but it paid off I could speak it comfortably in under a year and I still have it. But you have to be consistent and hit it every day, same with reading books and building those relationships. But it pays, I felt infinitely more wise and educated after reading like a hundred books ranging form all sorts of literature genres than I did from all of uni with the philosophy and bio studies.

There were will be tons of inconveniences and things that annoy you, but if that is all it takes you make you bail then you'll end up spending all day playing vidya, only having english speaking friends, not language ability and so on. But since you're on Veeky Forums I assume you have the patience to read books, and presumably aren't afraid to reader longer and sometimes more challenging books, which offer greater rewards many times than vidya or TV etc. so do the same thing with learning languages and making friends. More rewarding/fun that way.

>I stopped learning japanese because people told me there was frequent xenophobia there

I believe this but I also think it's more that foreigners just stick out culturally and act like turbo-plebs without realizing it.

Does anyone like British tourists, even in Europe? Is that xenophobic?

lol what is this? Just don't go if you're honestly so concerned from reading a few complaints from butthurt betas online. You'll be miserable if you go anywhere expecting junk from reading whining online. I expect your next questions is about Japan not acknowledging WWII crimes

> Is it accurate or are simply a lot of ESL teachers turbo-plebs, worthy of our hatred and disgust?

nice reading comprehension, m8

China ESL user here, I can confirm that it's sorta both. Many natives don't really care what you do over here as long as you're a decent person who isn't just trying to fuck local girls (there are, of course, teachers like that). I get on okay with people because I studied Chinese politics at university and Chinese people like talking politics, believe it or not, but sometimes if I'm out walking with a female co-worker the older folk can give me dirty looks. Some of my laowai colleagues are cool some of them are 'businessmen' some of them are the plebbiest early-twenties-normies-seeking-'experiences you can picture. But overall this is a job I'm proud of doing and a place I'm happy to live in.

nice

Very inspiring story. Hope everything goes well for you. I'm interested in your study regime for Japanese. How long did you study each day? Was it self guided? Can you elaborate a little? Think it's time to learn a foreign language.

Also, how did you manage to read so many books in one year? Were you squeezing many things into each day?

>an alcoholic who suffers from depression

You should feel right at home in Korea.