Pros and Cons of Teaching English Abroad

Let me start off this post by saying anyone who tells you that teaching English abroad is a walk in the park is LYING. Yes, it is the most rewarding job that I have ever had — but it is also one of the most challenging jobs as well. Like any job, there are going to be pros and cons to teaching English abroad. For me, the pros absolutely outweigh the cons. However, there are a lot of cons that you probably aren’t aware of that I have discovered after two years of teaching English abroad. Of course, everyone will have a different experience, but these are the main pros and cons of teaching English abroad that I have gone through.

Pros

1. Experience a new culture

One of the obvious pros of teaching abroad is that you get to live and experience a new culture firsthand, an opportunity that not many people will experience throughout their entire lives. Sure, some people are able to do this for a few months in college during a semester abroad – but this is not the same as being a working adult living in the real world. You have the opportunity to fully immerse yourself in a new culture and language. This allows you to learn things about yourself and the world that you never would have known if you stayed in the bubble of your hometown. 

2. Opportunities to travel

Another obvious “pro” of teaching English abroad, depending on where you are teaching, is that you have the opportunity to travel to different countries every weekend. This is particularly true if you are teaching in Europe and it is my favorite thing about teaching here. I have been able to travel to countries and cities that I never imagined I would ever see. It’s actually bringing tears to my eyes writing this because I am so thankful to have a job that allows me to do this. Even if you don’t teach in Europe, maybe you teach in Asia or South America, you will still be able to travel on the weekends to cities that you never even knew existed.

3. You can change people’s lives

This was really why I wanted to change careers and begin teaching English abroad. The English language is a common denominator between so many countries. Many adults need to be able to speak English in order to further their careers or even to just enjoy travel and communicate in other countries. I don’t know why, but I love it when I overhear conversations between two people who are speaking English but both have different accents and are from different countries. The reason they are able to communicate with one another and have a conversation is that they both had an English teacher that gave them the tools to do so. 

Even if you are teaching preschoolers like me, you are still setting the foundation of the English language for your students. Teaching young learners also means that you are able to form their attitude towards the English language, which they will carry with them throughout their lives. If your classes suck, they will probably create a negative attitude towards English, never be able to learn it, score poorly on English college entrance exams and settle at working at McDonald’s for the rest of their lives. No pressure!

4. You can make your own schedule

This depends on where you want to work and how often you want to work. You may want the full teaching experience and teach full-time in a brick and mortar school. This is what I initially wanted and did last year in Barcelona. I taught Monday – Friday in a private school from 9-4 every day, and honestly, it was exhausting and made it really difficult to enjoy beautiful Barcelona.

However, there are other options, which is what makes this career so great. I decided when I moved to Portugal I wanted to make my own schedule. Living in Portugal where the minimum wage is lower than what I am used to, I chose to work part-time (3 afternoons a week) in a school and work online with VIPKID during the day. I enjoy my days much more this way and am even able to make more money here because I teach online!

5. You can have a side hustle

Because I am able to make my own schedule, I have had a lot more free time to work on my blog! It has been a great creative outlet for me and is honestly something that I really enjoy doing. Whether your side hustle is writing, photography, blogging, etc., there are so many creative outlets you can explore while you are teaching English abroad.

Cons

1. It’s very isolating at times

Depending on where you are working, you may or may not have other colleagues that you can connect with. If you choose the online teaching route, this is especially true. When I first moved to Portugal I was only teaching online and it was extremely isolating. I chose to find a part-time teaching job just to get myself out of the house and have an in-person connection with students. When you first move abroad it can also be difficult to meet people right away and it takes a while to find friends that you “click” with. And when you move abroad during a pandemic it can be even more difficult to make friends.

2. You may be taken advantage of

One definite con of teaching English abroad is that English teachers are a dime a dozen and it is very easy for schools (and even private students!) to take advantage of you. Every school is different, but if you are the only English teacher at a school and none of the other teachers speak English (my current situation in Portugal lol) then it can be very difficult to stick up for yourself. You may be told to teach in literally an empty room with no desks or chairs, or have 20 students in your classroom when you were hired to only teach 12 — again my current situation. So I had to be aggressive, something I am not very comfortable with, and demand the things I needed to do my job effectively. 

Then there are the private students who may take advantage of you as well. Let me tell you a story about the mother of a 13-year-old girl to who I started teaching private lessons to in Barcelona. The mother was never home during our lessons and she never left any money to pay me. I only taught the girl 4 lessons, and after each lesson, I texted the mom to remind her that she needed to pay me next time. After our fourth lesson and the fourth reminder I sent to the mom, she then told me that I was being greedy and was only doing the lessons for the money (like yea lady, that’s how this works). I told her to keep her money and wished her daughter luck with her learning, and that I wouldn’t be treated that way and could no longer teach her daughter. I obviously really wanted to continue to teach her daughter and help her improve her English, but I wasn’t going to allow the mother to speak to me that way. Again, sometimes with this job you just need to stick up for yourself in order to be treated how you deserve.

3. Teaching a foreign language is really hard

Like really hard. Especially when you have 20 three-year-olds running around and yelling in a different language that you don’t understand, it can be difficult to get them to do anything. Even simple commands of “stand up” or “stop talking” mean nothing to them because they don’t understand what you are saying. I probably have to stop ten times throughout my lessons to move kids around who won’t stop talking or hitting each other, it’s absolutely exhausting. 

If you are teaching older children or adults, it is still a difficult job to explain the meaning of words or phrases that they don’t understand. For example, phrasal verbs are always a struggle for my adult students. Can you imagine being a student and trying to learn the differences between throw out, throw in, throw up, and throw on? It is up to their TEFL teacher to be able to find a way to effectively teach the differences between each phrasal verb and when to use them correctly. 

4. Administrative work + lesson planning

The things you don’t get paid for! Administrative work and lesson planning are two things that are so important in order to be an effective TEFL teacher. They take a LOT of time but are necessary in order to have productive lessons where your students actually learn something — so they are kind of the whole point of your existence as a TEFL teacher. Depending on your school, you may have to make your own materials which can take a ton of time especially if this is your first year teaching.

5. You’ll never fit in

This sounds really harsh but it’s the truth and it’s just part of the job when you decide to teach English abroad. No matter what you do, you will always be a foreigner. There are days where this really gets to me — like if I am lost and am frantically asking every passerby for directions but nobody speaks English. Or if I am simply trying to do my English lessons at a school and just need some damn colored pencils for the kids, but none of the other teachers understand what I am asking for. Even simple tasks like trying to return something in a store will require the help of all the employees to decipher this English speaking alien. It’s something that after two years abroad I am still struggling to accept, but I’ve learned that is all about your attitude. If you take situations like these too seriously then you will never be able to enjoy your time abroad.

Do you teach English abroad? What are the pros and cons of teaching English abroad for you?!

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