I am obviously not the first person to decide to move abroad and teach English and I certainly won’t be the last – anyone can do it.  If English is your native language, or even if it isn’t but your proficiency is high, you can do it.  There is a perception which has been expressed to me more than once that teaching abroad is something for young people to do before they get “proper” jobs and settle down, raise a family and start paying off a mortgage.  But middle-aged though I am, I feel much younger in this job than I ever did sitting in an office making calls to push forward compensation claims.  No one here has questioned my age or queried what I’m doing with my life.  Age brings experience and a degree of confidence in situations that might phase less world-wise minds, and I feel my experience is actively valued here.

One of my colleagues on the TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) course got a position abroad in Mexico earlier in the summer, and has also been writing a blog about her experiences – check it out at www.livingwiththelocals.com.

And it seems I have at least partly inspired another friend to take the leap, I had an online chat with someone yesterday who has committed to doing a course for the same qualification I have at the very same school!  She wanted some advice and insight which I was happy to provide, I am sure there are plenty of examples of the kind of thing a new teacher can expect to face on my previous blog posts and hopefully more to follow in my future posts!