Category: Advice for Living Abroad

The end of 2015 is fast-approaching, which means the holiday season is upon us. Expats are getting that warm, fuzzy Christmas feeling inside and memories of running down to the Christmas tree on the morning of the 25th are beginning to materialize; however, for the locals, life continues on as normal on Christmas day.

I have asked a handful of ESL teachers why they wanted to be an ESL teacher and many locals ask the teachers why they decided to do so as well. The answers vary, some very practical, some spiritual, some wanderlust– a common thread tends to tie them together.

Thinking about teaching abroad? Before you jump in, make sure you take some time to do your research, know what you’re getting into, and ask yourself if you are deciding to teach ESL overseas for the right reasons. Here are ten questions every potential ESL teacher should ask themselves before making the leap to teaching abroad.

Moving to a new country is an exciting adventure, but the trip can be made even better when you learn the native language. It takes time, effort, and tons (seriously, tons) of patience to learn a new language (or even just words and phrases). In the end, though, it’s worth it for many reasons.

It’s not going to be around late fall and early winter that those tiny little pangs of homesickness start to prick your heart and tummy. Don’t worry, though. It’s perfectly natural to feel that way, and you have this handy guide to help you survive the first fits of homesickness.

Learning any language is hard! Transitions and translations between two languages can be particularly rocky– especially with Chinese and English. I’ve heard a couple of mistakes repeated by my students that have given me clues about what the translation sounds like in Chinese.

Oh, dear. It’s that time of year in Taiwan again. The weather is starting to chill just a bit, and you’re starting to see boys and girls pairing off into couples (not as religiously as it happens in Korea, but it still happens).

What I will say is that the type of green space you see, at least in Taiwan, differs from that of other countries, mainly based on its geography. Surrounded by mountains and the sea, Taiwan is able to retain so much of the islands natural beauty.