Another story of a life ruined by teaching ESL for too long

I have said many times before that I think that teaching ESL (English as a Second Language) is an alright thing to do to extend your holiday/vacation but is an absolutely terrible thing for someone who is underqualified to pursue as any sort of long-term career.

People who have degrees in Education or even better, a Masters Degree in Education can make a really good living overseas by teaching English or even better, some other topic in English at an international school, but for people like me and a majority of the people who work in the ESL industry, overstaying your time and treating this "playtime job" as if it was a real career is a path to certain doom.

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There is a friend of mine that i have known for a number of years now. He was one of the first ESL teachers I met once I got out of my first, really terrible job that I was assigned when I first got to Thailand. By the time I met him he had already been teaching in some form or another for over a decade. He had a child with a Thai woman and was married to her twice (separated once) and he, like myself, was unqualified for any of the jobs that are worth having in the long run not just here, but in most of the countries around the world.

He had a degree in something that he never mentioned but it was legitimate

He had a TEFL certificate and a few other qualifications

He had over a decade in ESL teaching experience.

Yet he was always extremely limited in the jobs that he could get because he doesn't have the requirements that they require, which is normally a degree in Education. He also doesn't have the resources to acquire these credentials. He is also French, which is already something that is going to work against you because schools in Thailand simply aren't interested in having a French teacher and if they do, they will hire a Thai person to do it for 1/4 what it costs to hire him.

After nearly 20 years in the ESL game, my friend has finally decided that he is going to hang it up and move back to France and do god knows what.

This wouldn't be so tragic if my friend were in his mid to late 20's like I am, but in his case he is in his 40's and he has nothing to show for it: He has no savings, he has no meaningful experience that is going to qualify him for any job outside of ESL and even back in France, he will not be sought after for teaching English because once again, they want people with backgrounds and degrees in Education.

So he is going to be making that truly humbling boomerang move back to his home country and moving back in with his parents and then basically will be starting his life over at 47 years of age. I sympathize with his plight, I truly do, but I also take this as yet another lesson for why it is that I am already halfway out of the ESL teaching game. I have NO intention of continuing down this path because there are literally almost no success stories in the long-term.

If someone out there is thinking of entering the ESL game in Thailand, or really anywhere else, see this as a warning. You will be throwing your life away and basically only be delaying the inevitable if you do not have proper qualifications for the top-tier jobs at the international schools. I know only a handful of people that work in these places and they have advanced degrees in their fields including some sort of international certification for being an educator. The other 99% of people that work in ESL just have the minimum requirement and will be working for peanuts because the ESL industry over here and in all the surrounding countries know that their is a much greater supply of people for these jobs than there is demand for the positions to be filled.

As someone with a degree in something not related to Education, you will be working the throwaway jobs that are available to everyone, and there is almost no upward mobility. You too will find yourself moving back in with mommy and daddy in your 40's just like my French friend, and I don't want this to happen to anyone.

Use ESL as a way to live overseas for a while, and then GTFO and go back home. If you really like the idea of living in Thailand, then go back home and get a Master's in Education. Then you will possibly have access to the only jobs that exist over here that can be considered sustainable for your future.

Otherwise, you are almost guaranteed to end up like my French friend as well as many others just like him, and that is just tragic.