A lot of people travel all over the world teaching ESL. With a 4 year degree and a TEFL, Teaching English as a Foreign Language certificate, a native speaker can teach English in more than 100 countries. It is a great opportunity to see and experience another culture. More than 70 percent of the people who leave their home country to teach ESL decide to get out of teaching ESL abroad after 1 to 2 years. It seems that for most people teaching abroad represents a relatively short-term adventure and not a career. Teaching English can be quite lucrative, but it is a job and not a vacation. It requires lesson planning, hard work, and at times getting along with difficult people. On top of all this, there is culture shock.
People Leave Because of Culture Shock
I met my wife while I was teaching in China. She is a Hongkonger, so we moved to Hong Kong and I got a job teaching English over here. I think one of the biggest reasons most people don’t make it past two years of teaching abroad is culture shock. The culture shock that a Westerner experiences in Hong Kong should be less than that of China or another country whose values differ more broadly. Still, the people in the host country do things differently. Initially, in the Honeymoon phase of living abroad, these differences are seen as wonderful. This phase lasts anywhere from 2 months to 2 years. Then during the Cultural Shock phase, the feeling of wonder and excitement about the differences is replaced by annoyance and even rejection. Some people stay in this phase for a long time and never really adjust to their host culture.
Types of Schools
Hong Kong attracts many foreigners. It is a modern city that has a lot to offer. True the cost of living is high here but as an English teacher, it is possible to make a good salary. There are many international schools, private schools, and government schools, direct subsidy scheme schools, DSS, and English Schools Foundation, EFS, to choose from. A DSS school receives funding from the government but has the autonomy to govern itself. EFS schools also receive funding from the government and therefore tend to be cheaper than international schools. I taught at a DSS school and then at a government school. Both had their advantages and disadvantages.
School “A”
At my first school, school “A”, they basically wanted me to be a pretty face to let the parents know that they had a NET teacher. This idea still strikes me as repulsive but I had lived in China previously and was already used to people singling me out for my blond hair and blue eyes. At least in Hong Kong the people were used to foreigners and treated them respectfully. I didn’t have any consistent teaching duties. I was there to provide a good English environment, to that end I greeted students in the morning, met with students during their breaks, and met with students during their lunch periods. On a positive note, the students spoke decent English and they really were willing to engage with me in English conversations. I enjoyed many of our conversations. However, honestly, I felt like a fifth wheel.
Feeling Like a Fifth Wheel
I regularly approached my supervisor with ideas for English activities that we might do, only to hear we don’t have time for that. He was right they didn’t have time for it. English environment may have been a priority, but their actions showed me that it wasn’t very high on their list of priorities. I struggled with this. I felt like school “A” was telling me that they didn’t value me. I wanted to say don’t waste my time. I know that school “A” meant me no harm. They created a position for me that met their needs but didn’t take into account my needs for meaningful work. If you are working in a job like this or considering a job like this, it’s not all bad. Working at this school offered me long uninterrupted time slots for reading, reflection, and some skill development. If I could go back I think I would be less hard on myself.
Contradictions
The language barrier had created both a barrier and an opportunity for me. I just needed to be self-motivated. To some extent, I am self-motivated. I created lots of lesson plans that never got used. I am sure that there are a lot of Hong Kong people that would love to have a job like this. The culture here is so hurry up, get it done that there is barely any time for reflection. There was a huge contradiction between the life that I was experiencing and the life that my colleagues were experiencing. This caused me a lot of anxiety.
NET Scheme
School “B” was through the NET scheme. At this school, I got to teach and I felt much more supported. The NET scheme offers NET teachers opportunities for professional development and NET cluster meetings. Before the pandemic, I regularly went to the NET cluster meetings to get inspired and to connect with other NETs all around Hong Kong. Looking around me, I could see NETs who had established relationships with other NETs and NETs like myself who had not. I struck up conversations with many of the attendees. Many of them shared their struggles with me. They also struggled with loneliness. I started to feel less alone. I wish that I had done a better job of staying in contact with these NETs. Of course, none of us could have known that COVID would end our in-person meetings.
Choosing Where to Live and Where to Work
In Hong Kong, everyone is very busy, and for a person to make time for you is a big deal. I hear that many NETs prefer to live on Hong Kong Island side, of course, the rent is more expensive over there, but there are more opportunities to be with other NETs and to be social. If you are considering becoming a NET teacher, this area of connection with other people is a vital one. I’ve had a number of people suggest to me that I should have considered teaching at an international school. It’s true that there would have been less of a language barrier at an international school and that I would have had more opportunities to connect with other Western teachers, but I didn’t want to create an English bubble that would further isolate me from the reality that Hongkongers lived in.
Finding Support
I chose a band 3 government school. Band 1 students are academically ranked the highest and band 3 students are ranked the lowest. Therefore band 3 students’ will be less proficient in their English. I wanted to learn the language and make friends with Hong Kong people in Cantonese. Of course, I also wanted to learn Cantonese for the sake of my relationship with my wife and her friends. Normally, you would think that a husband suffering from loneliness would confide in his wife and find support there. Unfortunately, my relationship with my wife was not good at that time. Still, living abroad with family can be a tremendous support when you are going through culture shock.
Band 3 Schools
If you are a very self-motivated person who can work independently, a band three school, one where the students are weak in English, might be a good option for you. One benefit of band three schools is that there is generally less homework to correct. Even local teachers tell me that their workload is less than that of higher banding schools. Another benefit is that you might be able to learn Cantonese, but what about actually being successful as an English teacher? I have mixed feelings on this point. Of course, it is possible, I talked about some of the challenges to this in “Is Hong Kong a Good Place to Call Home”. It’s our job to get the students talking. We can’t make them learn but you can inspire and at times push them in that direction.
Embracing Deafness
Henry Cloud, an author and a psychologist, makes a statement about owning a car. He says something to the effect of it’s your life you can do with it what you want. For example, if you own a car, you can paint it red, beat it with a hammer or even set it on fire. No one is going to stop you. Well, they might stop you if you set it on fire, but follow along with me. You are responsible for yourself, not someone else. If you participate in job-related activities that result in you feeling isolated and thus harmed, it’s not the school’s fault or the administration’s fault. It’s just the nature of the job. Helen Keller says, “Blindness separates people from things; deafness separates people from people.” Of course, deafness and not being able to speak the local language are different, but the end result for both is separation.
You Are Responsible For You
Okay, but there are lots of local people that don’t experience meaningful connections with their colleagues at work. How is being a disconnected local person and being a “deaf” foreigner any different? I think they are different because local people often appear very welcoming and there is the temptation to think that they would love to connect with you. The problem is you don’t stand on equal footing with them. They live in one world and you live in another. At times, they might show you attention and speak to you in English. You are in effect dependent on them for this as you can’t flow with them in Cantonese conversation. It is out of your control. It might work out well for you. It might not, but at the end of the day you are responsible for your life and a well-lived life will invest itself into others. Dozens of studies have shown that people who are involved in satisfying relationships with friends, families, and their communities live longer, have fewer health problems, and are happier.
Making the Best of Our Deafness
Of course, there are many foreign teachers who have developed meaningful satisfying relationships with both their colleagues and their students. It can happen. At the same time, it is also important to recognize that as a foreigner you come as an outsider. It’s a blessing when a local person invites you into their space to share life with them, especially when it is not convenient for them. I don’t fault Hongkongers for changing the channel from English to Cantonese and leaving foreigners out. It’s just a reality of life that they feel more comfortable talking to each other in Cantonese. At some point, I hope to interview foreigners about their lives here in Hong Kong. I would like to learn more about what they do that works well for them. I will share it with you.
Teaching with Local Teachers
School “B” had regular teaching duties for me. I co-taught with 10 local teachers. Years ago, when I decided to pursue a career in teaching, I never thought that I would spend more time planning and investing in relationships with local teachers than I spent working with individual or small groups of students. Again this isn’t all bad. It’s just the way that it worked out and a lot of good came out of it. I got to learn from some very gifted teachers. I also got to develop communication skills that I may not have otherwise developed. I felt very privileged. I think for my next teaching post, I will look for an environment where I have my own classroom. Of course, the difficulty with this is that I won’t have a local teacher to fall back upon for classroom management. I will be in charge of my class. In a sense, I will be giving up a disability and teaching a regular class by myself, just like the other teachers do. It is a bit scary, but I think I am ready.
In Hong Kong both kinds of opportunities exist, teaching with and without local teachers, and there are advantages and disadvantages to both. Whether you are a current NET teacher or considering becoming a NET teacher, I hope that this sharing helps you. If you feel left out because of the language barrier, try not to stay stuck for too long. You might want to read my post on
