" Hi Meike!
I want to tell you about my experience. A few years ago I got highly involved in a university Japan exchange and teaching program. I was actually a scientist at the time, but enjoyed the program so much that I decided for a career change! I travelled to Japan twice and loved it more than I ever thought I would, and felt the growing urge to go live and work there, and get involved in teaching and cultural exchange!
But how? I was a single parent, working? I came across the ATA website while searching online for jobs in Japan. The courses looked really interesting! And there was the online chat forum, not to mention the job board. But I was a bit reluctant. Could I really get a job by doing this course? I called the information line and had a great chat with a very helpful woman who’d just come back from working in Switzerland. I told her what I wanted to do and she me gave great advice. I enrolled in an Advanced TESOL Diploma. I opted to stay in Australia and study because my son was younger at the time. I studied the Foundation Unit on location. It was great meeting people doing the same thing as me and gave me great hands-on English teaching experience.
Well, I bet you can guess how my story ends – well it hasn’t ended yet because my chosen work opportunities are endless! But I’ve been working in Japan for a year now. I applied for a school teaching program, and after I was accepted, this prefecture chose me because of my qualifications – yes, that’s right, my ATA TESOL Diploma. And I am often asked can I do extra work by other organisations!
Being a TESOL teacher is great! I recommend this career choice to anyone thinking about it – whether you are single, want to teach for a short or long time, no matter what your age, have kids (my 16 year old is doing very well here, studying by distance education whilst experiencing another culture first hand!) – JUST DO IT! It will change your life! And make sure to get some training! ATA has a range of courses to suit exactly what anyone needs. But it is more than that – it is a support network, a resource network, and a learning institution. I often use my ATA manuals for ideas and as a starting point, and I often look at the website and read the newsletters to see what’s happening!
I speak now from my own wonderful experiences! What I learned from my course gave me the skills and confidence for this wonderful and life-changing opportunity!
Best wishes!

Kerrie "

" Hi Tony and Marie, everyone at TESOL Brisbane....Sorry it's been a while since I last checked in, I'm still alive LOL...

Well to begin with, THANK YOU!  ATA TESOL has helped me live such an AMAZING life in just the past 3 years, not only just being given amazing opportunities but actually LIVING those opportunities...WOW, where do I start..um...  I remember even before completing my ATA TESOL foundation course in Australia I was ready for an ADVENTURE! I was looking for something way out of the ordinary, particularly in Asia ...Yeah Japan, South Korea, China, Singapore are all great places...but I didn't want some sterile, work-aholic lifestyle..hey, thats why i wanted to go on this adventure in the first place.  After completing my TESOL Foundation course, I was invited to an information night which introduced me to the crazy, colourful, alien world of Vietnam... I was sold...November 18 2007 is when I landed in Ho Chi Minh City and WOW it was quite daunting but thankfully, you guys had suggested to me to a great service in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) Vietnam, who not only helped me with all of my rational and irrational fears of moving to Vietnam (LOL) but also met me at the airport, showed me around Saigon,  let me try observation classes, helped  me find employment in one of Vietnam's PREMIER ESL college, explain the labor laws, requirements, what's expected of me and so much more....  Well since that day of landing on Mars, I must confess, I am now an ALIEN! The life here is fantastic!!  I can live a very, very comfortable life here (dining out when ever I want, living in a beautiful apartment for only US$400 per month! Oh, and don't forget PARTY, PARTY,PARTY!!!)  Life here in Vietnam is not only such a major contrast to what we have known all our lives back home but it gives us, our minds, hearts and soul sooo much more (if you are willing to let it take you). There is such an abundance of chances and choices here its not funny, for example while I was working for Vietnam's Premier ESL college and travelling all over the city to teach every week, somewhere between classes on a Saturday I was introduced to a very sweet old Vietnamese man, who was very passionate about the English language, he says on meeting me " Mita Danel you have good, strong voice"..I find out later that that sweet old man is a director of the Misinstry of Education and Training THEN next thing I know I am now a principal recording artist for the Ministry of Education and Training, making all the CD recordings for every government high school in the country!! How wicked is that...my voice is being played in every high school classroom in the country!  Later on completion of my TESOL electives, i felt more confident to reach out to other ESL groups for greater opportunities... Coming from never teaching a day in my life to being a sought after ESL teacher  more opportunities came...I was then introduced (just networking and meeting new people around town) to MEGA National and International companies who will basically pay me to be a presenter for them, seriously they would fly me to a stunning beach resort for a conference, I say their prepared 5-10 minute speech and I get paid a bucket load to boot!  Even more opportunities arise, one of the audience members from  a conference was a man who works for HTV (one of Vietnam's biggest TV networks) I was then contracted to help make and present a nation-wide Learning English programme which has now been running for 2 years!  OMG!  Can you see how opportunities here just fall at your feet if you work hard and open yourself to new possibilities!!!!?? So in the past 3 years I have gone from a restaurant manager in Aus with no teaching experience nor clue, to ESL teacher, Senior ESL teacher, Voice recording, professional spokesperson, tv presenter and in the next few days I am doing my 5th tv commercial here.....  Who would have thought that this adventure would blossom to such awesome opportunities...and who knows what tomorrow will bring!!!!  Thanks sooooo much you guys...I am LIVING the dream!!!

Daniel "

" “Hi Marie and everyone at ATA

Warm greetings from a very cold Qinhuangdao on the coast in northern China!

I’ve been here almost exactly two months and it’s been everything I expected and more. I teach 178 students spread over 10 classes each week – sounds like a lot, but it’s not. I have Tuesdays, Fridays and weekends off so there’s plenty of time to explore, experience, and enjoy the city and its way of life.

My students are fantastic, smart (with very good knowledge of English), very keen to learn, and are very caring, always asking after my wellbeing and concerned that I may be lonely. I reassure them that, with 178 students, I have a big family here, which they appreciate. For me, the biggest reward about teaching in China is the bonds one forms with one’s students. The human experience is more rewarding than even the financial.

I’ve found that my main task is to break down their initial shyness, and instill confidence in them to speak. Thanks to what I learnt at ATA, especially the TPR method, my students are blossoming and most now speak confidently. We move the desks up against the wall, sit in a semi circle, sing Aussie songs, dance and have lots of fun activities.

The Spring Festival holidays commence mid-January and will last for nearly two months. I’ll be heading south to visit a new found friend’s hometown, then we’ll spend some time in Hangzhou and then perhaps enjoy a stint in Malaysia or Vietnam..

So it’s been a great experience, very rewarding, and travelling through China and other parts of Asia is a bonus.

Thanks ATA, and a Merry, Safe and Blessed Christmas to you all!”

Michael "

" Hello to all you folk in sunny, warm Australia,

I have just completed a month in northern China and the weather today is a balmy -4 but it does look like snow tonight!!We are half way through March and we are yet to crack a plus Celsius temperature. Forecast was for +2 tomorrow but that's looking decidedly bleak. You get a false sense of security sitting in your centrally heated apartment but don't you dare wander outside without thermal underwear, kapok jacket, scarf, beanie, gloves and tissues.

I purposely did not take the kindergarten elective when I did my TESOL course and guess what? Yep, I do 32 kindergarten classes a week! At the Yixi schools I do 11 consecutive classes twice a week ranging in ages from 3 to 7 and in Wanbao I do 5 consecutive classes twice a week. I was a child - intolerant old bugger before I got here but now I have been labelled King of the Kindies. Comedy routines mixed in with the lesson material has captured the hearts and minds of the littlies and the teachers so any possibility of me being relieved of these classes is non-existent. On the weekends I teach 5 classes of kids ranging from 10 to 14 so the lesson planning has to be spot on otherwise the kids know you have been slack. The teachers working with me at the school have been here a while. I am the only Australian amongst 6 Canadians, 2 Americans and a guy from Cameroon who has been here 10 years and what a great teacher he is. Most of the teachers have married local Chinese ladies which helps greatly when you take them shopping or out to a restaurant. I hope the kids here learn English quicker than I appear to be learning Chinese!! I thought marrying a local defeats the purpose of teaching to travel.....but love has its ways I guess.

The books they use here are the Cambridge English and I am not a fan. We also use New Concept and Superkids books. I am introducing new material at every opportunity and thanks to the ATA course I have the confidence of knowing that the stuff I am feeding the kids is as good as, if not better, than the material in the books. In the kindergarten classes I am totally out of control with no inhibitions and I have the kids in fits of laughter and giggles during the class.

Not a lot of opportunity to get out and see much of the place as it's just too darn cold. Summer is on the way but the ice here hasn't melted yet so I am not sure just when we might get some reasonable temperatures for an Aussie. They say the summer temperature here is 35 plus so it looks like we have the two extremes and not a lot in between. When I got off the plane in Beijing I was still in my Thai T - shirt and it was -10 there!! I visited Tiananmen square and the old section of the city that had been refurbished for the olympics. The next night I got off the plane to -24 in Daqing. That was a shock to the system.

I am buying a bicycle at the end of the month so I can get around more although it's dangerous enough being a pedestrian here with traffic lights, crossings and even footpaths offering no safety at all if you are walking.

My apartment is great and it's surrounded by a thousand more. I have 2 bedrooms, one used as my study, a kitchen, a sunroom (don't ask), a dining room, a lounge room and a toilet / bathroom, all more than adequate for a single guy. No houses here, everybody lives in apartments. Daqing is just a small village of 2.2 million so there is plenty of activity. Construction? My god, I have counted over 70 construction cranes on just one side of the city!

I am sending a few photos, hope they get through. Chinese restrictions on Google and other network sites makes it all a bit irksome at times but there are ways and means around it all. Whether I stay longer than my 1 year contract I don't know yet but I am keen on southern China and warmer climates so maybe Thailand, Philippines or Vietnam. Might be wise to steer clear of Japan for a while...such sad news from there.

Warm regards, nope, cold regards
John Loffler
Livin' the dream!! "

" Hello there!

After completing my ATA Professional TESOL Certificate in 2009 in Sydney and completing electives - Business English, Travel & Tourism English, Private Tuition & Teaching Grammar. I gained the tools and confidence to teach English in an Italian Language School in Torino. I have taught a variety of students ranging from the young age of  3 years old to mature adults. Not only did I love teaching individual and group lessons, but i gained an amazing satisfaction from them teaching me, which in turn helped me further my skills and stretch my abilities. I loved this experience very much!

The staff and school colleagues were very friendly and helpful and it was a great environment to be in. I felt like i was at home!

Thank you ATA for helping me achieve my goals, now I am looking into furthering my studies in Teaching. I also look forward to continuing teaching new students.

I have attached a picture of a group of children I taught who where fantastic!

Regards
Melissa Cremasco "

" Felicity Walker "

" Hayley Urquhart "

" Hi to all those past, present and upcoming TESOL graduates.

My names Is Jarred Hopkins I graduated from the Australasian Training Academy back in April 2006 and four months later found myself in Changchun City , Jilin Province situated in North East China.

After getting the necessary inoculations , travel VISA , travel insurance and a one way air ticket I flew To Changchun Via Singapore and Beijing.

I was met at the airport by a jovial Aussie women named Skye who had been in China for three years and was engaged to marry and a young Chinese man named Oscar who has now become one of my best friends.

I taught for Victoria Foreign Language School a private language school that had me teaching at two local kindergartens during the week, another private language school on Friday and Sunday afternoons , an adult discussion class Tuesday and Thursday nights and a number of one to one tutoring classes.
I loved the variety of classes but most of the students they are such a happy smiley eager bunch of people and teaching the little children for the first time really warmed my heart. No offense to the mothers out there but before teaching these beautiful children I really had no interest or liking for kids.

In Changchun a developing city of 27 million people I witnessed some ‘far out’ scenes, found love, tasted amazing and very different foods, had my first white Christmas and the list goes on.
Changchun is a city caught in a modernisation transition with the automotive industry as it’s major employer. You will see Porsche, Mercedes Benz , BMW and Audi all pull up next to a farmer with his Donkey and cart full of fresh produces from the surrounding farmlands including peaches, corn , mandarins, grapes and watermelons.
I saw very unusual foods, homeless and limbless street beggars, School and University students who either study, study, study or were playing Basketball. They love basketball!

I went to countless banquets, feasts and home dinners as the locals are so hospitable.

The music , the dance , the fireworks and fire crackers on Chinese new year were a lot of fun to get involved not to mention being involved in a local Chinese theatre production, starring in a national television commercial for China Netcom and also making an appearance at the North East Asia Trade and Economic Summit , shaking hands and dining with the Mayor of Yushu City.
There was plenty of time to go ski-ing , witness the Asian winter games which were hosted by Changchun city, visit Harbin City in the Neighbouring province for the Snow and ice festival and learning Kung fu with the personal body guard of the last Chinese emperor whose final palace was in Changchun. This man was 88 or 90 and full of power and vigour from an ancient art called Gong Chi.

There are so many stories appropriate and inappropriate that I cannot fit them all in but briefly let me say that I met people and had experiences that have changed my life and impacted me so much that I will definitely be returning to China.

Happy school hunting and take my advice ………..”let the Journey begin”.

Jarred Hopkins "