The utterings and mutterings of an ESL Teacher
Stuffed full of half-baked thoughts, all jotted down entirely at random but generally relating to teaching, this is my diary; David's Diary. I'm an ESL teacher currently living and working in the Milano province of northern Italy, not the prettiest part of Italy but the area where all the work is.
Let's be honest here; Milan and the surrounding countryside isn't the prettiest part of Italy, but it's where most of the work is to be found. Unfortunately, the average language school offers pitiful salaries on the back of promises of an abundance of work that simply never materializes, but the cost of living in Milan is insanely high. If you work for a language school you'll struggle to earn enough to rent a place of your own in Milan. My advice: live within commuting distance of Milan in a smaller town and get looking for private work as quickly as possible to top up your salary.
Anyway, here you can find a list of things I've written recently. The most recent stuff is at the top. Click the title of any of the articles to read more. Enjoy!
Where's the cover note?
Teachers are usually intelligent people, but not when it comes to applying for jobs. In my experience, less than half attach a proper cover letter to their CV when they are applying for a job. Why on earth not?
Spam and Linkedin Groups
Linkedin groups are full of spam posts for fake jobsites, CV writing advice and so on. One hopes that the average English teacher isn't so dumb as to believe these sites are genuine, so what's the point?
How to handle a smelly student?
Roberto, as we'll call him, was a student for 13 weeks. He was a cook with a serious problem. It wasn't just that he worked in a hot kitchen and that he had his lessons just after he'd finished work...
How much are teachers worth?
If you look on the free advertising websites in Italy, you'd suppose that the average teacher charges between €10 and €15 an hour, and a typical 'skype teacher' asks for €5 to €10 an hour per student.
In Italy, perseverance is a virtue
I suppose perseverance is a quality that all teachers need. It's certainly what keeps the language schools in Milan going. Without it, many English teachers would quit their jobs in despair.
A new ESL teacher hits the road...
My teaching contract was something I didn't consider when I joined. I was told 'sign this, and this, and this, and this' and did as I was told. In the UK a contract isn't usually a big deal.
An ESL teacher in Italy
My name's David and I've been working as an ESL teacher in Italy for about six years now. I say that but I'm not 100% sure when I first got here, as I threw all my diaries away in a tidying frenzy a little while ago...
Do you enjoy writing?
If you do, we'd love to hear from you. We are looking for teaches who enjoy writing who would like to have their articles published on this website, either through a regular 'column' or through writing one-off or occasional pieces.
So, here's where to start.
If you've got something you'd like to write about, whether it relates to teaching English or the life of an English teacher, write it and send it to us. After we receive your first submission we'll get back to you to discuss any future possibilities.
