A lot of ESL teachers do have English degrees and do have teaching certifications. Probably half of the teachers I met did. Some had taught in America, or wanted to teach there, but realized they could work less hours for better pay elsewhere. Yeah, you can get a job without that stuff, but there are shit teaching jobs, and then there are real teaching jobs. Any idiot can get hired at some schools, and others have a fairly rigorous recruiting process. It really varies.Regulus wrote:First of all, I wouldn't say that's necessarily true, and even if it is, that doesn't make it "right." If someone has been in school for almost two decades and still doesn't have any idea of what they want to do in life, then they probably need to get with the program.worldtraveler wrote:Most 22-25 year olds don't know what they want to do with their lives or their careers yet. I don't see why that's such a bad thing.
Even so, let's say that someone has made it all the way through college and for some reason they still don't know what they want to do with their career. Instead of working at a rudimentary job where the only qualification is being able to speak one's native language, why in the hell would they not at least try to work in a position that would be somewhat intellectually-stimulating, or even slightly challenging? In fact, if someone's goal was to teach English, why would they not major in education and become a licensed English teacher? Perhaps one of the biggest reasons that English teachers in Asia are looked down upon is because they need absolutely no background in teaching or English education because the classes they teach are not rigorous whatsoever (many of them are closer to "English conversations" than "English classes"); a lot of the students that attend these schools just want to hang out with foreigners, and a lot of the foreigners that teach at these schools just want to be liked, which is easy to do in Asia as a 'Murican.
English teaching in Asia is also quite different and much more of a joke than teaching English anywhere else. I taught in East Africa and in Korea and my job in East Africa was pretty damn difficult and stressful. People who have taught elsewhere throughout the world say similar things (I'm talking about actual teaching jobs; not gap year fellowship type of things).
I find it really strange that you are judging people so harshly for jobs they do straight out of college. The economy is shit and has been for a while. I know plenty of smart, motivated people who ended up in dead end jobs and shit jobs straight out of college just because that was all they could find. I had classmates at a T-10 who had worked in construction, at fed ex, or as playground supervisors with a college degree just because they wanted a break before law school but those were the only jobs they could find. Your incessant need to judge people on their jobs is quite repulsive.