Do you still feel determined enough to bring your childhood dream into being and become a great English teacher? Sure your answer is a huge YES. It is a good choice of a life path if it is made consciously and voluntarily.
Moreover, you are going to provide yourself with wonderful opportunities to go abroad and see the world, communicate with children and enrich their knowledge, develop new and original teaching methods, which once can be introduced in your own book. Looks like a really attractive prospect, doesn’t it?
Probably, you’ve already found a teaching program is some Asian country. You might have come across a trustworthy online writing service whose providers can help you collect the necessary materials. So, you are almost ready to claim confidently that you are ready to be a teacher of the English language. That’s awesome!
But you seem to have forgotten about one tiny thing. Now take a deep breath, let your excitement free you from its shackles, and think if you know yourself well enough to take such responsibility. Do you know your personal strengths that can help you succeed, and weaknesses that can hinder your career? You should analyze them carefully and decide what in you needs improving.
Below you’ll find the list of the essential qualities a teacher of a foreign language should possess if they want students to consider them the best. Take a look at them and decide what else your personality needs to become excellent at your dream job.
Unselfishness
As an English teacher, you can travel the world without spending much on living and transportation. In some countries, parents are ready to pay you big money, wishing their children to be taught by a real foreigner. And you can get even more privileges if you choose a teaching profession. But don’t allow the tempting offers you will receive to make you forget about your own reasons for teaching English.
Teaching for teaching’s sake. That’s the principle the best tutors follow. If you want your students to like and trust you, it’s important to let them see how devoted to your job you are. By the way, you can watch a wonderful film if you need an example and some inspiration – The Freedom Writers by Richard LaGravenese.
Patience
You must be ready to listen to your students not only to correct their pronunciation or help them find a proper word. You must watch them not only to see who cheats at a test. You must be able to understand their moods, interests, and feelings in order to make your classes really interesting and beneficial for each of your students.
Yeah, it’s easier said than done, especially when you are teaching a group of twenty 10-year-old children. (And that isn’t an exaggeration.) That’s a challenge which can certainly add to your successful teaching experience. But you must realize that you’re going to face it. So, train your patience.
Tolerance
A teacher, especially a language teacher, must be an embodiment of racial, religious, gender, and all other possible types of tolerance as well as of humanism. As soon as you step on the path of teaching, you must understand that your mission is to bring knowledge to others. And every person, regardless of his or her beliefs and origin, has a right to get it.
Imbue your students with this idea. No matter how old they are, they need to be sure that they have an equal opportunity to be successful and achieve their goals, and that their nationality or religion is not an obstacle.
Initiative
It’s no secret that students sometimes get a little lazy, even during the class. You were or are a student, so you definitely know that. What should a wise teacher do in such a case?
Take an initiative! If you see that your students aren’t fond of or are bored with some assignment, change it! Change the whole flow of a class. Be flexible and ready to adopt to what your students can be more interested in. It’s not indulgence because next time you can include students’ interests in your teaching plan and make them a part of the whole program.
Creativity
A language is a great material to work with! It gives complete freedom to your imagination, so your class exercises and home assignments can be really compelling and creative. Don’t forget that your own creativity will help your students to reveal theirs as well as develop their skills.