Top 10 Tips for Making the Most of Your Teach Away Experience

Teaching overseas can be an amazing adventure. Listed below are 10 tips for making the most of your Teach Away Experience.

1. Don’t Panic
Your first days can be intimidating. You may be fully illiterate for the first time since you were a child. You may stick out like a sore thumb and experience long stares from the locals. You may not know how to purchase orange juice or toilet paper, and don’t want to look like a fool. Welcome to Culture Shock 101 – get out there and do it. Staying in your apartment doesn’t help. Remember why you decided to go in the first place.

2. Explore More and More
You are in a new place with new and exciting sights, sounds, and smells. Part of being overseas is experiencing what life is like overseas, so dive in! Give the new food, traditions, festivals and people a good ‘ole college try. It’s the only way to learn.

3. Stay Connected
The internet is a lovely thing, and staying in touch with friends and family at home, in moderation, will help fend off homesickness. What better time to start a blog (www.teachaway.ning.com) or a podcast?

4. Get Connected
Seek out new friendships with those doing the same thing. You are not alone! Check out Teach Away’s social network. Connect with locals: befriend the corner store man/lady. Participate in local social gatherings and get to know your neighbours.

5. Be Safe!

• Always have your home address written in the native language of the country you in and a contact number of your employer on you.
• Have copies of all your important documents with you (passport, visa, birth certificate).
• Keep a list of emergency numbers on hand (police, fire, ambulance) ensure that someone will answer in English
• Register with your consulate/embassy. It makes sense.

6. Learn the Language and the Customs
Be patient, as learning a new language doesn’t happen overnight, but be dedicated. Learning Hello, Goodbye, Please, and Thank you is a great start.

Part of adapting and adjusting to a new place is communicating with locals, getting to know their perspectives and lifestyle. Having a phrasebook will help you only to a certain point, but is a good place to start. If you want to get more serious, set up a language exchange with a local colleague. Observe what the locals do and don’t do and ensure that you do and don’t do the same.

7. Be Healthy and Stay Fit!
It goes without saying, but we will say it anyways. Part of feeling good is ensuring that you stay healthy: mentally and physically. Watch your diet, stay active and social.

Keep in mind your job, however. Teaching abroad will likely present you with some great parties, but remember: you are a teacher in your new host country, and are expected to live up to the standards of a teacher. Be fresh for your students.

8. Hold Your Judgement
One of the first reactions to life in a foreign country is to constantly compare it to your home country. Recognizing the differences is natural, and frequently important (better look right first and then left when crossing the street in Japan), but highlighting differences can quickly turn into, or be perceived as, value judgements. Keep in mind that each country has developed out of its own unique set of historical and cultural circumstances. The things we initially label as ‘weird’ or ‘strange’ frequently end up making perfect sense after a while.

9. Do Your Best at Your Job
This may be your first job after University/College, and if you haven’t figured it out by now: You only get what you put in to something. The big difference here, however, is that the students are counting on you too. Prepare for your lessons, and your job will be easier, and your supervisor/principal will recognize it. Most of all, your students will be better off. Congratulations, the world is a better place because you did your job well. Feels good, huh?

10. Share What You’ve Learned!
Be a mentor. Share all your tips and tricks with us so we can pass them on to future Teach Away teachers.
www.teachaway.ning.com.