Brian Starmach | Online TEFL Course Instructor

• B.A. Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign

• M.Ed. International Education (Concentration in ESL), Endicott College

I taught ESL and ELA in Turkey to both primary and secondary school learners.  Additionally, I've taught Korean children here in the U.S.

Belgium, Belize, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Honduras, Hungry, Ireland, India, Italy, Jordan, Mongolia, Morocco, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, and Ukraine.

You know, every memory is a favorite memory, until there’s no such thing. I am so grateful that I found a way to travel; it has helped shaped who I’ve become. My early travels were related to study, but also involved a fair amount of aimless exploration. Imagine sitting on a rocky cliff overlooking an ancient river in the south of India, with ruins strewn around, and feeling that you are in a place so old that it’s like seeing back in time; indeed even walking time. There is nothing like the feeling of having no direction at all. No specific place to see, just the urge to see more; and to have the time and the means to wander. This is the kind of travel I enjoy most, more than the place itself. The otherworldly feeling of suspension.

View teaching as a journey; something to be experienced. No one becomes an expert right away. Work towards building good plans and activities, and trying to improve upon your craft over time. Likewise, don’t take a student’s lack of interest, personally. Learners have a wide range of goals (and sometimes none) for why they are in your class.

Connect with the expatriate community. At first, you’ll probably be so excited about your new surroundings that they will take up most of your attention. But after finding a routine, you might find you miss interaction in your native language. Perhaps even before then :) Those willing to uproot and move abroad are usually pretty interesting folk. And if they’ve been there for any length of time, they can tell you how to get things done. I’m not saying you shouldn’t make friends locally, of course you should; but that won’t be a problem. Just remember, you’re never really alone.