You need to know that teaching abroad is going to be different. That's the short answer. It's going to be different in many different ways like:
- The language will be different
- The food will be different
- The culture will be different
- Expectations will be different
- The environment will be different
- The people will look different
- Your job will be different
- People's mannerisms will be different
- People's thinking will be different
- The religions will be different
- The politics (or lack of them) will be different
It's like being thrown into a blender.
You are going to have a whole lot of new things thrown at you.
How open minded are you?
Because if you are not then you will have a lot of problems living abroad. And even if you are open minded you are still going to have problems because that is life.
What you need to know about living abroad
Not knowing the language is going to present all kinds of challenges and difficulties (see the link below on challenges to hear some of them). Very simple things become challenging like: getting a bank, finding an apartment, ordering food, meeting people, talking to people, etc.
It's going to make your life outside of the classroom better the more language you know.
You can get by without it, but you're going to be living in a lonely bubble the less you know.
Culture shock was not really a "shock" to me, but it's going to get you one way or another eventually because most people don't make careers teaching abroad. Most only do it for a year or two and then return home.
What you really need to know about "teaching abroad"
You need to know that teaching is not easy. The beaches that you've seen, the exotic places you've seen and probably all the reasons why you are considering teaching abroad are not going to be your day to day reality.
Your day to day reality (roughly 33% of your time abroad) is going to be spent in a classroom. You're going to be a teacher.
Do you want to learn how to teach?
If you are not that interested in teaching then that's probably a clue to how much you will like teaching abroad.
It's work.
And teaching can become fun, but you have to apply yourself.
How can I help you?
Start learning now. I made all these free how-to videos for you and if you really want to get prepared take ESLinsider's TEKA course.
Or check out these related articles...
Related:
- Is teaching abroad a good idea?
- Advice for teaching abroad in China, Korea, Taiwan & Japan
- The challenges of teaching abroad
- Requirements to teach abroad in Asia (what you need)
- Age limit to teach English abroad
- How do I prepare to teach abroad?