Life lessons I learned as an English teacher in Taiwan, and you can too.

Even though the first English teaching job I got was in Korea, I think that I learned a lot this time while teaching English in Taiwan in a classroom. Not only can you learn about teaching in school, but I think the experience, in general, can teach you a lot about life. There are so many different life lessons here because Taiwan's culture is so different compared to places like North America. I'm going to show you guys a little bit of what I've learned by being an English teacher in the classroom in Taiwan, which has been helpful in my life.

Parents sometimes only hear what they want and people in general.

I don't want you guys to think about this too much, but I feel that sometimes parents will only want to hear good things about their children and students. I usually try to focus on positive things when I write report cards. When I started to write report cards when I was in Taiwan, I would focus on trying to make valuable comments. I started getting down this adverse road because I was trying to point out all of the students' flaws so that maybe their parents could fix the problems. The thing is that I got told pretty much right away that that's not the way that they do things in Taiwan. They want to hear that their son or daughter is doing well and they want to hear that their son or daughter is having a good time. So that's what I decided to focus on more, and I figured out that the parents would listen to me more if I told them something they wanted to hear.

There's only so much you can do as a teacher and a person.

We seem to think that we have so much influence over the students in the classroom. The fact of the matter is that there are so many different factors in their world that affect them a lot more. Their peer group. Their parents. Social media. There are so many things that will affect them more than you do in the classroom. No, I'm not trying to say that you shouldn't try to be a teacher in the school, but I am trying to say that it's a significant burden if you think that as a teacher, you will be able to turn them into some super learner.

That's kind of like the same thing in reality. We focus so much on ourselves and how we affect the people around us. What's important, I think, is that we realize how insignificant we are in the whole scheme of things. I believe that, especially with this generation, they have an over-important ego. They believe everything is an obligation, and things should come to them. The point is that many people are thinking about other things, and they're not thinking about you.

Leave work in the classroom.

What I wanted to do was I wanted to find somebody to talk to about my problems in the classroom. I figured that if I didn't speak about them with somebody else, the issues would probably be there when I returned to my classroom. In other words, I would still have that stress later. I thought, maybe I should write it down, and I don't need to tell anybody, to be honest. What I'm trying to say is that once your job is done as an English teacher, you should leave all that stress of the classroom in the classroom.

Just like regular work, you should probably leave your stress at work. It would be best if you worked on some things, so you don't feel so stressed and angry about your job when you return. At the same time, life is concise. If you're focusing on work all the time, then probably you're not going to be able to enjoy a lot of things outside of the classroom, in your life in general. So leave it there and figure it out later.

Teaching isn't for everyone, and neither are other jobs.

Teaching English is one of the most accessible jobs for a native English speaker with a degree. You get the visa, and you can do your job in the classroom. You might be better off teaching in the countryside if you're not that qualified. The point is that these jobs are not necessarily for everyone. Teaching English, especially to young learners, requires patience, discipline to do the work, and talking with parents. You also need to be able to work in an environment with other teachers.

Even though teaching English is a pretty easy job to get, it doesn't mean that everybody should do it. It's just like regular jobs. Some jobs pay well and are easy to get, but not everybody is suited for them. I'm not saying you should give up as a teacher if you feel stressed about your job. But I'm saying that if you think teaching English isn't your calling; then it might be better for you to find something else to do.

It would help if you spoke their language. 

Many people seem to think you need to speak Mandarin Chinese when teaching English in Taiwan. I would say probably that's not the case. It would help if you talked about the student's language in terms of your ability to have them understand you and vice versa. Maybe you need to talk a little bit slower. Perhaps you need to use words that they know. That's the same thing in regular life. If you're always talking to people using the vocabulary and jargon you know, then chances are that you're probably going to have some misunderstandings with people. You need to speak the language they know and that they appreciate. If they like to talk about food, then talk about food. If they want to talk about video games, you get the picture.

It would help if you kept the noise out. 

No, don't take this the wrong way, but one thing that I have heard a lot while being in Taiwan is complaining. No, I'm not saying there is no complaining where I come from, but it seems that being an English teacher in Taiwan, people love to complain a lot. They love to complain about you and how you're not doing a good job. They love to complain about you and how the parents are demanding more from you. They like to complain about you because you're messy or maybe you make too much noise at night—things like that. And the thing is that they are used to taking it personally. I realize that work is work, and they are just saying some things that don't have to do anything with my character. Because of all the time that I've spent in Taiwan, I just zoned out when people started to complain, and their voices got loud. And because I can speak Mandarin Chinese a little bit more, I can understand when people complain about me in their language.

If you're the type of person that gets upset very quickly because people are complaining about you, then probably teaching English in Taiwan is not for you. I have been doing a lot of research in philosophy lately, specifically on stoicism. To deal with life sometimes, we have to not pay attention to the details, in my opinion. Without getting into too many details about stoicism and Marcus Aurelius, this guy, a long time ago, made these notes about how to be a better person. He was in a war. And he needed to figure out how he could control his emotions to be a better person and leader. In some ways, sometimes, I think that people move in their lives with too much emotion. Sometimes you feel like you're just an obstacle, and they don't appreciate you. When I mean barrier, I mean an obstacle in their life. They're trying to move around you and don't care about you or anything about you. And that's fine. That's their life, and you have your own life to live.

When people get angry, sometimes I think about peanut butter sandwiches. I think about the things that I have to do later today. It's not that I don't care about what they're saying, but humans are emotional creatures. Humans will reply to you with sadness, anger, and sometimes happiness. And none of these emotions necessarily have anything to do with you. It might be the stress that they regularly have in their life. Or maybe their spouse is always ranting at them because they don't have enough money. You don't have to take the emotional burdens of other people. That's one thing that being in Taiwan and as an English teacher has taught me. The fact that I don't need to pay attention to what they're complaining about me. Their complaints have nothing to do with me.

Overall I would say that teaching English in Taiwan is a fantastic experience. It has taught me many life lessons, even though this is probably my fourth or fifth attempt at teaching English in another country. If you are interested in having a different job and learning a lot about life in a different culture, then maybe teaching English in Taiwan is for you. Hopefully, this was useful for you and somewhat educational. Thank you for reading.