Teach Abroad Blog
Teaching abroad
How to Not Get Stuck in a Crappy Job
So you’ve decided to take the plunge and to teach abroad but don’t know where to begin. In the four years I’ve spent in Asia, I’ve had a variety of jobs in and out of teaching. I’ve had some great teaching jobs, as well as some not-so-great ones. I write this to help every newbie who is thinking of getting a teaching job overseas, to make the best of their experience and get a position that will make them happy and enjoy their time in a foreign country. I wish someone gave me this advice when I was looking for a teaching position; it would have saved me a lot of time, effort, and headaches along the way.
7 Unexpected Benefits of Teaching Abroad
There are many benefits of teaching abroad; some are more foreseeable than others. Everyone who wants to live in a foreign country knows that they will have a lot of adventure and excitement, but you might not fully grasp all the perks that go along with it. Here are some of the benefits you didn’t know you could experience:
Is it TEFL or TESOL?
To be perfectly honest, they mean the exact same thing! The two major differences between these terms are 1. The name and 2. the geographic region where the English learners live. Let me explain.
Living Abroad
Five Tips To Survive Your First Three Months In China
Living in China has always been at the back of my mind since I interned in Shanghai in 2009. During that summer I fell in love with the city, the people and the adventures; I knew I wanted to come back and call this city “home”. Deciding to move was the easy part, and actually making the move was much harder than I could have imagined. Boston was my home for the past 9 years. While it was hard to say goodbye, the excitement of the great unknown helped me to look forward. I was not able to secure a job before I moved but I took a leap of faith and came on a three month tourist visa. With three suitcases, I landed in Pudong International Airport and thus began the most exhilarating yet stressful first 90 days of my life! Whether you are teaching in China or moving here for other reasons, here are five tips on how I survived the first 3 months in China:
3 Great Mountains to Visit this October Holiday
China’s five most renowned mountains, or Wu Yue 五岳, have been summited for several millennia, and should be on the to-do list of every china-enthusiast. Because of time-constraints (the October holiday is only seven days long), we will only discuss three today. For pointers on how to combine travelling with a teaching carreer, click here!
Letters and Numbers in Chinese Internet Slang
The use of Letters and Numbers in Chinese Internet Slang
Most internet users know what the expressions U2 (you too) or ttyl (talk to you later) mean. Online, or in text messages many of us use acronyms to save time, but this phenomenon isn’t just limited to the English language. Over the past few years, the use of letters and numbers has become increasingly popular among Chinese netizens. Not just for the sake of brevity, but also to avoid widespread censorship. Disclaimer: As is true of most internet language, many of these expressions can be offensive.
- 88 拜拜 (bai bai)
Typed at the end of a conversation, 88 simply means goodbye. The Chinese word for 8 八 (ba) sounds like the character拜(bai), the transliteration of the English “bye”
- 3Q 三Q (san Q)
This simply is an informal transliteration of thank (三san, as the “th” is hard for Chinese to pronounce) you (Q)。
- PS Photoshop
This English expression is also popular on the Chinese internet. Netizens sometimes use “PS” to comment on (profile) pictures of girls, implying that Photoshop was used to make the actually ugly girl look beautiful.
- 250 二百五 er bai wu & 2 二 (er)
In Chinese (internet/popular) culture these words have more-or-less the same meaning, and are used to describe an imbecile. It can be playfully used between two friends when either one does something silly, but when used between strangers it is an insult.
- 38 三十八 (san shi ba)/三八 (san ba)
Someone who is 38 tends to gossip. 他很三十八- he is very gossipy. The word can be both a noun and adjective.
- 555…
Any number of fives (五wu) sounds like 呜 （wu）an onomatopoeia for crying. E.g. I failed my midterm 5555555 🙁
- BT 变态(bian tai)
BT is an expression that recently became very popular. Often translated as psycho, the meaning is usually not that intense. It can both be used to describe a person who is abnormal or even perverted, as well as to describe a crazy action (adj). The meaning varies greatly as singing in public (silly) as well as groping a girl on the subway (perverted) can be described as BT.
- SB/2B 傻屄 (sha bi)
Chinese kids may tell you SB simply means some body after having called you an SB, but the real meaning is actually very offensive. SB literally means stupid (傻) cunt (屄). Because 2 resembles S in shape, SB is sometimes written as 2B. Also, the character屄 is rarely used, and instead another word with the same pronunciation is written (e.g.逼).
- NB = 牛屄 (niu bi)
When someone does something really cool or amazing (厉害 li hai), online commenters sometimes type NB, which simply means “awesome” or “badass”. Occasionally it is used to describe the opposite: a person pretending to be cool. A poser, tool or 装逼(zhuang bi). As is true of many (Chinese) words, the meaning usually depends on the context. Any character with the “bi” sound can be substituted for (屄). E.g. 牛逼/牛比
- TMD 他妈的 (ta ma de)
TMD simply means damn it, and is used when bad news is received.
