Teaching With Chopsticks: TEFL From The Frontline [Kindle Edition]

This is a book about teaching English as a foreign language that's a must if you are or ever have been a TEFL teacher. Or even if you're thinking about taking that year out and would like a heads up on what it's really like.

In fact that's the great thing about this book. Not only does it include the obvious drama of overcoming initial feelings of loneliness to create a new set of friends; acclimatising to a foreign environment, and plenty of nights down the local bar... it's also very much about the job you have to do when you get there. It's primarily about the experience of being thrown into a room with a group of children, staring up at you: expecting you to be their teacher; then gradually learning the skills needed to cope with all the ups and downs of the work.

Jonathan Last went to Korea with the intention of writing a book about his teaching experiences and it shows. The detail he puts in and the way the plot moves around his ever changing attitudes towards the job and Korea in general... this is no memoir, you're actually there with him, which makes for great reading.

I also enjoyed the subtle sense of humour, the way Last manages to fit in jokes almost accidentally and thus the humour feels very natural.

The only problem with this book is that it isn't available in print. One day I hope to see it picked up by a bigger publisher.

I only found a link to this book from an on-line magazine - world-tefl - whilst looking at options to teach in Korea. There is so little out there that gives all-round information, so decided to give it a try. At that price I couldn't go wrong, but the book itself is so informative it helped make my mind up. The style of writing leads the reader gently through the areas that are important to anyone wanting a real insight. It's a country that we in the west tend not to know much about, so anything like this is invaluable. Even if you're not interested in working in tefl, you may decide just to visit the country after reading this book. A good 'pot luck' purchase!

Last draws you into his world, sharing his personal thoughts and feelings in a delightful way that reminded me of my own experiences getting to know a new country and all the fear and fun that comes with it. Thoroughly enjoyable.