Pros
This job is full of pros, there is a great teacher community where teachers get together to do activities and events, majority of the kids and teens I teach are lovely and I enjoy the center I am at. The experience that I have gained from EF is certainly priceless in the people I have met and the random events that have happened in my life. Many of my pros revolve around the kids I teach. I love interacting with them and teaching them a couple more words, while they teach me some stuff. It is such an awesome feeling when one of the kids who was struggling is finally able to speak a full sentence flawlessly or when everyone is having such a good time that the lesson goes flawlessly. It's amazing how much of the local language you pick up as a kids teacher too. With kids using simpler sentences and more exaggerated body language than their adult counterparts that understanding what they need or want is sometimes very easy.
Cons
The cons also involve the children I work with. Sometimes you'll get the children who need all your attention, won't focus, will hit other children or yourself, or destroy the classroom around them. This job needs a lot of patience. You'll wonder if some of the students need their hearing checked and you'll wonder where you put the headache medication. There is also the language barrier to contend with. You'll be working with a lot of local staff who don't necessarily speak a lot of English and you'll either need a local teacher to translate or you will have to talk very slowly and use small words. Even then, communication gets a little weird. It's also very much a business and there is heavy emphasis on making sales and selling classes. Sometimes it feels like we are making the children into a product for their parents to buy.
