Could you be a Super Teacher?

ISIS CertTESOL Course Director Mark has just been to Hong Kong – a dream destination for many travllers and TEFL teachers – and these were some of his findings…


Having visited Hong Kong a couple of times now, my impressions are that education in HK is held in extremely high regard. Where some kids in Britain may occasionally take school for granted and do not necessarily (even try to) reach their potential, in general HK pupils are strongly encouraged to strive to improve their knowledge and skills at every opportunity.

Huge respect is given to teachers and successful learning is seen as an absolute necessity. It appears to be a very competitive environment for the Hong Kong learners to operate in and having a strong command of English is a pre-requisite for progression as a working professional. Thus, learners (and their families) continually place a high value on improving their abilities.

In fact, a number of the English speakers who I talked to amazed and amused me with their overall passion for and knowledge of the language and culture. More on them to follow…

When out and about in the city I was particularly surprised to find many billboard posters (some were enormous) advertising individual teachers in various subjects, but especially in English. The teachers’ profile pictures look pretty slick and I now call them the Super Teachers.

I can just imagine their classes, packed lecture theatres with standing room only, eager students straining to hear every ounce of advice. Just like your own foreign language learning experience in Britain right?

Maybe one day, it could be You!

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