The Beginning of My Teaching in Hong Kong

After spending a semester in Thailand teaching English, I knew I wanted to live and work  in other countries in Asia and of course Hong Kong was at the top of my list. Trying to find a job in Hong Kong was more difficult than I first anticipated and I was relieved to find On The Mark who assisted in finding me potential jobs and then setting up interviews with potential employers.

I decided to accept a job from a language school that has language centres throughout Hong Kong On the Mark helped me set up with. They were extremely helpful from the get go and were able to answer any questions I had about the company itself, the students and what I was going to be teaching. Before I left the UK they assisted me in the processing of my visa, including help with all the documents and paperwork.

I was in contact with staff from my school throughout my wait for me visa which turned out to be a long 4 weeks wait and then also upon my arrival into Hong Kong. I started work four days after I landed and I was instructed to attend their North Point centre. As I had arrived during the summer, the centre was running their summer programme of classes which are based around more fun and creative aspects of education. This was the perfect time for me to start as I was given the opportunity to observe a variety of different types of classes and interact with the full range of ages that the school currently caters for. It also gave me to opportunity to meet my co-workers and start getting to know everyone’s names and classrooms. My first day was a bit of a whirlwind and before I knew it, it was 6:30pm and time for me to finish up and to go home.

I woke up the next day to a message telling me that I was needed at another centre in Tai Koo to cover a class. It was not something I expected to be doing on my second day with the company but I got ready and headed out to find the centre. I was met at the MTR station by the head teacher of the centre who was surprised to find out I’d only been in the country less than a week. Nevertheless, I was taken to my classroom and given the lesson plan, materials and worksheet I needed for my cover lesson. So for my first lesson in Hong Kong I was going to be teaching about “Africa and African Tribes”, not exactly the first topic that comes to mind when you thinking about teaching in a language centre. My first class had 5 students, 1 girl and 4 boys and throughout I was utterly entertained by the chit chat. I was surprised by how high their level of English was and how interested they were to learn about Africa. The whole lesson was going to plan until it came to the craft section and then the lesson hit a bump, the craft required was an African Tribal Necklace, the last thing the 4 boys in my class wanted to make. However, with a little bit of persuasion and the promise of playing a game (educational of course) the boys reluctantly attempted to make the necklace. All in all my first solo lesson was successful and although it happened a lot quicker than I expected, I was happy that it was done and I had survived.

My first two days as an English Teacher in Hong Kong was full of new experiences and challenges and went by in the blink of an eye. If the next 12 months go by a quickly I might have to renew my contract and stay a little bit longer.