PuertoRican United States. Apr 15 2015 03:39. Posts 13051
On April 15 2015 02:11 Rinny wrote:
I use to think teaching in asia was some straight up weeaboo shit. However I've been having pretty bad rsi problems for the past year so I don't think I want to take a programming job when I graduate with my C.S degree. I was thinking teaching might be good to do for like a year while allowing my arm to rest from the compulsive computer use ive subjected it to for the last 10 years. Has anyone done this/ researched it a lot?
- I used to have wrist and forearm issues toward the end of my Starcraft 1 days, and it played a part in me retiring/quitting the game on a competitive level in early 2004. I still have forearm issues every once in awhile, but it's due strictly to my posture while on the computer (I'm on the PC a lot). To get rid of the issue after you stop playing games, I'd recommend teaching yourself to sit straight as much as possible while on the computer, get out of the house as much as possible and start running (anything to get exercise and to give yourself time away from using your gaming arm), and then also buy a bottle of "Icy Hot" that comes in a roller-stick (it's a thin bottle that has a ball on the top, so you can just roll it on very easily; it takes the pain away from your forearm, but be prepared to wear a long sleeved shirt or sweater so you don't smear it all over your chair/desk/etc).
- I used to live in Korea, and while I wasn't a teacher, I had and still have many friends who are English teachers, so I know it's worth trying for at least 1 year. You get to experience so much more than just teaching kids and letting your arm rest.
- I'm currently in university for an English degree with a focus on teaching. Once I graduate, I'll move back to Korea asap, or at least somewhere in Asia if I somehow couldn't snag a job in Korea when I applied. I still have a year or so to go.
it's something i considered for a while, ultimately decided against it but who knows, could be something fun to do in the future.
Dave's ESL cafe boards are the best place i found for general info about different locations, answering basic questions like if you need any special certification, expected salary, typical hours, accomodation, etc: http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/ fwiw there also seems to be a decent amount of people there who are very cynical and disillusioned about the whole teaching abroad experience.
since it sounds like you're just interested in doing it for a year, i wouldn't worry too much about pay since it will all be fairly low anyway, just go somewhere that would be interesting and fun for you.
I taught for a year in a mid-sized satellite city 20 minutes outside of Seoul, called Guri.. And in general it was a pretty damn good time...besides running like shit at Walker Hill.
Korea is a really sweet destination for ESL first-timers as they provide you with a place to live and at least the basic amenities (Helping open a bank account, Getting your phone setup, etc).. It's EXTREMELY important that you do your research on whichever hagwon or public school you are interviewing with. This ranges from asking to talk to previous/current teachers, to seeing photos of your apartment, to researching forums.
You won't get rich teaching ESL but you should be able to save 10-15kUSD your first year without much effort. If you find that you enjoy teaching you can always gain further qualifications and progress into higher positions around the world. Your opportunities are pretty much limitless to teach ESL (Or Core Subjects) anywhere in the world.
Like Bigred said I would stick to somewhere in the vicinity of Seoul or Busan for your first year, you'll have a much easier time meeting people and finding things to do.
I'm now teaching in HCMC, Vietnam but genuinely miss living and working in Korea, and plan on moving back when my contract finishes up the end of this Summer. I would highly recommend taking the dive and going for it, Just make sure you do the proper research beforehand. Don't rush into a job, and check every last detail before committing.
Either play Tennis, or Powerball for your wrist issues. I've never got a problem in my wrists at all, and that's coming from a deaf guy that does almost nothing but sitting in front of computers all days for almost 20 years.
Your forehand should also lie down as much horizontal as possible when playing. I guess that's also why ? Also had chairs where you could rest your elbows.
Shin-il : Yeah it was very very very good for me too. Rekrul : YOU MOTHER FUCKING FUCKING SON OF A BITCH
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jchysk United States. Apr 15 2015 19:59. Posts 435
Thanks for the advice everyone. Korea seems like it would be a good choice, I wouldnt want to go anywhere that doesn't have like a legit government.
My RSI has gone bad over the course of the past year. Like right now I'm using voice to text in order to transcribe this. I will say I haven't been very proactive about it, and have spent most of my time feeling sorry for myself/ignoring the pain. But I just made myself a new ergonomic set up today, I bought a chair with lumbar support from IKEA as well as a kinesis advantage keyboard.
About six months ago I bought a Powerball man I was using it every day on my commute to work. I found that it made my elbow worse, but I was training with it really hard for short durations. I recently read that for RSI it's a lot better to do it at of low level of effort, but for longer periods of time, so on going to try line the future.
I also read these two books by a doctor named John Sarno. His basic idea is that emotional stress can result in pain conditions like RSI, because your body attempts to divert attention from your emotions by creating psychosomatic pain. I know this sounds like New Age bullshit, but I'm starting to believe that it might be a contributing cause in my case. I also grind my teeth pretty badly at night which is another thing that has a connection to stress. So I don't think it's too far-fetched that there is an emotional component to my pain. However, on the other hand, I'm definitely extreme outlier when it comes to keyboard use because of how much and how fast I played StarCraft as well as playing multiple tables at poker as well as programming in a very spammy style with lots of keypresses.
As for coding with voice recognition I've only recently got Dragon naturally speaking. It's good for stuff like this writing comments on the Internet, but it's terrible for coding. I had seen the talk that J CH Y S K posted, but he never posted his system as promised, perhaps as I get better using Dragon just for transcribing and creating documents, all be able to modify it is heated so I can continue to code.
Since I only ever played poker recreationally, I was never really able to empathize with the people who made it their career and had it taken away on black Friday or by tougher games. I thought there being quite whiny by not going back to school or just finding a different career, but now that it's happened to me, I understand how draining and awful it is.
