Teaching with LELI in East Timor - A diverse, enriching and inspiring experience

For the past twelve years, I’ve had the privilege of working at Lorosa'e English Language Institute (LELI) in the vibrant capital of Timor-Leste, Dili, East Timor. More than just a workplace, LELI has become a second home - a supportive community where I feel welcome and valued every single day.LELI is a warm and inviting place from the moment you step through the doors. The reception area is bright and welcoming, and our friendly staff greet everyone with genuine smiles, setting a positive tone that carries through the whole building...

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New teacher abroad? Six vital teaching tips

As one term finishes and before we start the next, it's a nice time to reflect on not only the year just completed but also one's career to-date. After seven years of teaching English in five countries I can certainly say I've had a journey, and in the process learnt a lot about myself, the classroom, the English language itself and what it really takes to teach it effectively. Here are six tips which I hope will help encourage and guide anyone preparing to embark on their first trip abroad to teach English as a Foreign language or for anyone more experienced...

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Protecting your mental health throughout Summer School Teaching

It’s that time of year, a heady June, in which summer contracts start to arrive and EFL teachers get ready for their annual summer school across the UK, and beyond. With English summer schools being an extremely popular and busy time of year, and for many, the most prosperous annual work assignment for EFL Teachers, it can also be extremely demanding both mentally and physically...

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How to Balance a Writing Career with TEFL

The stereotype of the aspiring writer trying to survive by teaching English on the side is nothing new. James Joyce, JK Rowling and Nick Hornby are just a few of the novelists who taught EFL in order to fund their works in progress. All these writers had to pave their own way to literary success with jobs that barely earned them a basic living with limited opportunities to focus on their art. And it's not just novelists who juggle their creative endeavours with TEFL, but journalists, copywriters, travel writers, scriptwriters, playwrights and bloggers too. Yet we all know that neither teaching nor writing are the best paid jobs to begin with, so what exactly is the allure? And is there a way to ensure simultaneous success in both of these professions?

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