About Me

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Hello to all you fellow travellers and TEFL teachers out there! I am Kirstie, a qualified TEFL teacher, currently teaching abroad and living my dream, I hope one day you can too!

I started out my journey in Manchester, UK, where I graduated from University and was working in a healthcare company. I backpacked around South East Asia a couple of years ago and knew I’d want to go back someday. I also knew I would love to teach but just didn’t have the courage to study for it in the UK, so I decided to move abroad and teach.

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Classroom selfie in Thailand!

I completed my TEFL course and then flew out to Thailand to start my journey. I lived in Chiang Mai for 1 year and 3 months, working as an International teacher in Grade 1. I then moved to Phuket for 6 weeks to be surrounded by stunning beaches, working as an online ESL teacher speaking to students all around the world. Eventually, I wanted a steady income and moved to Hanoi, Vietnam for a year to work as an English teacher in a language centre. I have recently relocated to Da Nang, Vietnam’s sort after destination, with the same company and love it!

I’d love to hear all about your TEFL experiences and all your travelling hot spots. Please leave a comment or ask me any questions, I’d be happy to help. Happy travelling! 

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Class photo!

10 thoughts on “About Me”

  1. A great experience for you Kirstie, you only live once and life is what you make it & you certainly seem so happy in what you are doing & your family back in England are so proud of you all my love Auntie Sharon xxxxxxxxxxxx

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  4. Hello Kirsty,
    So nice to read your blog about TEFL journeys across SEA. You have almost inspired me to do it over again. The only problem is I have not done teaching for 10 years. I returned to Manchester from Thailand in 2007 and went back to university, possibly the same one from which you graduated. Got my BA in Spanish Studies and realised there is not much to do with it here. A language degree sadly does not guarantee anything apart from a call centre job. Well, I did my best to become a language interpreter. With Polish being my native language, English as Second and Spanish as the third I got plenty of hours from a number of agencies. Again, our lovely British government cut rates, monopolised the market and made me very poor and miserable.

    So here I am, at 39 with two BAs in Modern Language Studies, a TEFL course and years of experience teaching mainly kids in Thailand and China. I wonder if returning to do the same job over again is a career move or the contrary. What’s happening with Brexit is very depressing and being a non native of this island (although im a British passport holder) is not helping at all. Would they welcome me with open arms in HCMC you think? What I am afraid of is being discriminated for not being a native speaker of English, who can speak English like a native speaker and who does not have a strong accent either. What is your perspective on all I have written?

    Would love to hear from you Mancunion lass 🙂

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    • Hello! Your life sounds amazing, congrats on getting so far! Vietnam is very much like Thailand when it comes to non-native speakers. However there are public schools and some language centres that would offer you employment definitely. HCMC would be a great place to find a job as a TEFL teacher. It might be difficult at the beginning, especially if you go to the top language centres as they almost always want native speakers but with your experience, I don’t think it would be too difficult! Good luck!

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  5. I am just getting my TEFL, and I would like to maybe find some work abroad for the summer (2018). I have been looking online bu tot be honest I’m a bit overwhelmed with the many options. Do you know where I should look for 6-8 week contracts for this summer please?

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