Too Young?

Is there something holding you back? Are you too young, too fat, too old, too ugly? This video is about that sort of thing. Basically, probably the only thing that is holding you back is if you're too lazy.

  

In Friendconnect, Stephanie asked "I have limited teaching experience so will I even get work?"

Do You Have to Be Old Enough to Teach in Madrid?

A letter from an older teacher

Hello Steven

I watched several of your videos on the YouTube concerning teaching English to foreign students.

My name is . . ., born and educated in . . . UK, and I am 51 years of age.

I am of Italian (Sicilian) origin and I ended my British education with a BA Degree in Graphic Design in 1980, so quite a few years ago.

After a few non beneficial attempts at Graphic Design jobs in . . . in northern Italy, I transferred to Sicily to work in . . . , a beautiful holiday town as a night porter in a small hotel. I worked nights for 20 years (a solitary job most of the time)

I am presently in Ireland and have been out of work for a few years but at 51 I still need to work.

I have a dilemma and I wondered if you could enlighten me.

My sister has worked for several years as a TEFL English teacher in an English school called . . . in . . . teaching mainly adults. She later left to teach children in other small schools in the area.

As the climate in Ireland is not to my liking, I am considering a return to sunny Sicily.

I am basically a quiet person and a loner most of the time. I was wondering would a person like myself cope with starting a new career, doing a TEFL course and teaching English. Would you advise a 51 year old to embark on a teaching career? Do you feel that it is too late for a man of my age? Is it a too stressful career best left to college leavers?

At 51 perhaps one should be a director of a school and not a teacher.

As you are in the English TEFL teaching environment could you give me your opinion?

May I say you are an excellent communicator,

Kind Regards

. . . .

PS. My sister and I both wrote and published a book each. . . .

My Response

Hello . . . ,

There's no problem with your age persé. Age is often an advantage, not a disadvantage, when it comes to English teaching in companies, for instance, because many of the businessmen prefer older, more experienced folks, though not always. (By the way, check out the average ages of teachers advertised on MadridTeacher.com) On the other hand, this is a very stressful job with a lot of ins-and-outs. There are a lot of irritating bits, but age doesn't seem to me to be the most problematic factor and there are other character traits which you should consider more at length. (According to the Economist, "Harland Sanders started franchising Kentucky Fried Chicken when he was 65. Gary Burrell was 52 when he left Allied Signal to help start Garmin, a GPS giant. . . . The number of founders - of new companies - over 50 was twice as large as that under 25.") Your previous experience as a porter isn't particularly helpful and neither is your inclination to more solitary pursuits because this is a people-job and you have to put on a "happy face" like in McDonald's much of the time whether you feel like it or not. If you do go into it, I suggest you stick to cooperative one-to-one conversation classes and not get into the thick of it with group classes in companies or academies. As for the director of a school bit, I'll take that as a joke.