The World is a Class: How and Why to Teach English Around the World

by Caleb Powell, Jacqui Good (Editor)

This handbook helps you figure out which part of the world will offer the best teaching and living experience for your personality. Caleb gives advice on how to find employment abroad and what to ask for in a contract. He compares the school teaching experience to that of teaching privately. He sorts through the issues of teaching abroad illegally. He has words of wisdom about when to quit and when to negotiate. He adds an extensive list of resource material. And he shares the stories of dozens of teachers who've survived and flourished around the world.

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel

66 pages, Paperback

First published April 15, 2002

About the author

“Surfing in Pakistan succeeds at amplifying the voice of those once voiceless, with dignity and grace, and will stay with you for quite some time.” Fabienne Josaphat, author of PEN/Bellwether Prizewinner Kingdom of No Tomorrow

Caleb Powell's most recent book is Surfing in Pakistan: How Great Books, Art, Language, and the Internet Unite Two People, Two Cultures, and All of Us, co-authored with Sana Nasim. Excerpts have been published by The Seneca Review (2017) and Pleiades (2023).

When Pakistani artist and polio survivor Sana Nasim reaches out to Caleb Powell, blogger for the Karachi-based Express Tribune, an extraordinary and transformative friendship begins. She questions her will to live and wants to improve her English, he wants to create a work of art.

In the tradition of Azar Nafisi’s Reading Lolita in Tehran, they read and discuss the opuses of Truman Capote, Harper Lee, W. Somerset Maugham, Toni Morrison, and Barbara Kingsolver, pushing Sana to write moving and powerful stories of life in Pakistan.
Sana Nasim lives and paints in Sialkot, Pakistan, and works for a non-governmental organization helping disabled children.

Caleb also has work in various literary magazines, including Poets & Writers, The Stranger, The Sun Magazine, and Zyzzyva. He co-authored, with David Shields, I Think You're Totally Wrong: A Quarrel (Knopf). Currently he lives in the Pacific Northwest with his wife and three daughters.

Reviews

[C. A. Willis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great, clear, informative read if you've ever considered hitting the road and teaching English overseas! Highly recommended.

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet and succinct. A great starting place delivering everything it promises.

[Angelica · Rating 2 out of 5]

This seemed like it was a good idea, good start for a person to write about his experiences. But it didn't fully develop into a book, I felt like I got the rough draft version.

[Jalice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gave lots of great advice. Not too presumptuous or preachy.