Why I Want to Teach English in China

This was the letter I wrote to the academy in China where I will teach English for 6 months starting in September.  The interview process took a few weeks over several Skype sessions, and I officially accepted their contract today.  I’m so excited!  But if you’re curious to know why I’m quitting a well paying job to do this, you can find out by reading what I wrote.  It’s kinda cheesy,  I know, but it worked!  😀

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Why I want to teach English in China
Huey Ly

I love the study of linguistics, and have always found it easy to learn a new language.  Growing up in Vietnam, we spoke both Cantonese and Vietnamese at home.  My brother, sister and I would speak Cantonese with our Mom and Dad, and Vietnamese with our friends at school.  When we moved to the United States, English came naturally to us.  We were speaking English to each other within a few years of coming to America.

Language and linguistics, to me, is the essence of thoughts.  The collective sum of our experiences cannot be described and remembered without the use of language.  Advance thoughts and complex concepts cannot be formed, analyzed and processed without the use of language.  Indeed, to learn a person’s language is to be able to think as that person.  Language is more than a form of communication, learning a language can give a person insights into the culture of which it belongs to as well.

Furthermore, I love traveling and learning about the different cultures around the world.  Every city has its own characteristic, and the people living there seem to see the world in a slightly different light.  I want to be able to experience these differences, quantum leaping thru the heartbeat of each city until I’ve seen them all.  Learning about the language and culture of a place will bring me closer to that place, and eventually, the rest of the world.

And that is why I want to teach English in China (or Vietnamese, or any other languages for that matter).   It gives me the opportunity to share my love for languages with others, and at the same time help me learn new languages from the other side.  I plan to quit my cushy job as a software developer and travel the world in the next few years, teaching English and learning new languages as I go.  I plan to stay at least 6 months to a year at each location, but my schedule isn’t rigid.  I can stay longer or shorter depending on the situation.  Hopefully, by the end of it, I could say I’ve lived in all the major cities of the world, and picked up a handful of languages a long the way.

Thank you for your time and consideration.  I would love to join your institution to follow this dream.

Huey Ly
January 14, 2011