Teaching English in Asia has become a bit of a cliché as more and more native speakers pour in, seeking adventure and a chance to experience teaching. The demand for teaching positions is rising faster than the number of new positions, so one could say the industry is starting to mature. It is not as easy to find a high-paying job as it used to be.

The surplus of teachers also means that legitimate EFL teaching qualifications are becoming more important, and schools are starting to demand a high level of performance from teachers. The days of easy job security based only on a passport and a BA are just about gone. This is a good thing, since children always deserve the best from teachers, no matter what the subject or circumstances of instruction.

The EFL industry is stable or growing in nearly all Asian countries, and it is still quite possible to save a tidy sum through teaching in the more developed economies, such as Taiwan, Japan, Korea and the Arab Gulf states.

"Cram schools"

Alas, pity the poor students of Asia. When the school bell rings at four o'clock, it's not the end of their school day. Most of them go straight to a private "cram school" where they bone up on various subjects, trying to get the edge on their classmates in the highly competitive educational treadmill. Some schools are for music. Others are for chess, or caligraphy. And a lot of them are for, you guessed it, English.

English classes are quite popular with most kids, especially if they have a foreign teacher, who will almost certainly be less strict and more fun than any of their other teachers. This is a another good thing, since language simply cannot be learned well under stressful circumstances. Unfortunately, it can sometimes be difficult to persuade parents of this fact, and EFL teachers are often under pressure to be strict and use predominately rote drill-based teaching methods.