An English Teacher in Mexico: Memories of a Midlife Career Change

by Irene Pylypec

Not keen on turning fifty, the author accepts there's nothing she can do about it, so she decides to take a whole week to celebrate this milestone. Then she changes careers. Not only to a different profession but by moving to a different country.

Getting to Mexico is a challenge in itself. But upon her arrival, she experiences many more challenges, the least of which is her lack of Spanish. With the help of new-found friends and an adventuresome spirit, she tackles these challenges with determination and an open mind.

Challenging too are her interactions with her students. But who learns more in the end? The teacher or the students?

242 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 14, 2021

About the author

Irene suffers from Peter Pan Syndrome, but she’s OK with that. An avid reader since early childhood, Irene daydreamed of travel to foreign lands while tending sheep under the expansive living skies of the Canadian prairie.
Passionate about travel, she caught the travel bug in the mid-seventies when she backpacked solo throughout the UK and Ireland. She’s a firm believer that to truly understand the world’s peoples and their culture, one must live and work in that unfamiliar environment. Her travel experiences, as well as formal education and workplace training, provided and continues to provide the needed fodder for narrative non-fiction storytelling.
Irene is a storyteller. She’s a self-published author, blogger, graphic designer/illustrator, ESL teacher, reader of books, former proof-reader and avid gardener.
Oh…and she loves fine wine. And chocolate.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorlydia

Reviews

[Carrie Riseley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A charming account of life in Mexico through a foreigner's eyes. The author brings everyday situations to life in interesting ways, recording her observations and, in many cases, surprise at how things are in a country so different to her own. Her Mexican friends are brought to life too in the pages. They seem like lovely people - so welcoming to Irene.

[Lee Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun and insightful well-written account of adventure and culture…

After turning 50, Irene Pylypec decides to embark on a adventure to Mexico from Canada. The writing style is immediately inviting and delivers a fantastic insight into what its like to take the plunge into the unknown of travelling to a far away place to pursue the ambition of teaching English.

Having read Pylypec’s previous memoir about her travels to London this account carries a different flavour that really homes in on the experience side of what its like to be in Mexico from the living arrangements to the food, places, people, traditions and even the pace that is so different. I particularly enjoyed learning about the different holidays and family orientated culture that Irene found herself apart of in what sounds like a wonderful place to visit with some great hosts.

For anyone looking to enjoy a memoir that serves as fun escapism whilst learning about Mexican culture, this book is certainly the one for you!

[Valerie Poore · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was sent an ARC copy of this book motivated my own background as an ESL teacher, and I am happy to say I found it both entertaining and informative. Irene Pylypec decides to become an English teacher at the age when most people choose to remain settled in a career for the rest of their working lives. I really loved the author's accounts of working in a language school in a busy Mexican town. I found I could relate well to many of her experiences and understood her difficulties and frustrations with the different language, systems and attitudes to education. I also enjoyed being taken around places of interest in Mexico with Irene and the friends who adopted her. Her style is very personal and she 'talks' to the reader, so I felt totally involved in her life there. Altogether, this was a lively, fascinating and fun travel memoir with the added interest of learning about the life of an English language teacher in a foreign country.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Irene turns fifty, apart from having a week long celebration, she also considers a life change, leading her to take a six month contract teaching English in Mexico. Not only is she a single woman, she also doesn't speak Spanish....
I was impressed by the courage she had to take such a step, and also by the way she integrated into the local community. Making friends with Mexicans definitely made this a good experience, as she got to travel round with them, and see places as the locals see them, and not with a tourist group. This was my favorite thing about the book, although I did enjoy reading about her teaching experiences, too. Looking forward to reading more from this entertaining author.

[Julie Haigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Life Begins at 50? Fun read!

The author is 50 at the start the of book, and her career is in graphic design. It's not just her 50th Birthday-she's celebrating it all week: 50th Birthday Week! What's on her 50th Birthday Bucket List? You'd be surprised! She sounds so fun, and game for anything. I really liked this book. Well-told, easy to read, fun. Many amusing instances.

Mexico is looking for English Teachers, so off she goes and gives that a go! In this book, she captures exactly what it's like to up and go to Mexico, and teach English to teenagers. The general living accommodation, food, traditions etc. Seeing the sights with the locals. I enjoyed the chapter where she was holidaying in Acapulco, and some of the things she saw there. Very interesting, things I hadn't heard of before, and I googled and looked on YouTube for more info, to see what I was reading about etc.

Very good. I enjoyed it all. A nice read which sometimes had me in fits of giggles. There were highs and lows, ups and downs. It was unpredictable, and very enjoyable.

An entertaining, amusing, and interesting read.

[D. Engelhardt · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're contemplating a new, mid-life career that comes with a bit of adventure and a dramatic change of scenery, you have two choices: take the plunge or check out Irene Pylypec's An English Teacher in Mexico, an intimate account of the six months the author spent teaching ESL in Tulancingo. Off to a slow start, the story picks up as Irene deals with culture shock and the challenges of teaching English to privileged, sometimes disinterested but mostly enthusiastic teenagers and young adults. As she does in her first memoir, A Squatter in London, she takes the reader on side trips to both well- and lesser-known historical and cultural sites. You won't find out how to train as an ESL teacher, get a job in a foreign country or teach grammar and conversation skills, but An English Teacher in Mexico might just whet your appetite for a rewarding experience.

[Jill Robbertze · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this well written, interesting and entertaining memoir. I love Irene's style of story telling; she gets to the point with just enough detail to keep the story moving along at a decent pace but still being descriptive enough to visualize every scene. The English teaching methods described, sounded so much fun and the Mexican holidays and traditions captivating. One definitely sees a different side of life in Central Mexico than what one usually experiences in the typical Mexican sea-side holiday. I look forward to reading more from this author.

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good story

I always wondered what it would be like to travel and teach ESL. I looked up the excursions she had so I could feel like I was there. Very interesting.

[Tammy Horvath · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating story full of twists. I thoroughly enjoyed this captivating story from Irene Pylypec. She has an intriguing way of sharing her adventures, drawing her readers into her world. This time, she led an exciting life in Mexico while teaching.

[Ronald Mackay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Engaging told, Irene Pylypec’s “An English Teacher in Mexico: Memories of a Midlife Career Change”, through a torrent of revealing anecdotes, shows how to get the very best out of a mid-life adventure. Irene’s took her from central Canada to the Mexican provinces where the ancient mingles with the new. The author is sincere, serious, idealistic, loyal, courageous, and ever willing and able to make the best of whatever demands her new career and new country make of her. Mostly through trial and error and always with determination, she controls even her most challenging students, makes close friends with locals, and learns to accommodate herself to – and even to love -- the oddities of provincial Mexican accommodation, food, and climate. She travels, learns the language, and pleases the reader with an intimate insight into a “real” Mexico inaccessible through “package travel”.

If you’re up for a midlife career change yourself or just seeking excitement indirectly, you’ll find “An English Teacher in Mexico a good place to start.

[Christopher Shaffer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun memoir about a Canadian woman who had the courage to change directions after her 50th birthday and teach English in Mexico.

[L.C. Tang · Rating 5 out of 5]

A memoir about a Canadian who had the courage to leave everything, move to another country, and embark on an adventurous journey. The journey unfolds in a total of 42 chapters, followed by a dedication and author notes.