Teaching English puts you in contact with many other teachers of different cultural backgrounds, life experiences, and personalities. Your fellow teachers have different reason for teaching English. Some are dedicated and take pride in their job. Others view the job as simply a way to survive while living in a foreign country. Since in many countries the only job available to the average foreigner (besides a more formal one such as working for an embassy, non-governmental organization, or a private company performing skilled work) is English teaching, most of the working foreigners have no choice but to take this job. This means that some of the teachers are not really doing the job because they want to, but because it is the only thing available. This fact can create a negative environment in the teaching community, and since it is ultimately the only option, teachers need to be aware of this and be cautious in their interactions with other teachers.

The positive side to teaching is that you often meet very interesting fellow teachers. They are often people who have traveled, who are intelligent and creative, and have similar and/or complimentary goals and skills to yours. It is important to cultivate these positive interactions. They will make your experience living and working in a foreign culture much more enjoyable. They will also counterbalance the negative experiences that you may have with other co-workers or staff members.

The physical environment of the English school includes the building, classrooms, offices and lounges, bathrooms, labs, and the external envirnoment of surrounding the school. All of these factors combine to create the atmosphere which has a significant effect of the quality of education at a school.