When you think of global, online education, the first thing that may jump to mind these days are MOOCs, the "massive open online classes" that are widely publicized (and criticized). The author states that his classes were not these, but rather, closer to what are now being called SPOCs--small private online classes. Enrollment is limited to the same number he would have in the classroom, thanks to the efforts made by the college's collective bargaining unit. This allows him to have frequent, personalized correspondence with his students--once or twice a week, at least. This kind of class, argues Tim Goral in an article for "University Business" magazine, may actually outlive the MOOCs. Since their debut in fall 2013, there have been three SPOCs offered by edX, one of the largest MOOC producers. Unfortunately, it has been difficult to obtain information on their retention rates or learning outcomes. The author describes his experience teaching Shakespeare while living in Taiwan, noting that his students lived in the Philippines, Germany, Michigan, and many other states. He states that becoming an "international teacher" influenced his Shakespeare pedagogy in one significant way: what he learned from, and how he has come to appreciate, ELL ("English Language Learner") students. He found that was and continues to be consequential, as a function of time and place, are our backgrounds, particularly in regards to language. English Language Learners face a formidable challenge in a Shakespeare class, but this challenge casts light on a process that is integral to an appreciation of any literature. As writer and translator Eliot Weinberger writes, "every reading of every poem, regardless of language, is an act of translation: translation into the reader's intellectual and emotional life." In his life as a teacher, this online, far-flung year on an island in the South China Sea made him a student again: a student of Chinese, and an SLL student of Shakespeare.