How should I teach English abroad?

Question

It seems like there are many ways to do it. Go to some countries without a TEFL certification and find work. To to the country of your choice and get the TEFL through an agency and find work there. And then there is is teaching in Asia which pays very well and they cover your flights, etc - can someone elaborate all of the options or their experiences?

Answer 1

Everything anyone says about teaching abroad must be taken as somewhat general as exceptions abound. The requirements vary with country. And even within any one country, there are often flexible requirements.

Although my three years of teaching English has been in mainland China, I have become close friends with many teachers who have taught in Japan, Korea, Chile, Afghanistan and Lesotho (Africa).

In Japan, for example, a TEFL certificate is often required by individual schools but it is not a government regulation. Skill in speaking Jaspanese is sometimes required since many Japanese educators do not agree with immersion method. Japan also harbors some prejudice against older teachers and even a government program called JETS generally declines to hire anyone over 40:

http://www.jetprogramme.org/e/join/join.html

But, as exceptions abound, if you've a hankering for Japan, go for it.

South Korea is swarming in private English schools (hagwan/hakwan is the Korean term often seen on the Internet). The managers have a poor reputation for honesty and fairness that has garnered them a warning on the U.S. State Department web site:

http://travel.state.gov/travel/living/teaching/teaching_1240.html

Japan and Korea have these conditions in common: significant apathy among students, high salaries, high cost of living, difficult housing arrangements, limited travel opportunities (small countries). If you can manage to save 15 percent of your salary, it will spend well back home.

China ESL teaching has a State Department info page also but with less dire warnings. Government requires bachelor degree (any subject) for Foreign Experts Certificate that is needed for most urban jobs but rural areas may hire teachers who do not have a bachelor degree. Individual schools may ask for TEFL but this appears to me to be less than 20 percent. Since 2005, visa must be arranged by the hiring entity and you pick it up in your home country before going to China. Very few exceptions to this now. Conditions: many times more jobs (especially in the west and northwest) and many in public schools and universities but many private language schools also. Virtually never any requirement of Chinese language skills and immersion method is typical. High interest from students. Extremely wide travel opportunities. Salaries are low but cost of living (outside of Shanghai) is equally low. Internet is filtered to remove all server sites that publish anything critical of China (BBC News, Human Rights Watch, Voice of America News, Blogspot.com, all Geocities home pages) but Internet news stories often are not limited. Email is monitored for keywords that could indicate communication that is critical of the government. Getting around these limits is possible.

Most Latin American schools (except in Mexico and Brazil) usually have a requirement of good Spanish language skill plus TEFL or Master degree requirement. Travel opportunities for U.S. citizens are very good as most Latin American countries do not require a visa. Salaries are low to medium.

Sub-Saharan African jobs are mostly through the Peace Corps. See their web site.

Airfare reimbursement varies. Could be full, half (one-way), a set amount of cash or none. Housing provision varies. Could be a good, furnished, free apartment (most commonly), apartment with poor conditions or you are left to find and pay for your own. This applies to all countries.

Obviously, I have had a good experience, thus three years and going on. Read the book River Town about Peace Corp teaching in China.

Answer 2

In general you'll need a degree and a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) certificate to get a visa and work abroad teaching English. If you don't have a degree there are still possibilities. These countries do not always require a degree: * China - the demand here is so great they often overlook the need for a degree. * Colombia * Indonesia * Ecuador * Mongolia * Russia * Czech republic (although you will need a passport from an EU member state to teach here) You will, however, need a TEFL Certificate to show you have knowledge of the subject and teaching it. Also, don't forget that you may well be able to find work in countries which normally require a degree. To get these jobs you usually need to be in the country in person, ideally around the start of the new school year. If you contact as many schools as you can you may well be able to find one which is in need of a teacher and is willing to overlook the degree requirements due to the urgency of getting a native speaker into the classroom!

Answer 3

For teaching anywhere exept your own country you need an international certificate to garauntee your ability u can't claim that u can teach English u need to prove it the best proof is getting TESOLE certificate which is not so hard but time consuming . getting TOFEL or IELTS would help but they are not enough I have experience of working in Dubai as an English teacher

Answer 4

Check out "dave's"
www.eslcafe.com. It has all kinds of info and message boards by and about overseas teachers.
Good luck!