How to Get a Job Teaching English as a Foreign Language in a Foreign Country

Have you ever wanted to get away for a while? I mean, really away . . . a foreign country, for example. Have you ever wanted to live there and get a chance to meet the local people? Teaching English as a foreign language is a way to live abroad, pay your bills, and meet local people in a comfortable English speaking environment. It will never make you rich, but it's an experience that you'll never forget.

But there are a few things you should know.

The first thing you should do is to take a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) course. This course should be at least four weeks of full-time study that includes six or more hours of observed teaching practice with non-native English speaking students. There are three different kinds of TEFL certificates, a CELTA, a TESOL, and unaffiliated. CELTA and TESOL granting schools are affiliated with language academies in Cambridge and Trinity respectively. These institutions create the itinerary, set guidelines for the staff of tutors, and manage the overall standards of things like the library and teaching materials. In effect, they are quality control agents, and they have the final say as to who receives and who does not receive a teaching certificate. Independent or unaffiliated TEFL schools may be better, just as good, or worse; it all depends. (Please know, however, that many language schools will only hire those holding CELTA and TESOL certificates.)