Want to teach English abroad? Here’s how to get your certification

You were born as a native English speaker with a talent that many are dying to have. This is incredibly useful if you are looking to live and work overseas, as many countries worldwide are willing to pay a reasonable salary to native English speakers in return for teaching their people the language that many consider being the key to their career advancement.

You will need to get a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) or a TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) qualification if you want to teach English abroad. But before you begin the process of getting your certification to teach English abroad, there is a bit of research and preparation that you will need to do.

Find out where to teach.

Where exactly do you want to be based teaching English? This is a big part of your decision to teach English. In this location, you will be committing yourself for a year, so do your homework and look into alternatives as well. Each country values and deals differently with English teachers, so here are some things that you should look into when trying to determine where you want to teach English, as this could impact how you get your TEFL certification.

Work Visa

The first thing you will need to find out if you have a region or country in mind is if your nationality is permitted to work lawfully. In order to work, would you need a visa? What choices do you have for having one? Is it costly, or does it take too much time?

If it seems almost impossible to operate legally where you like, do some study on the "flexibility" of these regulations. Although I don't legally support living or working anywhere, there are plenty of places across the globe where people still do it. Just be careful because other individuals were able to defeat the system doesn't mean you can.

Availability of teaching jobs in English and average pay

Popular English teacher destinations, such as Rome and London, often have plenty of English teachers searching for work and don't have enough work to offer them. Are you doing research, and being flexible might mean much better pay, working hours, and just a more relaxing time having a job if you're not dead-set on a specific destination.

That said, if you sign a year-long contract with them, governments and schools that are desperate for English teachers sometimes help pay for your travel, your housing, and more. Some of these nations don't even need you to have a credential to teach English abroad, but it comes with a catch-it 's still "less attractive" places around the world. Becoming versatile has its advantages.

Remember what you might want to work in.

A certification from TEFL or TESOL is extensive, allowing you to teach English on a very general basis. Choosing to have a specialty will allow you to stand out from other candidates and make more money in some cases.

It isn't easy to work with kids, but if you learn how to do so effectively, you open yourself to several more opportunities for teaching English.

Due to the rise in demand for English-speaking jobs, business English courses are top-rated in many parts of the world. Although it may not be as fun as working with kids, the big bucks may be brought in.

For the TOEFL exam, which is the examination that foreigners need to pass in order to attend college in the US or UK, you can also specialize in tutoring. You can charge a high hourly rate for English tutoring abroad by acquiring knowledge of how the test works.

Pick how you want to earn your certificate to teach English abroad.

There are two choices for getting a certification to teach English abroad.

If you want to work at your own speed and want to get certified while still working or going to school, you can complete your certification course online, which is incredible. For this option, you'll need to be self-motivated, as it's precisely the same as taking an online class and you'll have tasks and exams to take on your own.

The downside is that you won't get experience in the classroom, but some online courses send you videos of sample lessons taught in various parts of the world by experienced teachers. This offers you the chance to take a look at actual lessons. By volunteering to teach in your town, maybe at a YMCA or local school, it is also a good idea to try to get some in-class experience on your own.

To get TEFL approved, you don't need to complete 20 hours of practical teaching or observation, but it will make you more suitable when applying for work.

If you happen to have teaching experience already, the best and most cost-effective way to do it is probably to get certified online.

If you choose to study in a classroom, you can opt to do so overseas or back at home in a major city. The benefit of obtaining your qualification abroad is that it will help you interact with language schools that can employ you once you are qualified. Still, it's also much more expensive than doing it at home because you will have to pay for airfare, housing, and more. Both options can provide teaching experience in the classroom.

Choosing an organization to be accredited to teach English abroad

When it comes to certification organizations, there are many choices out there, but there are a variety of things to look out for when choosing the one to use.

Certification Types

What certification and training level would you like to receive? This is going to depend on what you want to use your expertise for. For instance, some courses offer intro courses, which are suitable for someone who (obviously) wants an introduction to English teaching or who wants to use their knowledge for charitable purposes. Or you can go for a more advanced course that will take at least 120 hours to finish but will get you a credential in most destinations to teach English abroad.

Post-certification job placement services

If you've finished your course, several TEFL companies offer to help with job placement, but you can find that their services are very minimal. Contact the work placement team until you commit to a program and ask them as many questions as you can. If you have a particular destination in mind and ask who their hiring partners are in that area, let them know. When the peak hiring time is for these partners to see if it fits your ideal TEFL certification dates, pick their brains.

Does the course cover your specialization?

Can you remember what you would like to specialize in as you brainstormed? Be sure that it covers your specialty when choosing a course, but if it doesn't, see if there is the option of adding an additional module, such as a specialist certificate for Teaching English to Young Learners (TEYL).

Grading and support

What level of support is provided by the course? Will you be left more on your own to apply tasks with a pass / fail grading system at the end of each module, or do you have a mentor assigned to you who will carefully grade each of your tasks and tests and give you feedback on how to improve? That can be beneficial for an online course since you're not sitting face-to-face with your teachers in a classroom.

Testimonials from past students

There are testimonial sites for several organizations, but if you ask, you might be able to contact a past student to learn about their experience of the course and find a job afterward. Google the curriculum you're interested in to see if there are any students you can find to contact that way.

These days, so many English teachers are blogging, so you may be able to find someone that way. Some organizations can send you past students' contact details so that you can ask for that and try to find someone individually to get an honest response. They will tell you if this organization is a good option for obtaining certification to teach English abroad.

Be prepared to work hard once you have picked the organization you would need to get your certification. English is simple when it's your first language, but teaching English is another story!