TEFL


Teaching English as a Foreign Language 

Teaching English as a Foreign Language

“TEFL” is the acronym for Teaching English as a Foreign Language, or simply, English language instruction for non-native speakers. Also known as Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), English Language Teaching (ELT), and teaching ESL (English as a Second Language).

TEFL

A beginner’s guide to TEFL (and other common ESL acronyms).

What are the requirements for TEFL?

To teach English abroad or online you need to be fluent in English and have at least a 120-hour TEFL qualification. Some countries and employers also require teachers to have a BA degree as well. If you don’t have a degree check out our posts about how to TEFL abroad  and online  without one.


It’s always important to check out the visa requirements for any country you’re interested in working in. Some can have additional requirements concerning criminal records and nationality.

What sorts of TEFL jobs exist?

People often overlook the wide range of job opportunities in TEFL. By far the largest number of TEFL teachers worldwide are indigenous teachers working in local secondary/high schools. Most of the information on this page will not be of interest to such teachers, though some will be. Apart from that, there are potential opportunities for all TEFL teachers worldwide in:


Taken from https://www.tefl.net/tefl-guide/

Gaining the qualification

TEFL or TESOL Certification and requirements for getting a job teaching English abroad 


(taken from https://www.internationalteflacademy.com/faq/bid/102043/what-is-tefl-and-what-is-tefl-certification)

To Teach English as a Foreign Language in a foreign country (non-native English speaking country), a TEFL Certification is typically required as schools and language institutes want to hire teachers who have received proper training. You don't need to possess a degree in education, prior teaching experience, or even a college degree to get paid to teach English abroad. Private language schools abroad want to hire people who have received a certain degree of professional level training. Internationally recognized standards hold that professional-level TEFL certification must meet certain standards established by leading bodies in the field.

These standards include:

All International TEFL Academy TEFL certification courses meet and often exceed these standards. To learn more about what to consider when looking at TEFL certification courses, check out 7 Key Tips to Evaluate a TEFL / TESOL Training School on our TEFL Articles page.


Your choice of qualification may depend on the length of time you plan to work in TEFL. If you're only interested in short-term work, rather than TEFL as a long-term career, you may prefer one of the shorter, cheaper courses, with organisations such as:

University options

A degree in education, English, linguistics or modern languages may be particularly useful, but not essential. However, most employers will expect you to have a recognised TEFL qualification validated by a reputable examination body or university, such as:



Degree options: 

https://www.whatuni.com/degree-courses/search?subject=tefl

Look at ucas.com for TEFL courses. 

You could also complete your teacher training - but you would still need to complete TEFL training. 

For more information on Teaching-  click here : TEACHING

For more information : https://www.tefl.org/blog/tefl-for-qualified-teachers/

Employers

Taken from <prospects>

A lot of TEFL work takes place overseas.  Employers include:


The demand for teachers and the ease of finding work varies considerably from country to country. There are usually opportunities in Japan, China and other East Asian countries, the Middle East, parts of Eastern Europe and Spain, Italy and Germany.

In the UK, there are opportunities with commercial language schools, which are found in most large cities. There is a concentration, however, in London, the south coast of England, Oxford and Cambridge. Work tends to be seasonal with summer being an especially busy time.

Opportunities for teaching English to UK residents who don’t speak English as their first language are available with: