This is an informative guide on how to do what I did. In it I will talk about my personal experiences in relation to leaving America in order to teach English abroad. Of course experiences will vary by person. I hope it will be helpful to someone.

Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

Many of my friends have asked me how I did it, how did I change my entire life? How did I quit my fantastic job, give up a good life in America and move thousands of miles? Let me start by saying that at times it is not easy but it has been worth it. The first thing you must realize is that unless you have studied the English language at university you may find that you do not know it as well as you think you do. But over time you realize you know it, you just have to figure out how to explain the rules to other people, as well as, learn the technical things like what a gerund is and when we use the past participle. So let’s begin.

When I moved to Europe in February 2005 I had already known I was going to do it for nearly a year. It was in March 2004 that I began thinking about it. It took me about three months of research and soul searching. I like to be thorough when I do something, and so I thoroughly researched the world of teaching English as a foreign language.

Step 1: TRAINING

I realized that I had to answer some basic questions about teaching English before I did anything else.

What do I need in order to teach English?

Generally the requirements are a Bachelor’s Degree and a Teaching Certificate. I had the first one but not the second. So that was a starting point. Other things you may find you need include a Visa for the country you wish to teach in and perhaps a work permit. You will definitely need to find a school to teach for in the beginning, it’s just much easier that way. Some schools will require a year or two of previous teaching experience as well as the above mentioned items. But there are many schools who will hire you right after you receive your certificate, and many training centers provide placement assistance.

Where do I want to teach and live?


This one is tough. I wanted a challenge and so I chose a country I knew something about but where I didn’t speak the language at all, the Czech Republic. I knew I wanted to be in Europe and it is fairly central, which was one of the reasons I chose it. You might choose a slightly easier path and go somewhere you will understand the people for example Spain or Italy if you studied Spanish or Italian. But be warned that many of the EU countries generally want to hire EU residents and it might be difficult to find a place to teach. Each country will have a specific set of rules to follow. For example many teachers in Japan must wear a suit and tie (or corresponding outfit for women) from the time they walk out of their flat until they return home. They also have other rules like no smoking during the work day or en route to and from the school.

What are my options for training?

There are literally hundreds of options for getting a Teaching Certificate. I did a lot of research on the subject and here are my conclusions:

1) The Trinity CertTESOL is accepted in around 180 countries. That means I can go almost anywhere and use it.

2) Courses vary in length and quality. Some are in person and some are e-learning. I personally suggest an intensive course in person, preferably in a foreign country so you can adjust to life abroad.

3) Courses are not cheap with some ranging into thousands of dollars.

I settled on a one month intensive course in Prague which, with full room and board, cost me around $2500. It was a little on the high side but all accommodations were handled by the school which I thought was a good idea since I didn’t know anyone here and I didn’t speak the language. The course itself is basically a semester long course crammed into 4-weeks. Do not take it lightly or you will have serious problems with the course. Each day was between six and ten hours long and I often did work at the flat in the evenings. Others in my course did not take it so seriously and did not do as well. A grade of “A” is rare; I received a high “B” which was the best in my course. It was not easy.

How much will training cost?

As I mentioned earlier the courses are not cheap and price does not always ensure quality. My course was around $2500 and I think it was of exceptional quality. Without it I would not have been able to teach. Other courses I have seen are much lower, but that generally means the number of students will be high. I have heard of some courses having 50 students, mine had 10 and the largest courses at the school I went to are 16. Remember that there will probably be only four or five teacher trainers and if you need help when there are 49 other students it will be difficult to get that help. The prices generally range from $1000 to $4000 so mine was right around the median.

How long will training take?

The length of the training depends on what type of course it is. As I said mine was 4 weeks long with between 6 and 10 hours of ‘in school’ time each day. Others are online and weekend courses which run longer. Personally I believe that any intensive course less than a month long is inadequate. I also believe the online and e-learning courses would be extremely difficult. My course included 8 hours of actual teaching to real students, this I think was one of the most important parts of the course and I would recommend that you find a course that allows for at least this much teaching practice time. There are combination courses with online work and weekend in-person classes that might work better for you, but you will generally need to either move to the country and support yourself somehow or have enough savings to do so. Of course, there are courses available in America, generally found in the larger cities like New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. For residents of England it’s much easier as there are numerous courses in London, Cardiff and Edinburgh.

There are many acronyms that are associated with teaching. The major ones you will encounter are the following:

TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language)
TEFL (Teaching English to speakers of a Foreign Language)
ESL (English as a Second Language)
TOEFL (Test Of English as a Foreign Language)
ELT (English Language Teaching)
TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages)

This is not a comprehensive list. It but scratches the surface of the plethora of abbreviations used, but I feel these are fairly important to be aware of. For a quick reference guide I suggest this site.

NOTE:
I am not promoting one school over another. I am certain you can all do a Google on TEFL training and find enough links to keep you busy. If you want to know which school I attended and which certificate I have, feel free to contact me.
But here is a quick link list of some programs:
Caledonian School (Prague)
London Teacher Training Courses
ESL Jobs and courses at ESLZ
courses in Boston and Mexico
TEFL.net

In Part 2 I’ll deal with the other facets of preparation like what to do with your possessions, plane tickets and what to take with you. Until then do your homework.