There is a simple path to success abroad: Cultural Adaptation

You won’t learn how to succeed on a TEFL course

If you have some business education you may know of the research that found that only about 20% of people who are fired are fired due to a lack of skills in their occupation.

So if you flip that statistic over it says: 80% of people who get fired are fired for other reasons such as bad work habits or socials skills issues.

I really hope that you study hard in your TEFL training to develop the skills to become a great teacher and be useful and helpful to your students.  But there are a few more things involved on the road to success.

One my favorite topics is definitely the one of how to adapt, survive and thrive in a foreign culture.

Intercultural miscommunication is so common, that if you add that to the 80% statistic you’ll find that being fired for something other than job skills can easily climb to 90% for expatriates. That reflects my own experience.  I’ve seen this problem in all five foreign countries in which I have worked.

Your TEFL training won’t teach you how to handle these issues…so what can you do?

Take a look at the FREE eBook titled Seven Secrets of Success Abroad.  I wrote it to help people survive and thrive while living abroad.  It is free – along with numerous other ebooks over at TEFL Boot Camp.   Click here to get that ebook free

TED’s Tips™ #1: Get the eBook and read it.  If you have intercultural skills it can save you from disaster and help ensure success in your life abroad.

SHARE With TEFL Teacher Training: If you are an experienced teacher – or even a newbie – that has some positive teaching advice to tell TEFL Teacher Training readers,  CLICK HERE.

This depends a lot on where you will teach.   Language schools tend to be more organized than universities.

A university teacher asked once:  I was wondering if I should bring teaching materials with me. How much flexibility will I have to use my own materials in the class?

I responded:  I’ve taught in four countries and honestly prefer to use my own materials.  Why?   Because what the school will provide – if they provide anything – is often irrelevant and unfocused. You may find some decent materials at schools…but just at some schools.  It is not common.

When it comes to flexibility you should hope that you get a lot. Some schools will have well-defined programs already in place and they will stick to them.   These programs sometimes have terrible materials with a curriculum not really suitable for their students.  That’s not much fun to teach!

With colleges and universities, especially those with small EFL programs, they will usually give you freedom to do what you want because they expect that you know what you are doing. I have almost never seen a decent syllabus while working at eight different colleges and universities in four countries. Larger English departments will sometimes have a better syllabus and are more structured and organized.  Small programs are much less likely to be well structured.

I’m not telling you this to criticize schools in a negative way. In the end it is actually very positive, as the freedom gives you the opportunity to build a plan needed by the students. Believe me, it is horrible to stick to a structured program if it doesn’t help your students.

Sometimes schools will give you a book someone used the previous year and it might be a really lousy book.  They might well expect you to use it as it was ordered by the campus bookstore and students already bought it. Use the book a little bit, otherwise your students will complain about buying a useless book. Use it, add some of your own materials and gradually fade out the book. Then next semester you get to pick the book.

How things really work

A teacher once contacted me for a job – he was about to quit his new job because, in his words, the school is very unprofessional. They want me to create my own program.

Say what?

 I couldn’t believe it!

To me it seemed like the perfect teaching job and he was going to quit? What?!

You should jump for joy if you get such a chance.

This type of freedom is common in most Asian countries and smaller schools.  They will expect that you know what to do and how to do it because they are often paying you significantly more than the non-native local teachers.

TED’s Tips™ #1: If you have the freedom to be creative in your class, grab that opportunity with both hands, it doesn’t always come around.  A good TEFL training course will help you have a good idea about what to do if you are allowed such freedom.

SHARE With TEFL Teacher Training: If you are an experienced teacher – or even a newbie – that has some positive teaching advice to tell TEFL Teacher Training readers,  CLICK HERE.

A ‘visa-on-arrival’ is quite common in certain countries – with this type of visa you can step on the plane with no prior visa-worries and –arrangements.

It will be smart to know about the visa before you go, ask these questions of your TEFL training school:

Most of these questions are pretty self-explanatory:

1)     Should I get a visa before arriving in the country?

2)     If I do not get my visa before arrival, how long can I legally stay in the country?

3)     What is the cost of the visa if I need one?

4)     How difficult and how much is the visa, how long will it take to get one?

5)     Is the visa extendable so that I can stay longer in the country?

6)     Is it plain and simple to get a visa or will the school help me?

7)     Will the original first visa cover me for the duration of the training course?

8)     If I seek and get a job, can I change the visa to an employment type visa?

9)     If it is not changeable, what should I do in order to obtain a visa for employment?

10)  If I need to do a ‘visa run’ to get a working visa, what will the cost be and will my potential employer likely pay for or reimburse those costs?

11)  What is the processing time of the legal working papers and what do I need?

TED’s Tips™ #1: Get all the visa information before entering the country. Make sure you are legal and you stay legal. It is not the responsibility of your TEFL school nor your employer to check up on your visa status or legal presence in the country.  This is a VERY common mistake of newbies: to trust that their school/employer knows the visa process and that everything they say is accurate and up to date.  It often is not.

TED’s Tips™ #2: Getting a visa can be expensive and time consuming. Make sure you know how much it will be and how long it will take. Other countries might be easier where a simple stamp of a clerk will get you sorted. Know before you go.

SHARE With TEFL Teacher Training: If you are an experienced teacher – or even a newbie – that has some positive teaching advice to tell TEFL Teacher Training readers,  CLICK HERE.

People spend a lot of time asking about validity of courses, content and more, but the one thing they never ask about, might just be the most important factor in their success:  The Teacher Trainer.

It is important to know some information about your primary instructor.

Some schools will have only one primary teacher for your specific course and the rest of the teachers will help with the observed teaching practice. In other schools you may get different teachers to cover different areas of the course.

Both are fine, but it is still important to know a few things about your primary instructor.

You may ask why it is so important.

More than a few years back, one of my teacher-trainee students had just finished our TEFL certification course when he was hired by a competing school to do teacher training. He had no teacher training experience and he had never really taught any classes on his own…would you want such a teacher-trainer for your first course?  Could or world this person inspire you in your new career?  Ummm . . . probably not.

Before you sign up for an in-classroom course, ask your teacher trainer these questions via email or telephone:

1)     What are your qualifications (education, certification, etc)?

In a perfect world it would be great if your instructor has a relevant degree and really understands how teaching and learning works.

TEFL Cert and CELTA are courses designed to be given to high school graduates. It would be better to look out for a teacher-trainer with something like a MATESOL or at least an M.Ed with some sort of TEFL, PGCE or DELTA certification.

2)     What is your experience?

You want to look for a teacher-trainer that can provide you with insight in every area of teaching. This person will understand the TEFL-world and all the problems teachers are facing.

Someone with a minimum of six to eight years teaching experience (to both adults and children) and experience in at least two countries, in different settings, will be able to give you that insight. The number of years and the number of countries is a question you should definitely ask.

3)     Have you taught different students in different settings? What about tutoring?

If your teacher-trainer has taught in more or less the same setting and circumstances you expect to teach in, they will be able to provide you with spot-on information.

If they don’t tell you about this, ask them!

4)     Do you enjoy teaching? Why? Why not?

Even though it’s a hard thought to grasp, there are some teacher-trainers out there who DON’T enjoy teaching. For them teaching is merely an excuse to travel, see the world and live overseas.  They may actually hate teaching.

If you have one of these people as your teacher-trainer, their attitude will reflect in your classroom and you may not enjoy it at all.   It is all a choice – if you  learn to enjoy your work, it will be a positive change in your life.

5)     What’s great for you about teaching?

Listen to their voice, heart and attitude to know if they really like teaching or not.

TED’s Tips™ #1: I strongly advise you to study under a teacher-trainer with at least six to eight year’s experience, in at least two countries, in at least two or three different settings (public school, university, language school, tutoring) and with children and adults. Your teacher-trainer should have some kind of qualification – ideally a master’s degree, but something in Education or DELTA will do as well.

Teacher-trainers with these credentials are rare, look for them.  If you want to be the best you should get the best!  You are spending a LOT of money on an in-classroom course.  Be sure you get what you pay for.

TED’s Tips™ #2: Don’t fall into the trap of marketing schemes, beautiful websites, cloying testimonials,  impressive looking and sounding curriculum. Rather go for the best teacher-trainer that you can find, this person will be the one who will make you a good teacher.  Will inspire you.  Or will turn you off to teaching.   Up to you.

SHARE With TEFL Teacher Training: If you are an experienced teacher – or even a newbie – that has some positive teaching advice to tell TEFL Teacher Training readers,  CLICK HERE.

As we mentioned in a previous post, not everyone can afford to take four to six weeks away from work on top of paying for the costs for a full-blown Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) certification or Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA) course.

Not sure what path is best for you? Take a look at the options below:

Volunteer and Learn

First, any kind of training is better than no training. Help someone out while you help yourself—get free training to be a volunteer with organizations like Literacy Volunteers of America (now known as ProLiteracy and working internationally).

Study On-line

Inexpensive web-based courses will provide you with the beginnings of the knowledge and skill you need to do a decent job in a TEFL classroom. Will you become a seasoned professional with such a class? Probably not, but you will have a grasp of the theory behind TEFL and learn how to keep improving as a teacher.

Does ‘free’ sound better than ‘inexpensive?’ Of course it does!  I’ve written a free on-line TEFL course: TEFL Boot Camp. The course is self study and gives you the basics to help you get started as a good TEFL teacher. Of course, no certificate is on offer for the free version. You can try this course to see if teaching English abroad is for you. Even if you later choose to do an in-person TEFL, this course will give you a leg up.

How much training are bosses looking for?

Sadly, some people in some countries who are looking to hire teachers don’t care about training at all. On the other hand, other recruiters will have specific training requirements you will have to meet before they hire you. You won’t be able to please everyone in every country, but with a good TEFL training course you will satisfy about 95 percent of all employers. Plus, you’ll have enough training to feel like you are doing a good job. Satisfaction about the work you are doing—what a great feeling!

On-Line versus Face-to-Face Training

As with love and money, any training is better than no training. If you simply don’t have the time or money to do a full face-to-face course, or if you just want to experiment and see if it might interest you, consider an on-line course.  It can be a good introduction to teaching and can tide you over until you get into a full-blown program with observed teaching practice.

Get What You Pay For—”Free” In-Person TEFL Certification Training?

There are some TEFL certification schools around the world that will offer you “free” certification training if agree to work for them after your course for a specified period of time. Approach these programs with caution as things that look too good to be true often are.  You’ll sometimes be working at greatly reduced wages and the “free” cost of the program – well . . . is much more than if you just paid for it up front.

Beware of Swimming with (TEFL) Sharks

It’s also important for TEFL newbies to remember that not every school treats their foreign hires fairly. Certainly not all schools would do something dishonest, but there are some unscrupulous places out there and you should check out any school carefully before giving them money.

For example, some TEFL certification schools happily enroll you into their program and then happily place you in a job in which you are usually paid less than the going rate. The difference between the wages other people on the job are getting and your wage will go to lining the TEFL school’s pockets.  You will feel a bit cheated.

They, unfortunately, rarely tell you about this little arrangement, and month after month, for as long as you work there, you are literally paying for your TEFL course. So . . . remember that “free” things are rarely free.

Their little payback might seem small at first, but if you stay at that job for a couple of years the money will add up and you may end up paying for that “free” certification a couple times over or more.

No free time and no money?

I’m prejudiced of course, but my TEFL Boot Camp is as good as it gets on-line. You’ll learn the basics of TEFL teaching methods, lesson planning and even how do do classroom board work for a guaranteed lowest price anywhere.

Have a little money and still prefer to study on your own? Check out TEFL eBooks for some options.

TED’s Tips™ #1: Get the full four- to six-week TEFL Training in residence if you have the time and money to do so.
The full course is worth your time, money and effort. It will provide you with the confidence, knowledge and skills to get a good TEFL job right out of the gate.

TED’s Tips™ #2: Get some training. Any kind of training to help you along.
Any training is better than no training—you will enjoy yourself more and do a better job. Study a book, take an on-line course, or sit in on classes somewhere.

Take an interest in becoming a quality teacher.

SHARE With TEFL Teacher Training: If you are an experienced teacher – or even a newbie – that has some positive teaching advice to tell TEFL Teacher Training readers,  CLICK HERE.

Preparing lesson plans can scare rookies teaching English abroad, but once you know what goes into a good plan, writing them is no problem at all.

Getting past the mystery and mystique, a lesson plan is simply a step-by-step guide to what to do in the classroom on a given day.

Put it in Black and White

Write down in an orderly way what you’re going to do do in the classroom. The more detailed these directions are, the better. It needs to be clear enough that, if for some reason you couldn’t go to class, in an emergency another teacher could read your lesson plan and know exactly how to teach the class in your stead.

And, anyone substituting you would need minimum preparation because you would have already attached handouts and activity sheets, and even planned out the board work you were going to use to illustrate the lesson.

A superlative lesson plan might even include specific hand gestures and cues used in various parts of the lesson—Yes, that’s how detailed your plan should be.

What Kind of Plan Should My Plan Be?

Now, there are literally hundreds of types of lesson plans and no one format is used by all schools. When you start at a new school you should ask format they like to see teachers’ plans in. Many schools have their own set format for plans, while others will let you use whatever style you like.

There is, however, some general agreement about what should be included in a good lesson plan and we will look at that here.

Nine Important Parts of a Good Lesson Plan

Generally agreed components of a lesson plan include:

1. Day/Date: So you can refer back to it again easily.

2. Lesson Name: What will you call the lesson?

3. Class/Level: Age, topic, skill level, class name

4. Materials: List everything you need to teach this lesson. List every possible thing you will need to take to the classroom and/or obtain from the school to complete the lesson.

This list can help you make sure you don’t forget to copy any handouts or collect special materials that you need to take to the class. I can’t tell you how many times I have had to walk all the way back across a university campus to get a critical part of a lesson. Bad teacher!

5. Textbook/Coursebook Name: From what book are you working or drawing the lesson from? This seems simple now, but having the name of your old resources on hand may help you in the future.

6. Unit, Title and Page Number: Specifically where are you teaching from in that book?

7. Goal/Aim: What are we working toward today?

Here, you should describe the final result of the lesson. Write it in this format – “The students will be able to (do what?)________.”
Example: “The students will be able to ask and answer questions about their hobbies and interests.”

8. Grammar Structures Employed, and How They Are Formed: Show the structures, using a structure chart if needed.

9. Questions and Answers Relevant to Your Lesson: These will be asked during the warm-up part of the lesson, to elicit from students what they may or may not know about the topic you’ll be covering that day.

For more advice on eliciting, read the post about English Teaching Methods.

Structuring: How to Build the Lesson

Now we need to put all of that together, hung on the structure of your teaching method. First, you need a warm-up: This includes a review (revision) of the previous lesson and how it links to this new lesson. Use the questions and answers you have written above to elicit conversation using the new structures and function. Also, you may want to show examples of what your students will learn in this lesson.

In some countries and with some age groups this part of the lesson may best be pulled off as a specifically designed game.

Next comes Presentation (or you can use the ESA format or Ted’s GRO method):

Note down the target language to be taught, and how you will teach it. Include how you plan to stimulate the students’ interest in the language and how you might elicit the forms or vocabulary you are planning to teach.

It’s important to include specific details here. For example, at what point in the lesson are you going to model structures and dialog and when you will require a repeated response (choral response) from the students. Don’t forget to include a structure chart for the grammar and/or the dialog you intend to teach.

For the Practice section of the lesson, include the specific activities and attach any handouts you might have to the lesson plan. Most practice sessions include up to three practice activities and  sequence them from the most to the least structured, slowly giving the students more freedom and creativity.

The third part of the lesson is Production. This is where students use the new language skill you’ve just taught them.

Allow, and encourage the students to talk about themselves, their lives, or specific situations using their own information.  While they do this, they should focus on the target language that was taught in the presentation and practiced in the previous activities.

Be sure to include in the plan exactly what you will ask the students to do and how you intend to monitor students throughout the lesson and how you will encourage and correct them as needed in their use of the target language.

Last, you need to plan a Conclusion. In this part, discuss and recap what the students have studied and learned during the lesson. In some countries and for some ages this may also be followed by a game that uses the target language.

See? If you follow these simple steps, the dreaded lesson plan is easy!

TED’s Tips™ #1: Many experienced teachers, once they have methodology set in their mind, write only minimally structured lesson plans as they will have developed a set routine for how they approach each lesson.

New teachers, though, should develop the habit of rigidly following detailed lesson plans which they have written for at least the first six months to a year of teaching. This will require some real discipline, but it will pay off in terms of skill development over time.

TED’s Tips™ #2: After each class, sit down and take a few notes about what went great, what went wrong and how you might have done a better job. This will help you a lot in refining your skills. Even very experienced teachers put serious thought into problems that occurred during class and how they might best be corrected.

TED’s Tips™ #3: Save every lesson plan you write. If you teach a certain book or certain topics repeatedly to students of similar levels (and you will), you’ll find you need only to tweak your old plans a little, drawing from your notes in Ted’s Tips #2.

SHARE With TEFL Teacher Training: If you are an experienced teacher – or even a newbie – that has some positive teaching advice to tell TEFL Teacher Training readers,  CLICK HERE.

One post is nowhere near long enough for you to learn all you need to know about teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL or EFL). However, in this post what I can do is introduce you some of the basic methods commonly used in the EFL classroom, and I can provide you with links to several good on-line resources.

One of the best resources around for good solid basics is: Basic Teacher Training for EFL Teachers. Some of the material here on TEFL Teacher Training is drawn and expanded upon from my own on-line training course at  TEFL Boot Camp.

It’s Not Only What You Teach—It’s How You Teach

As for methodology, the two most commonly followed methods taught by TEFL Certification schools are “Presentation, Practice, Production” (PPP) and/or “Engage, Study, Activate” (ESA).

Advocates of each teaching camp often think that the method they know is the only way to teach properly– but to an impartial observer, the two methods are actually quite similar.

What your students really need is for you to take a relatively flexible approach to how you teach, and if you do this, you will see there are benefits of both methods. In fact, you can use a bit of both methods in every lesson.

These methods and my explanations here are primarily for teaching speaking skills, though the methods can be adapted to teaching reading, writing and listening skills as well. In future posts, I’ll also address how to teach non-speaking skills individually.

Let’s start with PPP.

“PPP” Means Presentation, Practice, and Production

“Presentation” is where the target language, the language to be taught to the students, is “presented” to the students.

In this stage the teacher elicits language from the students with cues, to see what they already know (often you’ll find some of the students know a lot of– even all—of the target vocabulary). If no one knows any of the words for this topic, then the teacher will provide some vocabulary, but usually a good portion of the target phrases can be obtained from the students.

Now, why do we do this? Eliciting and cueing the students makes the topic (and your class) more relevant to the students.  After all, they gave you the material they are going to practice and learn.  That’s relevant to them and when things feel relevant, students are more motivated. (Yet another topic for another post!)

The teacher will put that lesson’s target language up on the marker board. This might take different structures, perhaps as grammar, in charts or written in dialogs.

The presentation stage of a lesson features more “teacher talk” than the other stages of the lesson.   Teachers probably should budget as much as 20-40% of the total lesson time for this stage.

That said, less teacher talk–in any part of the lesson–is better. Our goal is to have the students talk, not the teacher. You already have plenty of practice speaking and they don’t. So don’t hog the lesson – that’s the classic symptom of a poor language teacher.

Next comes the “Practice” stage of the lesson. The students practice the target language in one to three activities. These progress from very structured—providing little possibility for error–to less-structured as the students master the material.

These practice activities should include as much “student talk” as possible and not focus on written activities, although written activities can sometimes provide a structure for the verbal practices.

Practice activities should have the “student talk time” range from 60-80% of the time. Teacher talk time should be as minimal as possible. The practice portion of the total lesson may take 30-50% of the total lesson time.

The third stage, “Production”, is when students take the target language and use it in conversations they ideally create and structure. They now can talk about themselves or their daily lives or situations using the language they have just learned.

The production stage of the lesson involves “student talk” as much as 90% of the time – and this component of the lesson can/should take as much as 20-30% of the total lesson time.

As you can see, the general structure of a PPP lesson is flexible. An important feature is the progression from controlled and structured speech to less-controlled and more freely used and created speech.

Another important feature of PPP, and other methods, is the reduction of teacher talk time and the corresponding increase in student talk time as you move through the lesson.

As mentioned earlier, one of the most common errors untrained teachers make is that they talk too much. Let your students do the talking and watch how quickly they learn.

 “ESA” – means Engage, Study, and Activate

The stages of ESA are roughly equivalent to PPP, though ESA is slightly different in that it is designed to allow movement back and forth between the stages. However, each stage is similar to the PPP stages in the same order.

Proponents of the ESA method stress its flexibility compared to PPP. The ESA method as defined by Jeremy Harmer, its primary advocate, uses more elicitation and stresses more “Engagement” of students in the early stages of the lesson.

Both elicitation (drawing language from the students by use of questions, prompts and cueing) and Engagement are important in raising student motivation, but both tactics can just as easily, and should, be used in the Presentation stage of PPP.

ESA is superior method to PPP when both are looked at from a rigid point of view.

But, EFL is not rigid and you should not adhere to any one viewpoint or method. PPP is often an easier method for teacher-trainees to get a handle on.

TED’s Tips™ #1: Study and learn one method well – branch out to other methods as you increase your experience and skill level.

TED’s Tips™ #2: Don’t get hung up on terminology or married to any one method. There are many ways to approach language instruction and PPP and ESA are used primarily because they are easy to teach in the relatively short four-week TEFL Certification or CELTA courses.

PS: I have developed the GRO method – similar to but different from PPP and ESA – for helping my students improve. The GRO Method is more student focused, even in its description. “G” is for Growing student knowledge by Getting new information and Grasping the function of the target language of the lesson. “R” is the portion of the lesson for student Reaction to and Rehearsal or practice with the target language. And the “O” is for the students to Optimize their use of the language by making it more personal and relevant.

I know my method is effective and no other method is nearly as flexible. So there!   I hope you don’t mind my humor.

You can create your own method too – as long as you have the best interests of your students in mind as you do it.

SHARE With TEFL Teacher Training: If you are an experienced teacher – or even a newbie – that has some positive teaching advice to tell TEFL Teacher Training readers,  CLICK HERE.

Here it is:  There is not just one organization or one standard in the world for Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) programs.  Sorry! I know it would make everything easier if this weren’t true!

So, if what I’m telling you is right, then what does it really mean then when TEFL programs say they are “Internationally Recognized?”  It usually means that their certificates have been accepted pretty much around the world.  And that is true of probably 98% of all TEFL/TESOL/CELTA certification programs.  It would be quite rare – at least in my experience – if a particular program were to be rejected.

Anyway, don’t read too much into claims of “accreditation”.  A few schools belong to organizations that will check the institute’s course content and might even come by to see if that content is presented well. But don’t read too much into that either. Large fees are paid and well . . . no one likes to bite the hand that feeds them.  Some large programs even own the very company that evaluates them.  How do you think that is going to work out?  I bet they get a good rating EVERY time!

The Nitty Gritty

Skipping the boring bits, what new teachers really want to know is:

1. If I take that course, will it help me get a job?

2. Will it meet the standards of employers?

and

3. Will it meet the standards of the Ministries of Education in countries where a TEFL Certification of some sort is required?

Now, when TEFL certification is required, the employers and Departments of Education and/or working visa authorities may or may not have any real requirements.  China – the world’s biggest TEFL jobs market, doesn’t have any set requirement about what they will accept.   A country like Thailand (probably the world’s third largest employer is generally are looking for a minimum of 100 hours of training and at least six hours of observed teaching practice.

Who Decides All This?

So, you might be asking, what international agency sets the standard for ESL/EFL training?

Sorry, because again, there isn’t one. The benchmark stated above of 100 training hours and 6 hours of observed teaching practice is just generally what is considered the minimum acceptable training for developing good basic EFL teaching skills. Will you be the world’s best teacher by the time you finish such training? Probably not, but what you will have is the knowledge you need to further develop your skills as a teacher.

What Types of TEFL Certificates Are Out There?

Before you sign up for a TEFL course, compare a few different ones and see what the differences are.  Look for a good basic one that meets the standards explained above, but also look for any extras. Some organizations will add on a module for Business English or will give you a concentration in Young Learners – nice if those are areas in which you wish to teach.

TEFL wannabees are often confused by two terms that emerge from the alphabet soup of English Teaching. These are the “TEFL Certification” and the “CELTA.” Both of these meet the standards mentioned earlier on this page.

A TEFL Certification (often shortened to “TEFL Cert”) is more of a generic term meaning “Teaching English as a Foreign Language Certification”, while the other is the CELTA, the “Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults.” Some years back there was also the Trinity RSA. Generally all of these can be considered equivalent and will have roughly similar content.

One important note – if you intend to teach in Europe or the UK there is strong preference there for the CELTA name brand. Mostly, in the rest of the world, employers don’t have a preference. However, keep in mind that schools which sell CELTA or even their own name brand, will often prefer to hire as teachers students who have previously taken their branded course, of course!

TED’s Tips™ #1: If you spend the money and time to get a TEFL or TESOL Certification (or CELTA) be sure it is one that meets the generally accepted international standards reviewed on this page. Otherwise you may find someday that you will need to take another course to meet the requirements for a job you really want.

TED’s Tips™ #2: If you intend to work in Europe, the UK and/or for schools that sell the CELTA course, get a CELTA.

TED’s Tips™ #3: There are many reasons why it is best to take your TEFL course in the country in which you first wish to teach. Experience with country-specific learner problems will be helpful on your first job. I’ve taught in five countries and each one has their own unique problems. As you develop your skills you will get better at quickly finding solutions, but a newbie teacher fresh out of the box will often struggle with solving pronunciation issues and explaining common problems that their students have.

TED’s Tips™ #4: Check out TEFL Program dot com for the five checklists the website provides to help you select the BEST training for you.

SHARE With TEFL Teacher Training: If you are an experienced teacher – or even a newbie – that has some positive teaching advice to tell TEFL Teacher Training readers,  CLICK HERE.

1. Is TEFL training required to get the job I want?

2. Do I have to have it?

3. Would it make a difference to employers if I had it?

If you’ve been waiting impatiently for the answer to just those questions, here they are: 1. sometimes, 2. sometimes and 3. yes.

Some countries require a Teaching English as a Foreign Language(TEFL) certification before they can approve your papers to work legally. Thus – before you can work in Thailand, Indonesia and a few other places, you must have completed a TEFL course.

That said, most countries don’t require any TEFL training at all. However, even in those places the best employers will prefer their new hires to have had training before they start work. So, in fact, getting TEFL training may your first hop in leap-frogging up the food chain, work-wise.

New TEFL teachers shouldn’t forget that, even if many countries and jobs don’t require training at all, teaching abroad shouldn’t be about getting by with the minimum effort and just doing a lackluster job. Doing a good job is good for you, too.

Will TEFL Training Really Make a Difference?

There are several ways in which you may benefit from TEFL training. The first is that many employers will pay higher salaries to teachers who have had good training. While this might not be much on a monthly basis, over a year or a semester it will add up. TEFL certification courses tend to easily pay for themselves in only one or two years. Add to that the idea that you’ll land a better job with a TEFL certificate than without training and you might be seeing an even better return on your investment.

Doing it Right is the Right Thing to Do

Those are the good practical reasons for getting yourself some training. There are also some ethical, moral and emotional issues to consider.

The first is that you owe it to your students. In most foreign countries, your students are paying a lot of money to sit in your class. Wouldn’t it be fair to them if you knew what you were doing? Getting a TEFL certification is the first step to being a better teacher.

Lest you think I exaggerate, I do realize teaching English overseas isn’t brain surgery or even rocket science, but it does require skill to do it well. As long as you are changing your life by heading overseas – why not do it right and feel good or even GREAT about the service you provide to your students?

The days of just showing up at a TEFL, “chatting with the students for an hour,” and collecting your money are long gone. Language schools these days would like you to provide some real teaching in their classrooms. And students can intuit when a teacher knows what they are doing – and when they don’t.

It Just Feels Better

One of the best reasons for getting yourself some training is that you will find preparing your classes much easier and you will enjoy your work more knowing that you are providing a quality service and not just grabbing someone else’s money. Best of all, you will sleep better at night.

It’s about doing it right – and feeling good about it.

Now . . . not everyone can afford the tuition for a full-blown TEFL certification program, not to mention taking four to six weeks off work to complete it. So, in the following post we will talk about some good alternatives to the commercially available courses.

TED’s Tips™ #1: Get some training. You will enjoy yourself more and do a better job.  Remember how lousy teachers really turned you off when you were still in school? Yeah, don’t be one of those.

TED’s Tips™ #2: If you can’t afford the “Full Monty” of a four-to-six-week course, check out alternatives in the next post.

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I’ll be finishing an MATESOL soon, but have noticed that almost all job advertisements are for language schools.  I’ve already spent a year teaching overseas and loved it, but I want to teach at the university level now.  Help!

You are quite right, universities don’t tend to advertise as much as language schools.  There are simply far more language schools than universities and colleges.

It would be worth researching the country you want to work in and – these days – it is easy to find all the colleges and universities and even their email addresses and approach them directly.

I am never a fan of responding to advertising as then you are just one in a large group.

Also, my opinion only and I have had good success with it, is to direct your inquiry to the president of the university/college. Why?  Because while they probably won’t respond to you, they are likely to pass your email on to the appropriate person. And that person, having had your details sent to them from the president of the university, is much more likely to act on it and contact you.  Your resume/CV won’t end up at the bottom of a pile, forgotten.

Another and probably the best option, though more costly, is to get yourself on the scene and conduct informational interviews.  I’ve had good luck with that method as well. Most schools, even if they don’t have a position open for you, are happy to help you connect with someone who does – assuming that you present yourself well.   Often they will even make a phone call or two for you while you are sitting there.

If you have had experience in Korea, that is a good place to start as they will like that you have been there before. The Middle East is also ALWAYS looking for people.  Look for job in the Europe/Middle East section of TEFLJobsNow.com

Realize that with your MA you will be at the very top of the pecking order, so you shouldn’t expect to see as many advertisements for you. There are numerous organizations though that are more for people in your position and that advertise university/college type positions.  Do take a look at TESOL.org and there are numerous others.  Google about a bit to find them.

TED’s Tips™ #1:   Landing a good university position requires a different job search strategy than looking for a language school position.  But – if you qualify – the differences are great and the jobs are very worth the effort.

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One thing you may not be aware of yet, is that in a hotel/resort setting you will usually teach the employees by department.

This is partly because they have very different language needs and partly because hotels often place employees in different departments according to the level of their English skills.

Usually the most skilled English speakers are going to be working the front office/front desk/reception area.  Next step down would be the Food and Beverage (F&B) department.  F&B people will obviously have different types of conversations with hotel guests than the front office people.

Further down the food chain of English skills would be housekeeping, who would – of course – have a different type conversation with guests and than the maintenance people and further down the line would be groundskeepers.

Groundskeepers are usually going to be asked directions.  They will run into guests outside who want to know where the pool is, the tennis courts, maybe the name of a plant and so one.

Housekeepers, will talk about when they might clean a room, a request for more towels and so on.

Maintenance & Engineering Department - the TV or A/C isn’t working, the toilet is clogged, etc.

We can see that they all will have specialized needs for very specific conversations.  The hotel is hiring you to get those people up to speed fast.  It is a business and they want results, so you concentrate only on the specific needs for each area.

Especially for the lower level positions, their English skills may be minimal and teaching a few simple conversations might be all you can accomplish in the limited time allotted for those employees (and they often don’t allot much for lower-level employees).

Lessons need to be very focused and specific. If a reception employee needs to ask a guest’s name or what kind of room they want, what EXACTLY is that question they need to ask to obtain that information?

And what is the likely response from the guest?  Or several likely responses from the guest?  Your students often won’t know these things unless you tell them exactly.  And – you are the teacher – they expect that you will tell them.

You can possibly get some of the back-and-forth conversations that you need to teach from elicitation, but you should be prepared to provide all of it.  THAT is what should be the Presentation or Engagement component of your lesson.

For Practice or Study, structured examples of the back and forth conversation with some variation should be manipulated moving from structured to less structured .  Production or Activation- even more variation and ideally, some real examples from their daily work.

Don’t neglect the Elicitation component of ESP lessons.  It is difficult to know, even if you have good experience in that industry, all the possible problems the staff deal with on a day to day basis.  About ten years ago I was teaching an F&B class how to handle complaints and the #1 complaint – think of one . . .   I am sure you didnt’t guess this one . . . when the guests at the open air restaurant got up to get more food at the morning buffet, the birds were raiding their plates and tables!

TED’s Tips™ #1:   Learn more about teaching Hospitality English at www.TEFLeBooks.com here: http://teflebooks.com/hotel-english/ or about the certification program at www.TEFLBootCamp.com here:  http://teflbootcamp.com/english-for-special-purposes-certification-courses-2/esp-teaching-hotel-and-resort-english/

Why not work in some of the world’s most beautiful settings?

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 My wife and I are thinking about a life-change and the first thing we thought about was teaching English abroad.

We want to give ourselves and our girls (4  and 7) unique experiences while doing something positive for other people.

My question is whether you think it’s possible for a family of four to be able to do something like this.

Have you heard of other families doing this? I’m most concerned about how my girls would be educated in schools abroad or if they could even get into a school?

Taking a family along with you overseas definitely complicates things.

The problem is this . . .

In most countries your children will not be allowed into the local school system, even if we assume they are fluent in the local language (will they be?).

The alternative, good quality international schools can often cost as much if not more than an English teacher’s wages every month, for just ONE student’s tuition.

So . . . this is a problem.  But there are ways to get around problems, as we all know.

 Some Solutions

I don’t know your education or qualifications, so my responses will be a bit general, but should still provide some guidance.  The options assume you are a native speaker with a passport from a country that would ordinarily be considered an English speaking country.

The options are listed in the order of relative ease of pursuing that path.

Home Schooling

The first option that is most often proposed is home schooling.

I’ve not seen this work well and usually it is the child’s education that gets shortchanged.  I am sure there are excellent exceptions about, but in 20 years abroad, I’ve not yet personally run into one. I’ve certainly had people tell me it worked fine for them, I’ve just not personally witnessed it.

Consider also, If one spouse stays home to teach the children, you are limited to the other spouse’s income.  It can be real stretch for a regular English teacher’s income to provide for more than two people.

Something else to consider is that there is good research indicating that at some point children really need the social interaction that a school provides.

They need to understand and learn everything from how to avoid the class bully to how to make friends with new people.  Learning cooperative play in large groups is also important.

 Second and Third Tier International Schools 

There are a lot of second and third tier “international schools” overseas.  They don’t provide a first class traditional “international school” education, but they do provide something.

These are often “bilingual” schools trying to provide local children with either an English based education or at least more exposure to English than just a few language classes.  They are often trying to provide an education that is a step up from what the local public schools provide.

If you work for one of these schools you are often allowed to admit one or several children into the program for free or at least at significantly reduced rates.

These schools won’t require you to meet the same requirements that a full-fledged international school would.  You don’t have to have the minimum two years experience or the full teacher certification from your home country.  A degree and a TEFL certification is often all that is required.  Not all such schools will provide free or reduced tuition, but many do.

Normal Universities /  Teachers Colleges

In some countries, tertiary schools with a strong Education Department will sometimes have an on campus “international” or bilingual school – roughly similar to what we just reviewed above.  These schools are there to help provide classroom practice for the teachers-in-training attending that college/university.

These type colleges are often called a Teacher’s College/University or a “Normal University”.  If you are hired to teach at this type of school, you will sometimes be offered an option to place your children in the university program for free or reduced tuition.  In some countries like China – for example – you might need only a degree and a TEFL certification for such university positions.

 Teaching in the Middle East

Another option, possibly the best, but having the most stringent qualifications requirement, is to seek employment in the Middle East.

The Gulf States in particular tend to pay well and employment contracts usually provide for free tuition for a limited number of children (often two) at a first class international school.

These employers, however, will usually want a couple of years of previous teaching experience, a relevant graduate degree and/or a TEFL certification.

If you intend to stay abroad for a long time, this type setting should be your goal and you can use the two previous options to work your way toward this one.

TED’s Tips™ #1:   Taking a family abroad offers some real challenges, but what better gift can a parent give their children than a better awareness and understanding of the world around them?

Don’t give up if this is your goal.  Focus your job search on the options mentioned above and you will succeed.

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I am 59 years of age with a university degree in Communications and a TESOL certification.  I have applied to numerous ads in various countries seeking ESL teaching employment.

I am a healthy, single person with no children or encumbrances; therefore, I can offer flexibility to meet an employer’s requirements.

I’ve had zero interest from these employers!

The only conclusion I can draw is my lack of ESL teaching experience (although I have had plenty of adult teaching experience), coupled with my age, is preventing me from securing a position.

I have lived abroad previously, but that seems to be of no interest to these prospective employers.  What am I to do?

I have no doubt that the root of the issue is your age.

You are about my age and I too, if I was out looking for a job right now, would have some difficulty.

Ageism, Racism and just about every other kind of “-ism” exists in TEFL abroad and to a large degree such things are legal in those countries where you might hope to find work.

What to do about it

But – your most important question – What to do about it?

#1 – Go where you want to teach and apply IN PERSON.  Schools don’t know that you are vital and full of energy and positive (all those things that us stereotyped older folks are believed to not be . . .).  And especially for us older men – schools assume we are cranky (and frankly, a lot of older guys ARE cranky!).

#2 – Market yourself addressing your previous skills.  See: http://www.teflnewbie.com/using-current-skills-to-teach-english/  at our sister publication http://www.TEFLnewbie.com   I wrote that and it should help a lot and give you some great ideas on how to change your current job search strategy.

Your lack of experience is not really an issue.  People with no experience are hired every day.  Even people with no experience and no training get hired.

TED’s Tips™ #1:   Passive job searches often don’t work well if you are not  young and ”white”.  Get out there and get what you want.  It just takes a more active approach.  For people who don’t have any training at all, get yourself trained to help separate yourself from the crowd.

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I are interested in completing a CELTA course in order to teach English in the UAE.  Would it be better to study the CELTA in the UAE or in London where I currently live?

I know you’ve previously recommended to study in the country in which one wishes to teach, but would studying in the UAE limit our prospects in other countries?

Will completing the course in London look more attractive to employers globally?  Considering the cost implications London would be the preferred choice.

It is almost always better to take an in-classroom course in the country in which you first intend to teach.

While it may seem more cost effective to take it where you are currently located, taking your course there does little or nothing toward your end goal of landing a job in the UAE.

Taking your course in the UAE immediately gets you into the environment and on the trail of good jobs.

Better TEFL schools will have employers coming by the school looking for you.  That won’t happen in London.  It will quite likely happen in Dubai.

For most people a TEFL cert or a CELTA, etc is a tool to get the job they want, not the end goal.  So purchase the tool that gets you closest to your goal, a course in Dubai or elsewhere in the UAE.

No one will really care if you took the course in London, Dubai, Saigon or even Yangoon.  In fact, when they see that you took it outside your home country, they will see that you can survive and thrive in a culture different than that of your home country.  To me that is a bonus.

Employers, not infrequently, have difficulty with people who have not yet lived and worked outside their home country.  It is a very real risk factor in hiring.  Some people get homesick, others just can’t adapt.  It is an unknown factor that adds risk to a hire.

If you are already living in the culture where you want to be hired, it greatly reduces that perceived risk by the employer.

TED’s Tips™ #1:   Taking a certificate is usually tied to an employment goal.  If you are taking an in-classroom course, take it in the country where you wish to teach.  You’ll be closer to your goal the moment you step off the airplane.

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I was wondering about the Associates Degree. I have one that I received last year and to be honest I have no specific special area for work history.

I’ve become a more “Jack of All Trades” sort of guy, though my main hobby is computers and IT.

I’m only 25 and wondering where I can teach English? What countries accept just an AA and where is the best place to look for a job for those places?

Employers generally require what their country’s labor/immigration ministry requires.

With the exception of Japan, there doesn’t seem to be a surplus of teachers anywhere, thus employers tend to ask for the minimum requirement allowed to obtain legal working papers for their foreign teachers.

Will an AA Substitute?

Labor departments tend to require a bachelor’s degree or not.   It’s not usually negotiable.

I am not aware of any country that would accept a two-year AA/AS degree as being comparable, so your best bet might be China, Cambodia and/or Indonesia.  Indonesia seems to be moving toward requiring a degree though.

China these days is probably the world’s largest employer of EFL teachers, so there is plenty of opportunity.  In the super mega-cities like Guangzhou, Shanghai or Beijing, employers tend to want a degree, but once you head out to the real China like Hangzhou, Nanjing and many other truly huge cities – there is plenty of opportunity.

Get a TEFL Certification

China requires a TEFL certification.  They don’t really care what kind, how many hours, online or in classroom – they just want to know you made some effort to learn some basics.

For Cambodia, get a TEFL certification to strengthen your hand.   Many of Thailand’s non-degreed teachers, when Thailand started requiring a bachelor’s degree, headed over to Cambodia and almost all of the them will have had a TEFL training course as it was required in Thailand.  You’ll need to compete with them for the better jobs.

Lots of Opportunity

You can see there is a lot of opportunity out there.  All you have to do is go and get it.

Just as an aside, if IT is your thing,  you might want to read a blog post at our sister site TEFL Newbie where we have a post called: IT People Make Great EFL Teachers.  And it is true!

TED’s Tips™ #1:   No degree, no TEFL cert – to many employers – sometimes means just another backpacker passing through who will have no commitment to their students.

Get some training to separate yourself from the crowd.

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