If you’ve ever wanted to travel, then chances are you’ve also been looking for opportunities to take you overseas for a while now. Unfortunately, finding a viable option that will let you travel the globe is pretty difficult, and you can quickly become disheartened by the bevy of expenses involved and all the things you need to consider.
Of course, traveling isn’t impossible, and if you’ve got enough money to throw at an international trip to a country of your choice, you’ll have no problems at all. For those who don’t yet have the necessary funding for such an expedition, however, you’ll need to get creative.
Luckily, if English is your native tongue or you’re suitably proficient at speaking and understanding the language, you could easily score a position as an English teacher in any one of several foreign countries thanks to TEFL. What is TEFL? Which countries are the best? We’ll answer both of those questions in the article below.
What is TEFL?
Quite simply, TEFL stands for Teaching English as a Foreign Language. With a TEFL certification, you’ll be able to teach English to non-native students.
TEFL is quickly becoming one of the fastest-growing educational fields in the world and offers numerous brilliant and professional opportunities for its students to travel the globe and earn a living while doing so.
Sounds great, right? But you’ll need to put the work in to earn your TEFL certification and start traveling abroad.
TEFL Requirements
In order to teach English as a foreign language, you will need your TEFL certification. Companies want to hire educators who have been properly trained, after all.
Beyond that, however, you won’t need any college experience, a degree in English, or even prior teaching experience in order to become a certified English teacher of non-English students.
TEFL Certification
To earn your TEFL certification, you will need to participate in a full TEFL course and receive instruction from an already highly-qualified educator. This course will cover all the tools and skills you need to teach English as a foreign language and includes the following.
- At least 100 hours of coursework
- Anywhere between 6 to 20 hours of practical work (observing and participating in a classroom environment)
- An accredited curriculum
Additionally, we would also recommend that you receive your TEFL training from an organization that provides comprehensive job searches and opportunities.
Where to Travel?
Once you’ve got your TEFL certification, you can start to travel, but you’ll need to know where you’re going first.
Certain TEFL organizations provide these opportunities for you, but if the course you have followed does not, consider these seven exciting locations that present the best TEFL opportunities.
South Korea
TEFL in South Korea pays about $1600 to $2600 per month and also accommodates its foreign language teachers by providing free housing along with airfare reimbursement.
Japan
Japan is a lovely place to be in general, but it also has an abundance of open foreign language teaching jobs just waiting to be taken advantage of.
Unlike South Korea, there typically isn’t any free housing, but there are certain programs that can help educators maintain an affordable, reasonable standard of living.
The Middle East
Along with numerous open positions, the Middle East also provides a ridiculous sum of money to its foreign language teachers.
Thailand
Thailand has a pretty low cost of living in general, but it’s also warm, beautiful, and has a vibrant atmosphere you’d struggle to find elsewhere.
China
China is a reliable place to teach English as a foreign language because there are always opportunities available, even in more crowded places like Beijing or Shanghai.
Prague
Similar to China, Prague has plenty of open positions, and it’s also probably one of the most beautiful European cities ever.
Spain
Spain also has an abundance of job opportunities for foreign language teachers and numerous governmental programs to help educators maintain a respectable standard of living.
Summary
If you’ve always wanted to travel, and English is your native language, then now is the time to get started with TEFL and earn your certification so that you can finally see parts of the globe you never thought you would.
