Get Pesos!

I know what you are thinking? Making a living teaching? Who, me? My grammar sucks. I understand that, I felt the same before I started teaching English but I have found teaching English to be a thoroughly enjoyable profession that has allowed me to see parts of the world I never dreamed possible. In this three part monthly series, I am going to tell you about job prospects for English teachers, how to get TEFL training, and how to freelance your way to a top job.

In many countries of the world, English is a path to a better position, socially and economically. In many countries, English ability is a prerequisite for middle management positions. Good English skills equal good opportunities. Some companies will even require potential employees to submit to English tests before even interviewing them. Potential employees recognize this and are willing to spend money themselves to improve their English skills.

In some countries, good English skills are seen as face gaining skills that shows that they have been educated the right way. True or not, parents will send their students to study with foreign teachers just to show off to other parents, learning English is like a status symbol. In these countries, many schools have foreign English language teachers and pay these teachers well.

As you can see there is a huge market in schools, language institutes, and freelance. The biggest markets for TEFL, teaching English as a Foreign Language, teachers are China, Thailand, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan in that order. Most work in these countries are focused in institutes and schools. The Mideast has a good market, but security and qualification issues keep away all but the most qualified teachers. Latin American countries have a large market for freelance teaching, lesser for language institutes.

One challenge to entering the TEFL profession is training. The range of training options seem almost limitless, do I need a teaching degree? What about a teaching diploma or certificate? What certificate course should I take? Should I just wing it? This issue will be discussed in second part of this series. Stay tuned.