Teaching English as a Foreign Language: The Benefits and the Difficulties
In 2007, English ranked third in the world for spoken languages, behind Mandarin Chinese and Spanish. According to the BBC Languages website, English now ranks second. English is the international language of commerce, but the main reason for its rapid growth is the Internet. In particular, social networks. Many of us have looked at social media sites and winced at the quality of English being used, and we wish there was something we could do about it. Commenting on someone else’s post and correcting it is not only rude, it can also be considered extremely offensive. Many people who use English as a second language are self-taught or have not had sufficient training. If you think your English is more than enough to help solve the problem, then becoming an English as a Foreign Language teacher is the way to go. There are many benefits to doing so, but there are also difficulties. In this article, we’ll briefly take a look at both and how they can help you decide if you can make a difference.
THE BENEFITS
Travel the world
Most people like to travel, but very few of us can afford to do it as often as we would like. Added to this is the problem of not being able to stay in a place that we like due to the economic costs of staying there. Teaching English as a Foreign Language offers a great way to earn a living doing what you love to do the most, traveling the world and staying where you are at the same time.
Career advancement
It does not matter if you are already a teacher, or if you are just starting out, being able to advance in your career and, in turn, strengthen your curriculum vitae or CV, the most important thing you want to do is make yourself known. At the same time, teaching in various places and under different conditions will help increase your confidence, teamwork skills, social integration skills, and learn to handle different classroom settings.
Cultural experience
There are very few job opportunities that allow you to move around the world, allowing you to immerse yourself in different cultures. Most job vacancies abroad depend on the employee being able to move to a foreign destination on a relatively permanent basis. TEFL does not do this. Most employment contracts are relatively short. This, of course, is not the result in all cases. There are many opportunities to find a position that is long enough for you to fully immerse yourself in a culture.
Work hours
Teaching English as a foreign language is not at all the same as teaching in an English-speaking country. As a general rule, you are only required to work part-time, around four hours a day if you teach in schools, allowing a great deal of freedom to explore and learn about the country you are in.
Gaining potential
One of the things that teachers of English as a foreign language find attractive, among other things, is the earning potential. The high demand for quality teachers guarantees a decent salary. At the same time, the cost of living in most countries is low relative to this, saving you enough money to be able to move on to your next teaching opportunity when it arises.
MISTAKES
Have the necessary qualifications
There are many teacher training institutes available, but getting the right one is the key to success. The level of your own education can and does have a significant effect on your success. I am a qualified teacher of English as a foreign language, but I am not an English graduate. I have not finished a degree course and it has established certain restrictions on where I can teach. On a recent trip to Albania I discovered that teaching required a Cambridge or Oxford ESOL certificate, as well as a degree in English. An ESOL, or English as a Second Official Language course is not cheap and requires a considerable amount of time and training to obtain. A standard TEFL certificate is acceptable in many cases, but if your dream is to teach in Eastern Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, be sure to do your research to get the qualifications you’ll need.
The obstacle of bureaucracy
If you intend to work anywhere in the world, you will need to check the visa requirements. If you intend to work in Spain, for example, you will need to register with the Employment Department to receive your national employment and Social Security number. You are also required to open a bank account, as most employers are not prepared to pay international bank transfer fees. Work visas are generally easy to come by and the school or institute will usually help you with this. However, not all visas are so easy to get. Some countries will ask you to visit their embassy in your own country so that you can submit a request, and receiving a response may take a while. Be sure to check with the appropriate embassy before applying for any offered position. It will save you from disappointment in the long run.
Family and relationships
Teaching abroad is not ideal for everyone, especially if you have a family. It’s just not practical to take your family around the world with you just to make a dream come true. If you are in a relationship, it will have to be very strong. Going through months at a time can put a considerable amount of stress on any relationship. If you intend to teach abroad, be sure to keep these things in mind.
As you can see, the benefits far outweigh the difficulties. But you have to take them as a whole. Think about where you want to teach and do your research thoroughly.