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How To Be An English Teacher Abroad

Ben Austwick has some tips for those who are looking to teach English abroad.

By Ben Austwick

6 Feb 2012, 11:00

Ever since I expressed my desire to be an English language teacher abroad, many friends and Tweeters have asked me what the best way to become one is. The answer is that it’s pretty simple if you’re not attached to anything at home and would be willing to travel anywhere, given a month or so’s notice. Hopefully the following advice will help you find a suitable job if you’ve got the travelling bug.

Where should you apply? Firstly, you can’t be picky about where you go. Yes, if you have a certain area of the globe in mind, it won’t be impossible to find a job there but if you’ve got your heart set on a huge, international city popular with millions of English-speaking tourists every year and without experience then unfortunately you’ve got no chance. This isn’t to say that you’ll never find a job in a place like this but the problem is that the ESL (English as a Secondary Language) job market is jam-packed with experience-less people wanting to see another country on their ‘gap yah’. Therefore, if a job is offered in the same country, but not the same city you want – take it! You can spend a year or two learning the language and when the time comes that you want to move on, your experience will put you head and shoulders above the rest.

Do you need a degree to teach English? The short answer is no. There are some countries where it’s almost impossible to find a job legally without one (Japan for example), but in most places, especially if you only want to work for 6-12 months it won’t be a problem. Of course, if you’re from the EU there’s nothing stopping you from working in another member state without the need for a visa.

What do employers look for? Well, not all want experience – in fact some actively look for candidates without experience so that they haven’t developed their own method of teaching and can be ‘moulded’ into whatever teaching style that particular school requires. What you really need is to show commitment. The best way to do this is to pay and complete a TEFL course. It doesn’t matter if it’s a 120-hour online/weekend course or a 5-week long CELTA - it’s there to show that you’re willing to invest time and money into this career and that you’re serious.

When’s the best time to apply? -Ideally, any month other than June or July. Most schools either close or offer few courses during the summer as most students go away for the holiday season so the demand for English teachers is incredibly low. However, there’s usually a huge rush at the end of August and throughout September as students sign up and schools realise they need more teachers -so if you’re reading this and it’s mid-August, get yourself signed up to a TEFL course as soon as possible and get applying. Don’t worry if you’ve missed the August/September rush though, schools are notoriously conservative when recruiting so there’s a big possibility that positions will become available in the following months when new students sign up and teachers drop out or leave for pastures new.

How much money will you earn? Not a lot but you’ll survive. The average salary in Europe is around 1000 Euros each month after tax so it’s not going to make you rich but you’re not going to starve to death either. If you’re thinking of travelling to Japan or South Korea then you’ll find yourself a lot better paid but unfortunately the cost of living is much higher as well so you might not notice it as much.

What is teaching English like? Well, before I got this job I worked in a call centre dealing with complaints from furious customers at British Gas. The difference between that and now - teaching English to adults and children who actually want to speak to you and are grateful to have the opportunity to speak English with a native English speaker is enormous and resulted in me having a job that I actually enjoy for the first time in my life. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Finally where do you start? If you’re not in a rush to move then I’d plan to go at the end of August. By the time you’ve got yourself a TEFL certificate you’ll find that most contracts currently being offered will only be for 2 or 3 months until the summer. The best thing to do now is to find a suitable TEFL certificate (120 hour online and in classroom is ideal – CELTA is very expensive, time consuming and if after 6 months you realise that teaching isn’t for you, you’ve wasted a lot of money!) and then, put a lot of effort into completing it and research the places you’d like to live in. Once you’re ready, apply to all the places you’d be happy to live in and as I said earlier, don’t just focus on one particular city – in fact don’t restrict it to one country. If you want the Barcelona lifestyle, apply to all cities in southern Europe – it’s incredibly unlikely you’ll be offered a job in Barcelona but once you’ve got some experience behind you, it won’t be that difficult.

Good luck and if you have any questions, please leave them in the comments below and I’ll be happy to answer.