The Daily Telegraph

'Can Teach, Will Travel'
May 1st 2004

Having a TEFL qualification offers a great chance to work abroad and earn some money. By Richard Bradford.

Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) is a first-rate postgraduate gap-year option. Many use it as a career break, a lifestyle change or a retirement plan. It means going abroad to teach English to non-native speakers and provides an invaluable opportunity to discover new languages and cultures.

It began in the 1950s as a rather colonial approach to those for whom English was not their first language. Today, TEFL, also know as TESOL - Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages - is a multi-million-pound international industry catering for those who want to speak the world’s premier international language.

Technically, anyone with a native level of English can become a TEFL teacher. Having an empathy with your students and a real understanding of English are important. When you apply to take a course, you might be asked to explain the difference between the words "meaning" and "significance" or between the phrases "She reads The Telegraph" and "She is reading The Telegraph". The job also requires a fair amount of dynamism, although seeing your students progress is in itself a rewarding experience.

Teaching English abroad is usually based in private language schools. You might teach younger learners, university students or company employees. Depending on your background, you could become a teacher of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) - for example, business or legal English. With about 25 lessons of 45 to 60 minutes a week, the teaching is pretty much full-time. So it is important to be properly qualified.

There are myriad TEFL courses offered on the internet, varying widely in price, content and recognition. Although most claim to be internationally recognised, only two really are: the Cambridge Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (Cambridge CELTA) and the Trinity Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (Trinity Cert TESOL). They are externally assessed and recognised by the British Council as the minimum qualification required to teach in a British private language school. Both can be taken either part-time or intensively over four to five weeks. The main objective of the courses is to improve your practical teaching ability. Weekly teaching practice is underpinned with lively lectures, discussions, observation and activities, and cover skills areas such as language awareness (grammar), linguistics, phonetics, foreign language acquisition, teaching materials, classroom management and lesson planning.

Prices of the Cambridge and Trinity Cert courses vary from £650 to £1,000. Cactus Teachers offers a selection of both courses and a centralised application procedure for more than 60 providers in Britain. The courses are based in popular international locations such as Spain, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Australia.

Online and weekend courses can also be useful as a taster and for those considering using TEFL as a means of earning money while travelling. Shorter TEFL courses cost from about £200. While financially advantageous, these omit the important teaching practice element and may not be fully recognised abroad. A useful site to explore the different course types is www.tefladmissions.com.

You can find teaching work by simply going to the country and looking for it, by volunteering for a TEFL adventure with a gap-year organisation or by securing paid work before you leave. Most courses will offer help and advice on this. Many newly qualified teachers head to eastern Europe and South-East Asia, where the demand for teachers is higher. Last year, 600 British graduates worked in Japan as assistant language teachers with Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) - www.jet-uk.org - which pays for return flights and organises accommodation. Spain is the most popular country for British-based English language teachers, who can stay with a local host family. This means they can integrate with the local culture and secure low-cost accommodation while searching for that important first job. The single biggest source of TEFL jobs is www.tefl.com.

Most positions around the world will provide enough income to cover local accommodation and subsistence, as well as some spare cash. Back in Britain, experienced teachers can earn £15 to £30 an hour working in private language schools and further education colleges.

Top employers in Britain generally regard TEFL as a positive way of spending a gap year. Transferable skills such as time management and the ability to train and give presentations are welcome additions to formal qualifications, not to mention inter-cultural sensitivity and language skills. For those captivated by the nature of the work and the sense of freedom it gives, career paths and further qualifications are available. Teachers go on to become directors of studies, educational managers, school managers and authors of course materials.

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