| The Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) | | | | Don't make the mistake of focusing on just one |
| Profession is known by many as a path to fun and | | | | country, keep an open mind and in the end try to have |
| adventure in exotic foreign lands, as a way to pay off | | | | a list of five to ten countries that you might want to |
| student loans or as a way to dodge problems back | | | | teach in. |
| home. Instead of focusing on the reason why they | | | | The last step is to see how well your goals mesh with |
| want to go teach abroad, many new teachers find | | | | your preferred destinations. I suggest visiting sites like |
| their job first and worry about the destinations later. | | | | Dave's ESL Cafe or the TEFLWatch Forum [ and |
| Unfortunately, many lose sight of their original reason | | | | make pointed posts asking the user base if they can |
| for going abroad and become disillusioned. That doesn't | | | | give insight as to how well your goals mesh with each |
| have to be the case. With three easy steps, you can | | | | of your preferred destinations. An example might the |
| be focused on the reason why you are going abroad | | | | following posting: |
| and find the destination that best meshes with your | | | | "Hi I'd like to teach English in Indonesia. My goal is have |
| goals. | | | | an adventure and write a book about it. Is it possible?" |
| The first step in finding a destination is to take a good | | | | You may get conflicting answers, but even those |
| look at yourself. Why do you want to teach English in | | | | conflicting answers can be helpful. It's providing you |
| a foreign country? Is it for the adventure? Is it for the | | | | more information from diverse experiences. You may |
| income? Are you running away from something? Do | | | | discover it's just not doable in some or all of the |
| you want to help students in other countries? You | | | | destinations you chose, but remember, you can |
| need to take out a piece of paper and write down | | | | always go back and find alternative destinations. On |
| your reason. It doesn't really matter the reason, that's | | | | the other hand, you may find that several destinations |
| your personal choice. You just need to stay focused | | | | mesh with your goals. Remember to always stay |
| on that reason. | | | | focused on your written reason for TEFL. |
| Once you've identified why you want to find a TEFL | | | | After settling on a destination, you can start to |
| job, you should research destinations. The local public | | | | research what type of qualifications you need and |
| library has a lot of travel books. Pick up a Lonely | | | | what preparations you should make in order to work in |
| Planet Travel Guidebook for the countries or regions | | | | country of choice. Never fear, you will be in a better |
| that interest you and read them. Having trouble finding | | | | position than other potential teachers because you will |
| a country or region? Open an atlas and randomly | | | | know why you are going abroad to teach and your |
| choose a few countries. In your research, you want | | | | primary destination. |
| see if it is a place you might want to teach and live in. | | | | |