| e who are interesting in teaching English overseas | | | | ESL teachers need to have many different skills |
| come from many different professions and | | | | besides just the experience and degrees that schools |
| backgrounds. A lot of times they are unsure about | | | | and countries want. Teachers need people and |
| how to go about becoming an English teacher | | | | professional skills in order to succeed at being an ESL |
| overseas. Fortunately, the process to become an ESL | | | | educator. |
| teacher is pretty straightforward. You don’t | | | | Beyond these soft qualities, potential teachers need a |
| need to have a lot of skills or requirements to become | | | | number of other things. For starters, they have to be |
| an English teacher in another different country. Though | | | | from a native speaking country. Employers |
| rules and regulations vary from country to country in | | | | won’t hire you if you are not even if you are |
| general, a potential English teacher will need to have | | | | fluent in the language. Additionally, unless you are in |
| the following credentials: They need to be a native | | | | countries where they desperately need teachers, you |
| English speaker, they must have a 4 year college | | | | will also have to have a university degree. It |
| degree, a TEFL certificate, and some working | | | | doesn’t matter what the degree is in so long as |
| experience. However, in many countries, you | | | | you have one. Moreover, in some countries, like Korea |
| don’t need experience or a TEFL- you simply | | | | and Japan, you will need to have a TEFL degree. This |
| need a university degree. Some jobs (not countries) will | | | | is a teaching course that teaches you how to teach |
| ask that you have a TEFL if you don’t have | | | | English. Most countries and schools don’t |
| any experience. Furthermore, if you wish to teach at | | | | require you to have experience. If you wish to teach to |
| one of the many international schools, you will definitely | | | | businesses or in international schools, you will need a |
| need to be a certified teacher with experience | | | | master’s degree and have previous teaching |
| teaching. | | | | experience. |
| Those wishing to teach English in a different country | | | | ESL teachers teach students a language that is |
| should also have qualities such as patience and | | | | spoken around the world and that helps them in all their |
| commitment. It doesn’t matter what type of | | | | endeavors. Teachers need to have many skills to be |
| teacher you are, you need to communicate to your | | | | an English teacher if they want to succeed. Often |
| students in a friendly and approachable manner. A | | | | people just go overseas with no skills or desire to |
| good student/teacher relationship is essential for a child | | | | teach English and end up quitting soon after because |
| to learn a new language, especially when you are in a | | | | they are unprepared for the experience. Overall, it |
| foreign country and your students don’t | | | | does not take a lot to become an ESL teacher and if |
| understand a lot of what you say and might not be | | | | you are looking to leave your country and work in a |
| that interested in learning English. If you are patient and | | | | foreign land, it is one of the easiest jobs to get and |
| creative and keep the class interesting, you will find | | | | one of the most abundant. However, know that while |
| your students will be much more motivated. If you are | | | | being a native speaker is sometimes all you need, |
| bilingual and can speak the native language then | | | | teaching is a lot of work and if you are not prepared |
| it’ll be easy to make the subject interesting. | | | | for the job, you will burn out quickly. |