Teaching English Overseas – 4 Tips To Help You Get The Most Out Of The Experience

By Author: Ti Ron Gibbs
Total Articles: 7
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If teaching English overseas sounds like a glamorous journey that you’d love to take, hang on just one minute. It certainly can be everything you’re dreaming of – and more! But if you want to make sure that your experience exceeds all of your expectations, take some time to follow these four tips:

1. Look long and hard for the right school

You may be inclined to think that you can get your TEFL certification from just about any school. After all, you’re only going to spend 150 hours there – not the next four years of your life.

However, that’s the completely wrong way to approach it!

The education you get now will affect the way you teach English overseas for the rest of your life. Remember, there is no continuing education requirement with this certification. So, if you don’t get the very best education right now, your students won’t be able to learn everything from you that they should.

Plus, a good school will be able to help you long after you graduate. That’s because good schools ...
... have big career counseling departments and strong alumni networks. So, years from now, you’ll be able to use your school as a resource to help you get a new job if you want!

2. Don’t pin all of your hopes on a certain city

While the job prospects for teaching English overseas are much better than the job prospects in most other industries these days, that doesn’t mean that you can necessarily pick and choose exactly where you’re going to wind up.

In fact, some of the available jobs are in suburbs of big cities – instead of in the giant cities themselves. Luckily, though, you’ll have a great time no matter where you go!

And, sometimes, being away from the hustle and bustle can actually give you a more authentic experience. Instead of hanging out a trendy nightclubs, you can experience what your new country really has to offer. In the end, you just might wind up with better stories to tell if you spend your time in the smaller sections of your adopted land.

3. Be willing to learn from your students, too

Even though you’re standing at the front of the classroom, you can learn a whole lot from your students – even from that shy one in the back who doesn’t say a whole lot! That’s because teaching English overseas is much different from the “traditional” classroom environment. Your students will be much closer in age to you than if you were to get a “regular” teaching job. And, since you’re the “new kid” in town, your students will be the only ones you know at first. They’ll be your only link to religious customs and other traditions that you likely know nothing about.

When you look at it that way, you can learn just as much from them as they can from you!

4. Stay for as long as you like

The great thing about teaching English overseas is that you can make it a sabbatical of sorts or a full-blown career. The job opportunities are plentiful enough that you can spend years travelling the globe teaching people how to speak English. Or, you can simply spend six months or a year fulfilling the terms of a single contract and then head home to your “normal” life. Either way is perfectly acceptable!

About the Author: Ti Ron Gibbs is CEO and President of TEFL Institute. Teaching English overseas is what he did in China, Argentina, and Mexico. In addition, he has taught both online and onsite TEFL Programs in Chicago, Shanghai, New Delhi, and more. To become certified to teach English overseas, contact TEFL certification Institute.