Reasons to Consider a Career in TEFL

There are a number of reasons why teaching ESL might be a profession worth considering. Teaching ESL can be rewarding, enjoyable, and quite profitable, and it comes with a number of interesting benefits. However, a career in ESL teaching is not for everyone. The following will help you decide if this is the right area for you.

First of all, teaching ESL is a great way to travel the world, experience new cultures, and broaden one’s horizons. In many non-English speaking countries, there is a high and constant demand for native English speakers to teach English. In many cases, native speakers who have little or no training can find employment as an English teacher.

Second, teaching ESL can pay quite well! In order to attract native speakers to foreign countries, schools often pay starting wages that are quite good – often as much as $20-$30/hour! This means that teachers can earn enough money to spend their ample free time traveling in the area and experiencing the culture around them. For recent college graduates who have mountains of debt, teaching English to non-native speakers can be a great way to save up the money necessary to get rid of debt.

Third, teaching ESL can be a lot of fun. Most teaching jobs involve instructing young children, which usually means playing games and singing songs. For teachers who like children and have a naturally playful side to their personality, this can be a great way to spend an afternoon and make some money.

However, for those who are attracted by the above advantages of a career in ESL, there are some important factors to consider before diving in. For example, how is your knowledge of English? Will you be able to provide meaningful answers when a student asks, for example, about the difference in usage between past tense and present perfect tense? If not, it might be worth it to refresh your knowledge of English grammar rules, or perhaps take a course to get TEFL certification.

Second, teaching ESL requires a lot of patience and a love of children. Teachers must be able to discipline without getting angry, and they must be able to foster a caring and productive learning environment. Teaching is not for everyone, and with the unique challenges of teaching children while using a foreign language, such work can quickly become taxing and frustrating.

Finally, a career in ESL requires an open mind. Living in a new culture and working in a foreign school system will inevitably bring certain challenges. Culture shock may result from eating new foods and driving in often erratic traffic. Therefore, ESL teachers should ideally be flexible, adaptable, patient, and willing to accept new ideas.

In these difficult economic times, teaching ESL may be a great way to secure stable employment while seeing the world and broadening one’s horizons!