TEFL courses, getting started in the TEFL world

It's funny how things happen all at once. I posted that entry yesterday, gave a great deal of thought to a vacation to Quito next year (still deciding- LAN is offering a great airfare), and wrote a story for my other blog about an incident that happened to me in Quito. And then today I got a message from a college friend. She and her husband are considering teaching English abroad.

"There are so many programs that it's difficult to figure out which ones are credible," she wrote.

I replied:

Credibility is a HUGE factor in the TEFL world, as you've noticed. I went through Oxford Seminars. I recommend it under some circumstances, as it worked out for me, but it may not be the best program. If you know where you want to go in the world, that will be your guide.

Kati's Huge Generalizations (which may be based on old information):
- Japan: pays well, works you hard, somewhat hard to get into
- Korea: pays well, works you hard, somewhat easier to get into
- China: moderate pay, huge demand, visas are tricky (I know people who've been misled and had to go home)
- Latin America: low pay, relaxed working environment, demand is hit-or-miss
- Western Europe: good pay, moderate work, hard to get into, most places prefer to hire people with EU passports (like from the UK)
- Eastern Europe: probably easier to get into, but I know no details
- Middle East: good pay, but some of the countries are probably not worth living in no matter the pay (Saudi Arabia)
- Southeast Asia: lower pay, high demand in some countries
- former USSR: not sure about pay, but I've definitely heard of jobs in some of those countries
- elsewhere: I never hear about TEFL in Africa, the Indian subcontinent, or the Pacific islands.

I won't presume to tell you about the qualifications expected in different regions, because it depends on the school and the country. There are a lot of good online resources, including Dave's ESL Cafe. You can either decide on a region, find out the best qualification, and get it- or you can go the Kati route, which was to just jump in and take the Oxford class because I could afford it ($1050, I think, for three weekends- they say it's 60 hours, but really it was less than that.) I wasn't very sure where I wanted to go, and just wanted to learn more. I took it in May and June of 2009 at the Butler University campus in Indianapolis.

My class was good, although a friend who took one in California didn't think hers was. It probably depends on your teacher. We had discussions, practiced teaching, did small-group and partner activities, and created indivudual mock lessons. We discussed the various kinds of learners and learning styles, and the importance of creating lesson plans that work for diverse groups. (Since my undergrad degree is in education, it was review for me, but still interesting.) We did exercises that put us in the shoes of ENL* learners. We had a lot of conversations about living abroad and the teacher experiences, as well as the realities of finding a job abroad.

Our teacher was an older woman who began teaching in Chinese universities well into her career. She was engaging, fun, and had interesting stories. My class was small- 13, I think- and we had a great rapport. I'm still in touch regularly with three friends I made there, and catch up every now and then with a few others. While several of us were the "typical" 20-something college grads wanting to immerse ourselves in another culture, several weren't. At least three were in their late 30s to 50s. One had lived in Germany for his job and wanted the training for either that job or a new one, while another wanted the certification for his religious mission work, I think in Central America. A third worked at a university doing some kind of ESL teaching. One girl who'd just graduated (from DePauw!) was headed to Ukraine with the Peace Corps to teach English. Another girl worked with Burmese refugees here in Indiana and had done missionary and/or non-profit work in Egypt. She planned to go back and teach there, which she did until the uprising this spring. At least two of them went to China, and their varied experiences there deserve far more attention than I'll give in this post. Another girl went to Argentina and loved it.

Oxford has a lot of connections in some regions, and they help you find a job. There's a guarantee of some kind- something like you "work with them" and they'll find you something in six months or less. They can also advise you a little on contracts and such, even if they don't find you the position. I did a bit of thinking and researching before I activated my six months with them. First, I considered Japan or South Korea, because teachers are respected there, it's a common destination, I knew of people teaching there, and the money is good. I also got in touch with a school in Vietnam that advertised online. The director wanted to hire me immediately, but I got some bad vibes and found negative information on him online, so I nixed that one. That experience reminded me of the importance of credibility and made me turn to the job-assistance folks at Oxford. They tried to steer me towards China and Taiwan, where I didn't want to work. (I was very leery of teaching in China, given my friends' experiences.) A friend told me about a job she'd heard about in Venezuela, which got me thinking about Latin America. I decided Latin America would be better for me than Asia: the culture interested me more, picking up Spanish would be more useful, and the working environment wouldn't be so demanding. I emailed the job-search folks and asked them to send my resume to any contacts they had in the region. They said they didn't have many, but they did it, and almost immediately, the academic director at a school in Quito wrote back to me, and that's where I went to work several months later. I never heard from another school in the region, but it didn't matter. Everything ended up just fine.

I got paid a little more because I had the Oxford certificate and a degree in education, but honestly I don't think my school required any particular education. (I don't even know if everyone had a degree- most did, but a few of the teachers were 19-22. Everyone had a professional attitude, though.) A lot of schools in the region want CELTA certifications, and many of my coworkers had that. It's more intensive, but it's more marketable, so definitely look into that. If I go back into the TEFL field, there's a good chance I'll do that course. I don't know if I'll actually learn much more, given my background and experience, but I might, and it'll make me more marketable.

Also- many of the teachers at my school worked at other schools too, since it was hard to get enough hours and the pay was just enough to live on. (We could opt for health insurance, incidentally, which I did.) I managed to get enough hours after about six weeks, so I didn't do that. Several of us lined up the job before we went, but others just showed up and got hired. Some markets are like that.

Well, that's enough info to start on. Don't hesitate to ask me questions- I know people who have taught all over the world and I can put you in touch with them. Best of luck!

* - There are a lot of acronyms in the TEFL world. TEFL stands for Teaching English as a Foreign Language, which you probably know if you're reading this. ENL, or English as a New Language, is my favorite term.