Where Do You Learn To Teach English?

[Wolfeye]

I've heard A LOT about teaching English as a job for former Americans going abroad, so I'm wondering where one learns this or gets certified? I speak English well, but I heard you need a degree or certification for that. Also, I've heard of people NOT needing a degree in that & just needing a Bachelor's Degree overall (my cousin was saying she got offered a job teaching English & they preferred that she not speak anything but English so that's all the students would hear- personally, I thought that was bullshit & might be a scam since she is a good-looking chick).

There's not much of anything about learning to speak any language that I've found in the way of schools (at least around here- which is weird, since there ARE colleges & NYC isn't too far). I looked & not much of anything came up. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong place? Or the wrong way?

[Falcon]

You can do TESOL certification programs that take 120 hours to complete. I'm just about to finish one up here in Thailand as a backup for my computer job. They cost around $1,000 USD.

I also already have a B.A. and am currently doing an M.A. at a Thai university. It's taught in English by international faculty and is actually a tough program.

[Ghost]

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[zboy1]

It's a good idea to get some experience teaching English back home before moving abroad to become an English teacher. You can do this by volunteering at your local English language school, tutoring students in your free time, or helping foreign students at your university for free. You can also try to teach English online, either for free or with an English language school in Asia.

You can also decide to start a English book club in your neighborhood or school. So, all in all, there's plenty of ways to get some experience before trying to get a teaching job abroad.

These days, a college degree and at least a 100 hour TEFL, TESL or CELTA certificate is required in most countries. You can find plenty of places to get a certificate online these days, but one suggestion is try to get a certificate that has a classroom component to it, rather than just being online. Adding an actual classroom component is really desired these days.

If I were to choose to get a certificate, I would get a CELTA, as that is considered the most prestigious, but it's also quite expensive relative to a TEFL or TESL certificate. Its' definitely worth getting though.