Six Realities of Teaching English Overseas

Are you thinking about teaching English overseas? Teaching English abroad can be a great way to interact with citizens of other countries and experience how another culture lives. Further, if you are interested and open-minded, there are a number of different English teaching jobs available worldwide. However, you must enter into this profession with your “eyes open” – read on to discover some of the realities of teaching English abroad:

Reality #1 - It is important to realize that depending on the organization that you work for, you may be working a schedule that can seem unusual to you. For instance, you may be working split shifts for six days out of the week. Thus, any travel to surrounding areas may be limited - depending on this schedule.

Reality #2 – Some organizations require different educational qualifications from their potential job candidates. For instance, some organizations may require that you have a Bachelors Degree or even a Masters Degree – while other organizations may require a TEFL certificate.

Reality #3 - It is also important to realize that the pay for teaching English overseas varies - depending on the country and the organization. Further, you should not expect to “get rich” while you engage in this type of teaching. However, if you are prudent, you will be able to live overseas in a quite comfortable manner as some organizations pay for your accommodations, return flight, health insurance and local transportation costs as part of your teaching contract. Moreover, the cost of living can be lower than North American standards as well.

Reality #4 - Teaching English as a second language abroad is more than just engaging in conversations with eager students. For instance, you will be required to prepare lesson plans, create and administer exams, and mark these various examinations. Thus, you must be quite knowledgeable about English grammar as well – so that you can properly grade materials and answer students’ questions.

Reality #5 - You must realize that while a TEFL certificate can be quite helpful, it does not prepare you to be a teacher 100%. Instead, you will gain experience while you actually teach these students.

Reality #6 - If you decide to teach abroad, you must mentally prepare yourself for culture shock. While culture shock does not have much of a detrimental effect on some people, in other cases, people leave their teaching contracts soon after starting them. Thus, you must have an open mind and a sense of adventure if you wish to be successful working in an unfamiliar country.

In conclusion then, provided that you are well-prepared and flexible, teaching English overseas can be an extremely rewarding experience.

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Larisa Redins is a full time writer and editor with degrees in both Arts and Biological Science. She writes about career issues and other topics for a variety of international websites, magazines, and businesses.