Teaching in France/ Spain

I guess I'm lucky in that when I was getting my feet wet, everything that could go wrong did go wrong. I signed up for a 6 week summer program in Hong Kong. I enjoyed every minute of it, but it was a bit of a disaster. I needed emergency dental work, then I lost my passport, there was a typhoon which meant I couldn't get it replaced in time for my flight, then the next flight to Britain with my airline wasn't for another 10 days. My school's first response was "Oh, f-ing hell" and to hang up the phone on me (their second response was way better and ended up with them putting me up on an office floor till they could find something better). One tearful phonecall to my parents (made in a telephone box to a roaming mobile phone in France in the middle of their night and my typhoon) was all that it really took to sort me out. Do you know what, it wasn't all that bad? An ex-boyfriend (from university) or my Aunt (now in her 50s) put me up in his house which meant I only had to sleep in the office for a couple of nights, I got 10 more days in Hong Kong and to meet some of the ex-pat community that I'd never have met had everything gone right. My aunt also made contact with this guy. A quick google sorted out my teeth, and to change my flight was only £75. I had a couple of stressful days, but really, it all came out in the wash. I guess that made me much more confident in going out to strange places. I know that even if they throw you a bit of a curve ball, you'll survive! Most things that happen can be fixed and those that can't, well, you'll cope with broken!

I personally hate the idea of an internship! The native speaker communities are well developed in popular TEFL counties and have provided me with all the support I need without me having to give part of my wage to someone else! I know it can be daunting going out on your own, but honestly, once you get there you'll probably find it's not really all that scary! It is easy to meet people if you choose a reasonable sized city. It's the sort of thing you can research before you go!

Anyways, Europe is nice and close, but for the very reason, difficult to find positions. Have you considered going somewhere a little further East, like Prague or to Southern Spain or Italy where it is easier to find a job? I think my attitude is kinda now I (will) have 2 years experience and a Cert TESOL and (will) have spent 2 years away from home I can go to Europe, have the comfort of living close to home and not have to take a terrible job because I'm entry level.

Thanks ever so much for your help guys! It is much appreciated :)

TEFL i-to-i have recommended some websites that advertise teaching jobs, so I'll be having a good look!

Europe is partly my decision, though for the comfort of my parents they would like me to 'warm-up' before heading far east. Which is understandable... but, I am determined to get to Thailand, unfortunately the May internship is only a dream away, but October is never too far! Have you looked into the internship?

There are some companies in Spain that offer a tefl course with work/internship at the end.  As Mahalath says, Barcelona is popular, and there is lots of competition, you might have to head somewhere less competitive until you get some experience, or try your luck with vaughan systems.

There are quite a few posts about this on this site now, so I won't repeat things I've said already - Bazteach and Briona have written plenty of stuff too, so if you look around you will get onfo..

I don't know anything about France.

Hey, I've not taught in either of those places, but I do know that finding work in Western Europe can be hard without a 4 week offline course. If you have no experience you should probably try to get some before you go out there. I don't know where in England you are from, but doing stuff like volunteering to teach asylum seekers might help. I use TEFL.com to get an idea of what qualifications are needed for countries. Spain will almost definitely be easier than France, but it is still a very popular TEFL destination and Barcelona is incredibly popular. You might want to rethink where you are expecting to go with your first job. It's not impossible, my cousin went to Spain, but he went with a company that he did his TEFL with, and he had real trouble finding work after he'd qualified.