Hi guys,

So I finally bit the bullet and got myself on the 120 Hour TEFL course. VERY excited. However, I am a bit stuck in terms of what method/path to go down after I'm done.

I have a degree in Spanish and Portuguese, so I kinda know what it's like to be on the other side of the fence to a degree.....loosely! But I have no teaching experience whatsoever; this is very, very new to me. I want to be a TEFLer because I want the opportunity to get the hell out of Leeds (love it, but you know, there's more to life) and see the world whilst earning money and potentially making a career. 

I have kept changing my mind in terms of where I'd like to start teaching, thinking about Hong Kong, Spain, China, Thailand, Poland, Japan....but not 100% sure. I lived in Spain for 7 months a few years back, and I would definitely like to go back to Barcelona at some point. I also know I want to get a taste of the Far East too.

I am aware that it is incredibly competitive to get a good job/any job in Barcelona at the moment, and also am nervous about finishing my TEFL and then straight up applying for jobs over there and being thrown straight in the deep end. The i-to-i Internships are appealing to me, a) because it seems like a good way to 'ease' yourself into teaching, and b) you get to go to some fab places. (Very intrigued by China and would love the beauty/beaches of Thailand!). Also, does anyone know if there are any other internship destinations offered throughout the year on i-to-i?

So, I was wondering if you guys can advise me on the best way for me to get into it? Might be a tough question to answer because everyones different. Also, I've waffled a whole lot.....If there are different paths to take or favoured places to start, please do share them, I'd love to hear. 

Thanks a lot!

Oli

Hi Oli,

First of all, there is no need to choose a direction yet. After all, you might end up doing that and completely changing your mind further along the line. Like me. I originally had my heart set on teaching in Spain but on a whim took jobs in Vietnam, Portugal and Poland, all of which I'd happily recommend for various reasons. Talking of which, you mentioned internships and in addition to the China and Thailand ones, there's one in Poland.

In terms of different paths take, well there's really only one decision to make and that's whether long-term you want to end up teaching in the East (Far East and South East Asia) or the West (Europe). The Middle East falls loosely into the West category as well but I'll leave that out of the equation for the moment because it's a whole different ball game.

So back to the decision. If the West is your long-term aim it's not advisable to spend too long in Asia (max. two years). The Asian market is so completely different from the European one in terms of approaches and student motivation, problems, etc that even with ten years' experience in the East, you would still only be classed as entry-level in Europe.

In Western Europe many schools require a CELTA or Trinity CertTESOL (a four-week face-to-face course with 6hrs of observed teaching practice) rather than an online TEFL certificate, although there are still plenty of schools that accept online certificates.

In terms of the places you've mentioned Spain, and in particular Barcelona, has no shortage of EFL teachers so it's a difficult place to get started (which is what put me off). You also mentioned Poland, which is where I'm currently teaching. Poland is a beautiful country but the wages are not really in line with the cost of living. In Hong Kong the wages are good but the cost of living, particularly when it comes to accommodation, is really high. In Japan, as with HK, the start-up costs are steep and over-supply of teachers means that wages have dropped. It is still possible to save money though. I can't speak for either China or Thailand since I haven't researched either destination.

Hope that helps... a little at least!

Briona

Hi Briona,

Thank you for your post - very helpful!

In terms of whether I see myself long-term in Asia or Europe - it's difficult to answer...I genuinely don't know! I wanted to get a taste of teaching in both to see which I prefer.

Whereabouts in Poland are you teaching? Are you enjoying it? I was there last summer - went to Olsztyn, Warsaw and Krakow and loved it. The Poland internship would be interesting too, as well as the China and Thailand options....just really not sure what to do.

I've been told that you MUST have a CELTA to teach in Spain, but it's more important there than the rest of Europe, say Germany or Holland. Not sure if that is the case?

Is there anywhere you've been or heard of that you recommend least of all?! (This goes for everyone else too!)

Oli

I kinda feel like going somewhere random?!?

Hi again,

I'm teaching in Bielsko-Biala, a small-ish town about 2.5hrs south of Krakow by bus. Coincidentally it's one of the towns you might get placed in if you do the  Poland internship. As I said it's fairly small, and like most places in PL all but closes down on a Sunday. But you're within striking distance of the mountains, Krakow and Katowice (two of the other internship towns) are within striking distance, and from either of those you can get tyo pretty much anywhere in PL. Also, from Bielsko-Biala, the Czech Republic is about 50 mins away by bus (from where Prague is a little over four hours away by train). Poland is definitely an interesting place and surprisingly beautiful but like I said, it's not a long-term option because the salary is just too low.

You don't need a CELTA to teach in Spain, but it helps. The 'big name' schools as well as a number of schools in the popular locations (Barcelona, Sevilla, Madrid...) will insist on it, but it's perfectly possible to find work without one. If you're interested have a chat to Alix (http://www.onlinetefl.com/tefl-chalkboard/alixm09) who's currently teaching in Madrid with just an online TEFL certificate.

I'm the wrong person to ask for advice on location since I can never make up my own mind! I'm already thinking about where to teach next year and my short-list currently includes Latvia, Spain, Hong Kong, Morocco and Tunisia. Bit of a mixed bag really and until I actually accept a job, I have no idea where I'll end up!

In terms of the places I've been, well Vietnam was interesting because it was completely different to anywhere I'd ever been before (not surprising really when you consider that it was my first time outside Europe!). I was mainly teaching Young Learners (4-10) which made it an easy-ish first job. My next job was in Portugal, which is a stunningly beautiful country with fairly good weather. I was teaching at a good school but I really struggled with the classes. I was mainly teaching 12-15 year olds which is my least favourite age group, and Portuguese teens are VERY trying. They literally never shut up. Not even during tests! This year I'm in Poland and in terms of teaching I have the perfect mix - VYLs (4-7), YLs (10-12) and adults, the latter being further divided into one-to-ones, exam classes and Business English - and not one horrid teenager in sight!

I guess that's something else to consider - the kind of students you want to teach. In Asia it tends to be VYLs and YLs, in Spain and Portugal it's mainly teens, in Germany and France there's a lot of Business English, often in companies and in Eastern Europe there are a lot of YLs...

Part fo the fun of this job is thinking about all the places you could go, even if you never actually do go to half of them! I LOVE researching countries and cities...

Briona

Hey,

Yeah I noticed Alix was teaching in Madrid and have sent her a message! I would like to try to get a job in Spain, whether straight away or not I'm not sure. 

Do you think doing an Internship would be beneficial? Or do you think if I just went somewhere straight away and got a job, thrown in at the deep end immediately it wouldn't make much difference?

I would ideally like to teach Adults and VYL/YL's. I am doing a specialist module of Business English so keen on that for sure. I think part of the fun at the moment is that I have NO idea where I'll be this time next year...I could be anywhere....it's awesome.

Hey,

It feels a little wrong to be er, less than complimentary about the internships on i-to-i's own site, especially when I personally haven't done one BUT I'm not sure that they're ideal for people who are serious about a career in teaching. Gap year types, sure. Career types. I'd say not.

Take the Polish internship for example. The job is in a school that basically uses the Callan method (or a similar version albeit by a different name). This is where the "teacher" reads scripts of set questions and set answers and the students repeat this back in parrot form. This isn't teaching and it certainly doesn't work at higher levels. I personally believe that having experience in a Callan school will do your career more harm than good, unless of course you only ever work in Callan schools. I don't know anything about the schools on either the China or Thailand internship though.

People choose the internship because it does give a level of support that you may or may not get through a regular job contract thus people feel more comfortable about making the leap. It's worth noting though that the better schools will organise an induction for you, showing you the ropes and possibly letting you observe your peers before you start teaching. The three schools I've worked at have also found accommodation for me and sorted out bank accounts, tax numbers, residency certificates, etc.

The scary part is finding the first job but once that's done it gets easier. I love looking for jobs, and I can't wait till Mar/Apr when the academic year jobs start being advertised and I can get to researching all over again. Like I said, planning's a lot of fun, and for me the internship would take that away.

Briona