Hi I'd like to find out if there are any asians TEFL graduates out there who has any difficulties looking for a job as most of the jobs offered out there require English Native speakers.

I'm really interested in taking up this TEFL course but am quite concerned that it would be hard to look for jobs out there as I'm a non native speaker. I don't wanna jump into conclusions and would also like to hear from people who may be facing the same concerns/experiences out there before I impulsively take up the course that would definitely improve my English alot but would not get me a job in the future.

:)

Hi! I'm also a non-native English speaker and this is one of the reasons why I'm doing a teaching internship instead of going straight to teaching English.  I want to get an experience and use it as a good reference after, when I'm looking for a full-time teaching job.  A lot of my professors in college tell me that even though a job asks for native English speaker, you should still apply because  they'll usually look at your educational background and not just the way you speak.  Remember, there are a lot of non-native English speakers who speak better than natives, and that's just an observation.  ONe of my Second Language Studies professor is from China (and still has an accent - all of us have accents anyway) and she has taught English in Asian and Middle Eastern countries before becoming a professor...this just shows you that as long as you're a good teacher and you have a good command of English, then you can teach  it. 

I have a friend who is German and is now in her second year of teaching English in Shanghai with a very good company called EF. So dont give up, maybe applying for an internship is a good way to get into the field :)

If you spoken English is good enough and you have completed at least a TEFL you should be able to get work. My girlfriend who is Indonesian is hoping to come to China with me next year, My new DOS in China has already said no problem as long as her spoken English is good enough. I would stay away from agencies, apart from asking their advice, because they are paid by the school and the school expects native. But if you apply direct to the school they will be more lenient. Unless you English is as good as a native speaker you might have to take slightly less in the pay but this depends on the school. Where do you want to teach Novix?

Wow thank u guys for the encouragement!

I haven't taken up any of the TEFL courses yet but if i did, i would love to teach in Japan or Korea or China after that then maybe later on Europe if i get the opportunity to.

How's the TEFL experience with i-to-i so far? I've seen alot of great offers from alot of other websites/companies but i-to-i seems to be one of the most promising one in terms of the appealing webdesign, a forum like this one & reasonable offers. I've heard some bad feedbacks but um i try not to be sucked into so much of those stuff n let that one bad egg spoil the entire thing if u know what i mean. Anyway i'm still so confused and would be grateful if u can share ur experiences with i-to-i!

I think it really depends on how long you want to work abroad for and how much you would like to be paid. When I was looking for jobs lots of companies and some countries would not accept online qualifications and so a CELTA would be a good investment. but you can still get work with i-to-i with good companies in the countries you prefer and they give a lot of support. So its up to you. hope that helps

Honestly, I hate to be a non native speaker although i know i can speak very good and my grammar is also good. all the requirement is at least u have english spoken caountry passport or west type face, which i don't have any. very good.

Hi I'm also non-native and I'm attending Tefl course in August.But even now I am not very confident about the course as I know that all the trainees will be native speakers. I am graduated as English teacher from university but I didn't start teaching because I want to improve myself in teaching and want to feel confident about it.Do you think this Tefl will be helpful about it? Because my head's about to explode for overthinking about the course and my wonders if i'm gonna achieve it in the end and take the certificate :/ I am good at speaking but not like my native language :/ that's why i'm really concerned about  :(

Hey guys

i am a non-native too and ,i've studied in the u.s for a year (thinking that it will help me when i graduate) but still i can not find a job in other countries. Now if i get TEFL certificate, i know that still i cant get a job in the u.s or u.k

i heard about people working in the u.s and their first language is not English. I guess u need to be lucky thats all:)

does anyone have an idea how to find a job in private language schools??

I vote for England during any match, I dream & think in English, my fellow friends often ask me how to spell certain words, however, if you were to look at my passport you'd see I am Dutch..  When I took the bus to move to London some 8 yrs ago I started at the bottom working behind the bar. Within each and every company I worked for I started at the bottom, working my way up to shop manager and now being one of the most succesful sales ppl within my region for the company I work for. I realise that on paper I am a non-native English speaking person and I know this can be a disadvantage, but I also hope that being positive & understanding that I might not get the dream job straight away, you can always work your way up to where you want to be.. Where there is a will, there is a way.. At the same time I also hope that I am not being stupidly naive.. lol. I'd be looking forward to start the TEFL course soon & just go where ever the wind takes me... Good luck to every one in the same situation!!

Hey everyone,

I just finished my online TEFL course and I'm looking for a job. I haven't applied to anything yet, but I've saved some job offers that sound interesting, mostly 'no experience', because I'm new to all this. I'm also a bit frustrated about the constant demand for native speakers, but I think it's still possible for us. During my weekend course in Den Haag the teacher (who has been teaching TEFL for a long time) said it was best to apply for job if you think it's interesting, even if they ask for native speakers. Most important is that you show your motivation and emphasize the benefits of being a non-native: you know what it's like studying a foreign language and we often have a better knowledge of grammar than natives.

Also, like Halidemine said, you need a bit of luck. My grandma always says "you have a 'no', you can get a 'yes'", meaning that you can't get what you want unless you try. So I'm going to apply for some jobs and hope I'll get a positive answer from one of them.  I'll let you all know how it goes!

Nele