Fun, lucrative, and in demand, these are the adjectives that can be used in teaching English abroad career. This is also a great way to discover various other parts of the world. Nevertheless, it may sound dazzling at first but when you see yourself in a completely unknown foreign country for the first time, you’ll soon realize that it’s not an easy job.

You need to go through trial and error approaches and gradually it will become a learning experience not only for your ESL learners but for you as well. However, you might have considered some of the challenges, but there might be more which you haven’t thought of yet.

Here, we have tried to accumulate some specific areas of concentration before obliging to this type of venture.

Decide Well Before Committing

Are you really up for this career venture? Because teaching English abroad is way more than just traveling. Make sure you’ll have an updated passport to travel to another country. Now try to contemplate why you want to teach English overseas.

Understand what your career goals are, for example, many aspiring ESL teachers want to experience a different part of the world, some are looking to make decent money while some want to make a difference in the lives of individuals in a disadvantaged area, etc. Decide what are you precisely looking to get out of teaching English overseas.

Research Your Destination Well

Try to nail down the basics of the local language. Think about how the language barrier will influence your daily life and your work. Even though it’s not a mandatory requirement for ESL jobs but this will help you a lot. You may try some essentials like – How to get from the airport to your lodging, what local dishes you should try, what the local currency is, and the conversion percentage, any kind of cultural understandings you should keep in mind, and so on. Moreover, you’ll also have a life outside the classroom, isn’t it? Learning a few words of the local language can do miracles.

Try researching:

• Cultural values
• Significant historical events
• Customs and holidays
• Local governments
• Gender roles
• General understanding of education/teachers
• Everyday life
• Socioeconomic matters

These basics yet significant know-before-you-go fundamentals genuinely support you a lot.

Being a Native English Speaker Vs Being an English Teacher

Skilled training makes the difference between being a native English speaker and being an English educator. Teaching English abroad is beyond just English communicating ways, you need to know how to create engaging ESL lesson plans, you also need to possess how to manage a multicultural classroom and there are many other factors.

This is where teaching English abroad programs training comes in. Usually, TEFL certifications are the internationally-accepted global standard of English teaching credentials. You can easily receive your TEFL/TESOL certificate almost in every place in the world. TEFL course teaches you significant skills and also aids you understand the vital difference between teaching the language to native speakers and teaching it to non-native speakers.

Finding an Overseas Teaching English Job

Generally, most English teaching jobs in a foreign country are in cities. If you’re not applying directly to a government-sponsored program, you might need to check out some English teaching job boards. You can also post your resume online on various ESL teacher’s boards.

Or, you could simply search for a specific type of job at teaching English abroad in Google.Another good option is teaching English online and traveling the world at the same time. This field is a lucrative one and is also becoming popular in the ESL job world. Also, take your time before accepting an offer to teach English abroad. Correspondingly, hiring is characteristically conducted face-to-face in numerous regions, including Western Europe, many Latin American countries, and some Asian countries like Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia.

Prepare All Digital Copies

This includes important documents like medical, visa, educational, and financial documents. Things like – Passport, Driver’s license or domestic ID, Immunization histories, Degree(s), TEFL certificate(s), Resume or CV, Bank account information. Eventually, you will be asked for copies of your credentials – whether it’s by government administrators, embassy representatives, school administrators, insurance people, or rental car workers.

Cultural Consciousness

To become a truly positive ESL teacher, you need to be culturally awakened enough. Things which are okay in a Western classroom may not be okay in a non-Western classroom. For example, in Japan and numerous other Asian countries, apprentices are not familiarized with putting their hands up to ask or answer questions. Rather these nations tend to highlight group culture more as they don’t want to highlight more or less intelligent peers.Merging your aptitude along with adjusting to the cultural learning requirements of learners is a win-win situation.

Suitable Support

Do you have a suitable support structure in your desired place?A friend? Relatives? Spouse? Settling down to another country on your own isn’t at all times easy. Initially, you will face challenges every day, inside and outside the classroom. Make sure you know well how will you communicate with your close ones while you’re over there. Also, make sure you get Wi-Fi wherever you’ll teach or stay. Try to make some initial effort towards making friends wherever you go. We would suggest before going, take some time to talk to your family and friends and give them your contact information for where you’ll go.

Visa Regulations

Being well-aware of visa regulations and practices is an extremely crucial area. Visas, as well as legal stuff relating to teaching English overseas, will differ extensively from country to country and region to region. In many Latin American countries and Western European nations, it is a common practice for foreign English educators to work on tourist visas.

Almost all countries need teachers to apply for a work visa, which is usually more time-consuming. Some countries’ visa necessities are even stricter than schools’ requirements. Thus, it is critical to know how these matters work in countries where you may contemplate teaching English abroad.

Concluding Thoughts

You may try maintaining a teaching journal. You could also reach out to various informative blogs that are including teaching practices to see what advice they have. Do you know in 2020, there were be 2 billion English language learners in the world? This means the importance of English as a second language (ESL) instructors are very much in high demand.

Anyone can teach English abroad with an ESL teaching certificate like a college graduate, new or skilled ESL teacher, career changer, and so on. If you’re finally ready to start your career, teaching English abroad can also be a great advantage.