What is a TEFL Certification and Do I Need It?

So you’ve thought about quit t ing your job, selling all your things, and moving abroad for a while now. You know you want a change but you don’t know the exact logistics of actually being able to support yourself abroad. You have heard of people teaching English overseas before and it always seemed like something a little too off-the-beaten-track for you. You never considered it as a “real” job as you wouldn’t be spending your days inside a corporate office chained to a desk, which is what we have have been trained our whole lives to achieve.

Sound somewhat familiar? This is the exact predicament I found myself in a year and a half ago. I worked for four years for my hard-earned degree in Public Relations and then worked even harder for 2 years in a public relations agency in order to put that degree to use. The end result? Burnout and unhappiness at 23 years old. I always dreamt of living abroad and knew that the path I was on wasn’t going to lead me there. Always a planner, I started to look into how I could find employment abroad, and teaching English as a foreign language just jumped out to me.

Why teach English as a foreign language?

Maybe it was the idea of not staring at a computer screen from 9-7 (let’s be real, the 9-5 doesn’t exist in this day and age) that appealed to me. Or perhaps it was the concept of helping people learn the most spoken language in the world. There was also the image of being able to travel the world and live in a new country and experience a new culture that screamed, “This is what you need to be doing with your life!”.

As I continued my research, the acronym TEFL (Teach English as a Foreign Language) kept popping up along with various websites that offer cheap certifications in the said acronym. So there was one question I (and many other native English speakers) face when considering this career change:

Do I need a TEFL certificate to teach English abroad?

The answer is simply, YES! Even if you have 15+ years of experience teaching English or any other subject in a brick and mortar school, you will still need to be certified to teach English as a foreign language. This is essential in order to effectively teach your future students. It is basically a whole other ballpark of teaching that you need to be certified and trained in.

But I’m a native English speaker, how hard can it be?

HARD! It can be REAL hard. Of course, you will need a native-like level of English to be an effective English teacher, but that is just one of the many key tools you need.

Picture this:

You enter a classroom with 15 adult students patiently waiting for their qualified TEFL teacher to arrive. Many of these students are relying on this English class to help and improve some facet of their life, whether it be to get a job or promotion or to even just help them to better communicate when they travel. In you stride with no TEFL certification, maybe even no teaching experience, with the idea that your knowledge of English will be enough to just “wing” it.

WRONG! Your students end up going home with more questions than answers about the English language. They just wasted their time and money and are now even further from achieving their goals. All thanks to a “TEFL teacher” who can’t explain the difference between the present simple and present continuous tense.

So how do I get TEFL certified?

As I mentioned before there a plenty of cheap options out there that will stamp your name on a certificate with not much work on your part. But like any certification, this is going to be work (and it should be in order for you to be the best TEFL teacher you can be). Here are a few things that you should look for when selecting the best TEFL course for you:

At least 100 hours of coursework that is led by a qualified instructor
An accredited and recognized curriculum
Practicum hours where you teach or observe an actual TEFL class
Job search guidance

Personally, the only course I really ever considered was from the International TEFL Academy (ITA). I took their in-person course in Barcelona and it was the best decision I ever made. ITA offers TEFL courses in person as well as online. Their intensive course taught me everything I know and really prepared me for my first teaching position. They have an extensive alumni network and offer wonderful job search guidance. You can request a brochure with more information here.

Have I convinced you to get your TEFL certification yet? Let me know of any questions, fears, or doubts you have and we can determine if TEFL is right for you!