TEFL Jobs: Myths Vs Reality
Establishing a teaching career abroad is one of the most challenging yet classic decisions that one can ever make. Teaching English abroad is now a part of a trending global job market and English teachers are getting opportunities to teach in various places across the globe.
There are multiple TEFL myths but TEFL teachers know best what are the real myths and reality behind teaching international students. Schools in the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and Latin America are offering jobs to English-speaking teachers having a valid TEFL certification. English teaching jobs in these countries are pretty lucrative and the teaching experience is awesome as well.
Education abroad - myths and reality:
While googling before taking a decision, you might end up meeting several pros and cons listed by experts about teaching English as a foreign language. TEFL jobs are not easy to get but once you crack them, do not lose your confidence based on stuff that you have read on the internet.
Here are some of the facts you must know so that you can spot between reality and myths.
IF YOU CAN SPEAK ENGLISH, IT IS EASY TO TEACH ABROAD:
Well, being a native or a near-native English speaker will give you a bit of an advantage in cracking ESL jobs. It is because your vocabulary, grammatical sense, sentence construction, etc., will be better than others. But that does not end all the problems. You should be efficient enough to answer when your students will ask you the reason behind different pronunciations of the same letters in different words.
TEFL courses will help you to understand how to deal with students and thus you should have a TEFL certificate before you decide to teach English abroad.
NOT MUCH FINANCIAL PROSPECT:
It is often said that TEFL teachers do not earn much money teaching abroad. But there are multiple variables or parameters based on which it should be judged how much money they are making. Every place has a different kind of economic condition which reflects the living cost of that place. Consequently, teachers teaching in posh countries will earn a high amount as compared to those having a stressed economic condition.
The more rich a country is, the more is the living cost. Some of these countries do provide accommodations and flight fares but then again, other expenditures are pretty above the bar and that's why teachers cannot save much. Whereas, there are countries where living cost is moderate and so is the salary structure of teachers but they have a good amount of potential to save.
Hence, it is a matter of different perspectives.
KNOW THE LANGUAGE OF YOUR STUDENTS:
It will be best if you have the basic knowledge of the language of the country you're planning to move to. This is not at all a mandatory criteria but it is of course, beneficial for you. Once you know a basic portion of the language your ESL students speak, it will be easier for you to communicate with them. A strong bond will be created between you and your students.
Besides, living abroad might give you chances to encounter people or situations where their native language is the only mode of communication. There, your knowledge of their language will help you a lot.
THERE WILL BE ONLY YOUNG LEARNERS:
Social media will often show you videos having young learners as your TEFL students because young learners gain a lot of popularity which in turn increases the traffic of their pages. In reality, there are different levels of students irrespective of age limit who you have to teach English.
There are private language schools, vocational schools, corporate institutions, public schools, and private tutoring centers that hire teachers to teach English to their students. Thus, it will not be just the young learners. There can be high school students, young children, and business professionals as well who you have to teach English being a TEFL teacher.
HAVING A FAMILY WILL CAUSE YOU TROUBLE TO TEACH ENGLISH:
It doesn't depend upon how many blood-related relatives you have that make a family. Some have friends as their core family. It's all about who takes care of you, gets along with you, understands you the most, and sticks to you in thick and thin. Such people are called members of a family.
Even if you are married it will never be a problem for you to teach English abroad. Some TEFL teachers find a family abroad once they shift there and establish their teaching career in that country. Thus, having a clean criminal background, proper academic eligibility criteria, and sane behavior, nothing can create an obstacle for you while teaching abroad.
Apart from these 5 points, there are many other myths related to teaching English abroad. TEFL myths often confuse aspirants and professionals. You can go through this link to get authentic information about TEFL jobs.
