Job Discussion Forums

[LeSylphe]

Hello!I´m a ESL teacher from Brazil.One of my greatest dreams is to travel around the world and teach English.But,although I have a "TEFL Post-Grad" certificate,High TOEFL Score and "TESL Canada" certified ,I´m not a native English speaker.And it seems that,for most countries,that counts much more than my studies,experiences and knowledge.
I would like to know:
Which country I would be more accepted and welcome as a TEFL teacher?
Where can I make enough money to support myself without relying on other resources (parents)?
Where´s the safest place to go,as a woman traveling alone?
Where´s the best party and dating scene (still single)?

I will ask this same question in other topics.
Thanks,in advance,for your help

[Nicky_McG]

The fact that you're not a native speaker will be a hurdle. I do work with non-native speakers but they have a very high level of English and are EU passport holders.

Personally, I wouldn't employ a non-native speaker unless they had spent a considerable length of time in an English-speaking country and had a perfect accent (one of my colleagues has a German accent which I think should have excluded her from working at a university). However, it does seem to be possible.

Your lack of EU passport pretty much excludes Western Europe unfortunately. I can't speak for the rest of Europe but getting a visa as a non-native speaker would be difficult I imagine.

[LeSylphe]

[nomad soul]

[spiral78]

The problem is that Central and Eastern Europe have lots of locals who are highly qualified to teach English. It's not that easy for non-EU passport holders who are from English speaking countries like the US or Canada to find decently paid jobs in this region. A non-native speaker who needs a work visa is at several significant disadvantages.

The other thing is that most jobs in this part of the world are not found from abroad. You need to be here to interview in person, and employers do not usually pay for airfare, so there are significant start-up costs.

I think that your chances in Central/Eastern Europe are unfortunately very limited, and Western Europe is off limits due to your non-EU citizenship.

[sparks]

Unfortunately, I agree with what's been said. It's probably not impossible to find work in Central Europe but if you did it would be because of a lot to luck and finding a unique opportunity/a school that was desperate. You would almost certainly have to be here searching and meeting people in person to have any chance, even an extremely limited one.

[Sigma]

I am aware of a few non-native speakers (non-EU) in and around the Olomouc area (Czech Republic) who are teaching English. However, most of them have a teaching degree from their home country, plus a CPE certificate.

[sparks]

I know of numerous non-native teachers who are doing/have done CELTAS and DELTAS. This might be something to consider in addition to any other teaching certs. you may have. It will boost your marketability.

[spiral78]

Yes, though I still think a Brazilian national with a CELTA or DELTA will be at a considerable disadvantage on the Central European job market - the non-native teachers you refer to, sparks, are likely to be mostly locals needing no special work permits to teach in the region.

[sparks]

Of course, Spiral, the level of teaching is ever-increasing and the ones who can't teach/don't have the proper paperwork are slowly being left by the wayside. Actually, the few teachers who I know here who are both non-native and non-Pole, are from other Central/Eastern European countries, mainly Ukraine.

[spiral78]

I have never been involved with someone with a Brazilian passport coming to Central Europe, but it's fairly easy to get a working visa from Ukraine. I doubt it's a parallel experience for Brazilians, unfortunately.