Job Discussion Forums

africagirl2 · Joined: 23 Aug 2004 Posts: 1 Location: North Carolina, USA

I was wondering what qualifications I need to teach ESL internationally. I have four years teaching experience (I taught history and government) in the US. I also have a Master's in Education. Because I actually have experience in the classroom, I don't really see a need to get a TEFL certificate with a program that includes "real classroom experience." I would think an online certificate would be fine. But, since I obviously have no experience in the field, I would like some input.

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

What kind of teaching did you have in mind? Teaching university classes in Japan requires a minimum of a master's degree plus publications, sometimes plus experience teaching in Japan. Teaching conversation classes in Japan usually requires a bachelor's degree in any subject. But, some conversation schools will accept people without degrees as long as they have a proper visa. Some visas don't require degrees at all.

So, it depends on that in part, and I would imagine on the country where you plan to go.

Gordon · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 5309 Location: Japan

Don't be put off by TEFL training with teaching practice. When I got my CELTA I had already been teaching EFL/ESL for 4 years and I still learned a lot. I was able to fine tune my skills more than those with little or no experience. They had to start from scratch. I went in with the attitude that I had a lot to learn and I did learn a lot from the very experienced tutors.

Make sure you go to a reputable school to get training otherwise you will learn nothing.

AsiaTraveller · Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2004 6:44 pm Post subject:

The language-teaching methods that you will learn in a CELTA, Trinity or other (good) TEFL course are substantially different from anything you would have encountered in other education courses.

There are teaching and learning skills that are very specific to reading, writing, speaking and listening English as a foreign/second language. There are also theories of language learning that can help you create activities for the classroom (for both children and adults).

I had lots of teaching experience and education courses before I did a CELTA programme. I must admit that nearly everything covered in the CELTA was either new or quite different. So the course was clearly helpful and even necessary before I stepped into a regular EFL classroom for the first time.