Job Discussion Forums

katrine.johnson · Joined: 16 Dec 2008 Posts: 3

Im about to sign up to take the Oxford Seminars course to get my TEFL certificate. I have no prior teaching experience but have tutored children. I recently graduated with a B.A. in Government / International Relations. I want to teach in the following places: Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, Cambodia, Latin America or Spain. Any suggestions?

Justin Trullinger · Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2009 2:40 pm Post subject:

Do a search of these forums, this one and the newbie one, for Oxford Seminars and you'll find a lot has already been written.

Where are you from? For Spain, if you're not European, legal work will be hard to come by with your quals.

THe other places you mention should be fairly accessible at an entry level.

But check specific requirements- if a cert is required, not everybody is going to consider the Oxford Seminars cert to be sufficient.

Best,
Justin

katrine.johnson · Joined: 16 Dec 2008 Posts: 3

I am from the US but hold dual citizenship with both Germany and the US. What are the requirements for Latin America? I see you are in Ecuador and that interests me as well

Justin Trullinger · Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2009 3:08 pm Post subject:

That was a piece of luck- German citizenship is going to be a big plus if Europe interests you.

Regarding Latin America- of course, it's huge and varied. I'm an expert on Ecuador with six years and varied in-depth experience here. Other countries, I know a lot less, but others who know more will be chiming in momentarily.

Nowhere that I know of in Latin America are you going to earn much compared to back home, but there's plenty of work.

It used to be that speaking English was enough, but most of the better jobs are requiring the international "BA plus respectable cert" nowadays.

Best,
Justin

spiral78 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 11534 Location: On a Short Leash

If at all possible, go for certification in the country where you want to start teaching. There are tons of good reasons to do this!
You can get your feet wet in the country/culture while you still have a support system, as most training centres arrange for stuff like housing while you're on the course, airport pickup, and local orientation. You'll have real practice teaching students who will be representative of those you'll be working with when you start. Most importantly, you can be sure your cert will be recognized by local employers, and your training centre can give you good info regarding reputable employers.

I can say for certain that Oxford, along with any other cert that does not offer supervised teaching practice with real students (not peer trainees) is considered substandard in most of Europe. The basic cert here is 100+ hours on site, with this key teaching practice. It's what 90% of newbies here have, so anything less puts you at a disadvantage in the job market.