Last month, I made a comment about teaching English in a foreign country. People seemed interested in the idea so I decided to share with the DK community some thoughts based on my experience of teaching English in Argentina.
Note that this is oriented primarily toward teaching while living in developing nations. Much of it may apply should you pursue this in a high-income nation but YMMV (your mileage may vary).
What does “teaching English” actually mean?
Forget memories of Mrs. Higglebottom struggling to get a roomful of young hooligans to develop a love of Chaucer back in the 8th grade. She really was an English teacher in the fullest sense of the word. She studied not only grammar and the structural mechanics of the language but also the literature and poetry in depth.
When I speak of teaching English abroad, I refer to a more limited role: teaching English as a second language (ESL). You might use an occasional paragraph from Mark Twain or Ernest Hemingway to demonstrate a point in your classes but your entire objective will be teaching students the functional mechanics of English, not its literary achievements.
In short, you teach students how to use verbs and nouns properly, how to form plurals, how to structure a sentence correctly (e.g., “I gave her the book” not “Gave the book her I”), which tense to use and how to form it, and so on. Being an ESL teacher is far easier than being a full English teacher because the material to be taught is quite narrow compared to the vast literary heritage of our language. Equally important, all your students are there because they truly want to learn, not because parents and officials make them sit in classes six hours per day.
So you will meet with your students, introduce some new vocabulary items, and explain a grammatical structure (“plurals are usually formed by adding ‘s’ to the noun”). Students will do some exercises and activities to anchor the new words and new structure in their minds, incorporating the four necessary language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Then you will call it a day — someday in the far future they may or may not explore Chaucer on their own.
Why teach English?
Here are just a few reasons. You may find one or more a motivation to begin a new phase of your life as an English teacher.
- Share expertise that only you have in your new community — there is huge demand for English skills throughout the world because it is the “global tongue” of commerce, tourism, research, the internet, media, and more. As a native or fluent speaker (hereafter I will drop “or fluent” to save typing), you have insights that few non-native teachers acquire, such as understanding our many idiomatic expressions (imagine people who know nothing of baseball trying to figure out “hitting it out of the ballpark”)
- Develop your social life with the respect of being a teacher — teaching English will bring you into contact with many more people than you otherwise would encounter on your own. Teachers in most countries are respected as valuable members of the community. Despite that I encourage my students to call me by my first name, I often get addressed, even by non-students, as “professor” when out doing my errands around town
- Fill your time with a meaningful contribution to people — if you have retired to some cheap but attractive tropical paradise, you might find yourself growing bored with staring at the beautiful but lonely beach after a few months. Do something emotionally rewarding by giving people new opportunities to learn and earn by teaching them English
- Supplement your income while living abroad — you aren’t likely to get rich this way or even to earn enough to completely support yourself unless you work full time. You will be earning local currency at local wage levels. Nevertheless, as an ESL teacher you will likely earn a good supplement to Social Security, or a pension, or investments like rent from your US home. If your local costs are US $700 to live a decent life and you earn an extra US $300 per month working 10 or 12 hours per week, your lifestyle can move upward dramatically or you can have extra money to donate to worthy causes
- Qualify for a resident visa — becoming a certified teacher (more on that below) may help you qualify for a resident visa. Check with the consulate of the country you’re interested in. Some countries do not allow you to work at all for a probationary period of a year or two or three; others may seek people with skills like teaching English and make your visa dependent on quickly starting up classes and holding a professional teaching qualification (below)
But I don’t know how to teach and I forgot all of my grammar lessons!
Relax.
Remember that old joke about escaping from a bear: you don’t need to run faster than the bear, you just need to run faster than your companion.
As a native speaker, you have fundamental knowledge that is way better than most foreign speakers who have studied English. With beginners, you are so far beyond them that they will never realize you sometimes struggle with spelling or proper punctuation.
More importantly, there is a solution at hand: acquire certification in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL). These acronyms sometimes have variations, such as TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language), TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages), and more. Generally, just search for TEFL because that is most common and recognized worldwide.
You get a TEFL certificate by completing a course, which can be done online, by in-person classes, or a combination of the two. Some are done in as little as 100 instructional hours but avoid those: get a 120-hour (or more) certification course and your qualification will be accepted pretty much everywhere for EFL/ESL teaching.
Your TEFL course will not only teach you about how students learn and how to teach them, it will also review the essentials of grammar and other functional mechanics of our language. To be a good teacher, you will probably want to round that out by reviewing some books or online materials but you will at least have a solid foundation by the time you finish the course.
Where can I find TEFL courses?
If your local community college offers a TEFL course, that would be ideal, assuming the cost is reasonable. In-person classes usually have you run through “practice classes” where you create a lesson plan and “teach” the other students, an excellent way to rehearse doing the real thing. In-person courses may be relatively inexpensive at a community college or quite pricey at a private educational institute (as much as a couple of thousand dollars).
On the other hand, online courses let you study at your own pace anytime — if your work schedule means you need to cram 4 or 5 lessons in on the weekend or the middle of the night you can do that. They are also usually much cheaper than in-person courses (search “discount code” + the course name and you might end up paying less than 50 bucks for a course and certificate). In lieu of practice teaching, online courses typically will have some videos of ESL classes as part of your study so you can see what good (or bad) teachers do and how well their methods work or don’t work.
What will I learn?
There is no single standard for TEFL courses but there are a number of governmental and private accrediting bodies that have their own standards for the subjects that should be covered. I will give an overview and you can review offerings yourself to see if they sound comprehensive enough to you.
[NB: I don’t think accreditation matters much. I have never heard of anyone being quizzed about which body accredited their course; just having a TEFL certificate from any source seems to be enough … and note that they never expire. For that matter, I have never had a student or official ask to see my TEFL certificate]
Here are some key topics that should be part of your course:
- How students learn (such as verbal, visual, logical, kinesthetic [touch and movement], and other approaches)
- Methodologies for using the learning styles (a variety of detailed teaching methods for languages)
- Importance of the four language skills and how to incorporate them in lessons (listening, reading, writing, and speaking)
- Essentials of grammar, spelling, phonetics, and linguistic terminology and concepts
- Lesson planning, ideas for activities and tasks, and classroom management
- Learning levels — concepts and structures required for each level (beginner, intermediate, etc). Most teachers follow a hierarchy that groups students in six levels, from A1 (absolute beginner) to C2 (very advanced and fluent)
It doesn’t sound like a lot but there is actually a ton of stuff there. The course should drill down into these broad topics and give you some useful nitty-gritty practical instruction on how and what to teach.
As I said before, be prepared to get a grammar book or two (bought or free from resources shown below) to review. Do yourself and your students a favor and really learn the material well.
I strongly suggest buying one or the other of these two books by the same author. The second is more comprehensive but longer and more expensive. Either one will be a terrific aid to you as a new ESL teacher:
- Teaching and Learning Grammar by Jeremy Harmer
- The Practice of English Language Teaching by Jeremy Harmer
Types of ESL teaching
You will have some decisions to make about the type of teaching you want to do. Let’s look at a few options:
- Adults/adolescents vs children — their methods of learning are tremendously different and thus need separate classes. Kids like repetition, imitation, songs, games, and so on. You often can’t talk about “nouns” or “verbs” or such because they do not understand those concepts even in their native tongue yet. However, they soak up languages and learn faster than adults generally
- Private tutor vs group classes — when I said you won’t get rich, there might be an exception: teaching rich people one-on-one. If you’re a strong self-promoter, you might carve out a lucrative career by catering to CEOs, for example, giving lessons on their private jet as they zoom off to Borneo. Most of us, however, will be teaching classes of the plebs, something I find more rewarding than high fees. I believe small groups (12 students or fewer) are essential if you teach group classes: there are enough to form teams or task groups of 3 or 4 students for activities but few enough that everyone participates — and thus learns — frequently
- Self-organized vs a language institute — you might choose to teach at an institute. They would probably love to have you, a native speaker. However, the pay is probably less because instead of collecting fees from your 5 or 10 or 15 students per class, they will pay you the miserable salary they pay their local teachers. On the other hand, they will likely provide you with materials (course books, overhead projector, etc), a classroom, marketing, management of students and fees, etc.
- Volunteer teaching — maybe income isn’t an issue for you but you like the idea of teaching or helping out your new community. You could organize classes yourself or affiliate with some civic group and offer classes at no charge. You could even do a combination: give full scholarships to needy students but charge reasonable fees to those who can afford it (either because the money would be helpful or because sometimes people do not value or work hard at something free that they could otherwise afford)
- Distance teaching — the pandemic has led to many normally in-person activities moving to online encounters. Some teachers and students have taken to ESL classes held by video-chat connections. I have no experience with this and would suggest you research this possibility yourself. Personally, I find students really get a lot out of in-person interactions with other students: that is, working in partners or teams on activities and tasks, necessarily using the language to accomplish the goal. I wonder if remote learning could match that level of engagement
What to teach
This will be an important decision with long-term implications (because students may continue for several years so they need a comprehensive program of study). Do you use a course book/guide or do you develop your own curriculum?
- A course book has lessons laid out for you, typically with grammar points, exercises, pictures, quizzes, and often an accompanying DVD with audio-visual material to use in each lesson. It makes things fairly simple for the teacher but also means that you are teaching the content and the way that other people came up with, not your own style, material, and emphases. It also means you might be constrained time-wise — if each lesson is one hour of material, you can’t teach 1.5 hour classes. Also, in many countries, the cost of the course books are far beyond family budgets, meaning you will need to make illicit photocopies for your students; however, there are free, open source course books that you can find via links below or a web search
- Your own curriculum makes you the boss of everybody. You decide what to teach and when to do so in the course of study. It also means you have to plan out a curriculum that builds from one lesson to the next (we call it “laddering”, one rung leads to the next) so students get a coherent understanding of English. It is more work but more personalized and creative. There are innumerable ESL education sites with free lesson plans, activity and game ideas, worksheets, images, and more — just search for terms like “ESL resources”
I use the latter approach and I am finally getting with the 21st century about it. Before our school year begins next March, I plan to have a website up and running with my curriculum/lesson plans organized using Moodle LMS (Learning Management System).
ESL and technology
Moodle is a popular free and open source system for educators. You can create lessons, include audio, video, and images, develop exercises and activities, set up casual quizzes or timed tests, and more. Instead of ecologically wasteful handouts of my “fill in the blank" exercises and such things, I can have students open activity 3 of today’s lesson on their cell phone and complete the exercise.
Even better, they can review or repeat all of the materials at any time — and which of them doesn’t have a cell phone glued to their face pretty much all day? They can even turn new vocabulary into flash cards and drill themselves, among many other features.
If Moodle isn’t your cup of tea, there are plenty of similar programs. Just do a search on “learning management systems” and start exploring the options.
I will also have another website, what I am calling a “students center.” I will write an occasional (hopefully) interesting bilingual article for students of all levels on a topic outside of normal lessons — e.g., my first planned article will be an introduction to “thou, thee, thy, and thine” that they might encounter in church, songs, Shakespeare, etc., but which I do not teach as part of regular lessons. I also have Argentine friends who may contribute articles about their own experiences or ideas, such as traveling in the US and using English among native speakers.
Like learning a musical instrument, the key to success is “practice, practice, practice!” So students will be assigned to write a weekly entry in their personal blog on the “students center” site about any subject they choose. Also, there will be forums for questions, discussions, and peer-help about any topic English-related, whether or not it is related to classes and lessons.
Where to teach
If you choose to privately tutor an oligarch, join the faculty of a language institute, or teach via video hookup, you won’t need to worry about finding a space for classes. Otherwise, you have several choices:
- Your own home — easy, you don’t even need to commute. Basically, you just need a table, chairs, and a whiteboard with markers, so you could do it in your living room or dining room or a spare bedroom. The downside is you have to keep your home immaculate, keep kids and spouse and pets from interrupting, and wonder if a barely known new student who left to use your bathroom is actually stealing everything that isn’t nailed down. On the other hand, it is free and most developing countries have no effective zoning regulations and such to prevent using your home for a small business
- Rented space — it’s nice because it is dedicated space. You don’t have to worry that your spouse is going to inadvertently wander in half-naked or that the cat just threw up on the floor. However, it costs money and you have to worry about security if you have equipment like a computer or overhead projector. You will also be dealing with a landlord and potentially a legal system that may be opaque or corrupt
- Volunteer space — you may find a civic group or organization that has available space and is willing to let you use it for a nominal fee or for free. I teach in our local library, which has a large meeting room apart from the “books room.” It has a bathroom for students and library visitors to use, as well as a few computers we can utilize if desired. The library is happy to host my classes as another program that gets people to visit their facility. Best of all, it is right next door to my home — so my truly brilliant dog, Einstein, sits in on all of our classes (naturally, the students call her “Professor Einstein”)
When to teach
You have options and you can mix and match:
- Shorter classes, more often — perhaps something like 1 to 1.5 hours per class, three times per week (that would be 3 to 4.5 hours per week in total). Remember, the only way to learn language is to use it a lot so a one-hour class only once per week is pretty useless
- Longer classes, less often — I teach classes that are two hours long (with a short break at the top of the hour), held twice per week (4 hours per week in total). I find the concentrated time block keeps students focused and learning, instead of showing up, adjusting to English and learning and such, and then breaking it off and going back to “normal” life again
- Intensives or immersives — when I learned French and German, it was in school (junior high to university). Class was 50 minutes per day, five days per week and I learned a lot, achieving fluency in both languages. When I learned Spanish as an adult, I did it as an intensive: four hours per day, five days per week. I learned a heck of lot a heck of a lot faster — but most people do not have time or money to dedicate to such an experience. However, it could be a good option for things like an occasional course, say over a summer break — a two or three week intensive or immersive (which might be eight or more hours per day)
As I mentioned above, practice and frequent use is key to learning any language. Therefore, in addition to classes and other activities I discussed, I host a monthly party for my students in the library’s meeting room where we have classes. However, there is no instruction.
It is simply an opportunity for everyone, from beginner to expert, to get together and socialize — with the idea that English must be used as much as possible (that is, fluent speakers will “double talk”, repeating whatever they said in both languages while beginners will insert any English words they know but mostly use Spanish).
It gives the “hotshots” a chance to show off their expertise as well as help those whose learning is still in the early stage; explaining and demonstrating to others is an excellent way to concretize one’s own knowledge. For the beginners, the seeming ease of the fluent students gives them something to aspire to: “Maria sounds like a native after just two years! I can do that too!”
Which levels to teach
If you follow the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) hierarchy of organizing students into six levels of proficiency, you are likely looking at teaching six distinct classes (A1 through C2). If, like me, you teach classes that total four hours per week per class, that would mean (6 x 4) = 24 teaching hours per week.
You may not feel up to that much, especially if you are retired. You can choose to do things your own way.
- Teach only the levels you enjoy most — maybe that’s beginner classes or maybe it’s classes for the fairly fluent because they probably would benefit more from a native speaker at their high level. You can refer other students to other institutes/teachers when their needs do not correspond with your current classes. A potential issue is that other teachers/institutions may not cover the same materials/topics that you do so a student may lack areas of knowledge when moving between teachers
- Teach classes in a rotation schedule — for example, you could offer A1, B1, and C1 in the fall semester and A2, B2, and C2 in the spring semester. Another scheme might be offering the A levels every year but alternating the B and C levels on different years; to keep students from getting rusty if their level is not on offer, you could have a Practice & Conversation class for anyone at intermediate (B) or advanced (C) levels that is less about grammar instruction and more about fluency practice.
- Offer intensives for certain levels — use the summer break to offer two intensives in sequence, levels C1 and C2. That way you need to teach just A1 and B1 one semester then A2 and B2 the next semester but your advanced students will be able to complete their studies over the summer
- Add another teacher — you might know another native speaker who is an expat living in your area. Have a conversation, see if that person is interested in getting TEFL certified and working with you as a teacher
If you are teaching on your own, it’s up to you: find a schedule that keeps you happy and still gives students a path forward over time.
Closing remarks
It all may seem a bit daunting or overwhelming but really it is quite manageable. If you have any potential interest in ESL teaching and perhaps moving abroad, take the time now and start a TEFL course.
Take that first step and it will help you decide: do I find this material interesting and would I enjoy sharing this knowledge with others? If so, you might very well find teaching English to be rewarding in many ways … and add something of value to the lives of many other people.
Here, have an apple, professor.
Resources
Teaching English as a second or foreign language (Wikipedia)
Is Teaching English Abroad a Good Idea? (Go Abroad)
Open Textbook Library (University of Minnesota)
PdxOpen: Open Educational Resources (Portland State University)
Open Educational Resources (Humboldt State University)
Classroom materials and resources for teachers (ESL Lounge)
Lesson plans, worksheets, and activities for ESL classes (Internet Second Language Collective)
How Learning a Second Language Can Help You Teach English (Bridge Universe)