How to Teach English Abroad and get paid!
Imagine for a second, you’ve just woken up on the other side of the world. You open the window to look out over your view, it’s everything you’d hoped it would be and then some. You step out the door to your favourite cafe for breakfast. You order from your favourite server (in their native tongue) before heading off to start your day as an English teacher.
All-day, your adoring students hang on to your every word with sheer wonderment. You’re teaching them an incredible life skill and they can’t thank you enough. You think about how amazing it is that you have this opportunity, without needing a degree and you’re still getting paid, it’s a dream come true!
You finish and then head off to your favourite bar with all of your new lifelong friends, before going to that incredible restaurant (that the regular tourists don’t know about) for dinner to discuss that amazing side trip to that cool-looking neighbouring country this weekend.
Could life get any better? Probably not. Could this be your life? Absolutely!
All over the world, there are scores of incredible people, doing even more incredible things in the most incredible places!
Teaching overseas will not just be the adventure of your life, but it could also be the start of your relationship with one of the greatest ways to travel there is. Once you have your TESOL/TEFL qualification, the world is your oyster! The best part is, in most places, you don’t even have to have a degree, you just have to have graduated high school to get your qualification!
Adventures like this seem like they should be reserved for the most daring, intrepid and experienced travellers, but they're surprisingly easy to undertake (with a push in the right direction).
But where do you start? And what do you need to become a teacher of English as a second language in other countries?
You could do it the hard way; scouring over the thousands of language schools and TEFL/TESOL trainers around the world. Or, you could cut out the middleman and just go through Global Work & Travel!
STEP ONE: Choose your destination!
This can be the hardest step in any trip, but can also be the most fun! After all, it’s all about narrowing down where this incredible journey is going to take place. You can browse through all of the Teaching trips Global Work & Travel offer here.
You could find yourself kicking back on the beach in Costa Rica, Slurping phở in Vietnam, or dancing the Flamenco in Spain! The options will blow you away!
Global makes sure that all of the partners we work with are the absolute best at what they do. You’re not just going to get your qualification, you’re going to leave fully ready to take on this new exciting adventure. Most of them, you can even undertake without a degree and in all of them, you’ll get paid!
Does a particular trip jump out at you? GREAT! You can skip to step two.
If not, that’s fine too! If you need some help choosing the right trip for you, live chat with our Work & Travel Experts. Feel free to ask them any questions you like. These people are Work & Travel Experts for a reason! They’ve been-there-done-that and will help you narrow down exactly what it is you want to get out of the trip, and exactly where you’re going to get it!
STEP TWO: Secure your placement
This is the most exciting step! This is where that trip becomes more than just a daydream you’ve had from time to time. This is where it becomes REAL!
To secure your placement, you'll first need to pay your deposit for your trip. Don't worry, your dates aren't locked in yet, this will be finalised with your Trip Coordinator!
All deposits with Global Work & Travel are covered by our Lifetime Deposit Guarantee. This allows you to change those dates, change where it is you’re going, or even change your type of trip (you can check out our other trips here) if you change your mind.
STEP THREE: Planning & Preparation to become a teacher of English as a second language, without a degree!
This is the part where if you didn’t book with Global Work & Travel, you’d be pulling your hair out!
We mentioned your Trip Coordinator in step two. This person is your own personal travel expert. Their job is to get to know you inside and out and plan exactly what you’ll need to get this trip underway and ensure that everything runs smoothly.
They’ll take care of it all! You’ll receive a Pre-Departure Guide with absolutely everything you need to know about your destination to get started. Then your Trip Coordinator can help you directly with things like; what visa you’re going to need, when you should go, what vaccinations (if any) you should get, your budget so you’ve got enough money to do what you want over there and they’ll even help you with what to pack.
Then they will help you with the specifics of your trip. They’ll help you gather all the documentation that you need to get the trip underway. Then help you build up your resume for schools overseas. Some trips will require you to have graduated university. However, there is a huge range of trips where you can teach English overseas without a degree!
After that, it’s time for the nuts and bolts, and this is where your Travel Concierge comes in. Your Travel Concierge is there to help you with everything travel related! They’ll help you find those perfect flights, the best insurance to suit your needs and they’ll even help you out with any side trips you want to do before you get there. Global Work & Travel actually provides a $200 Global Tour voucher with every trip. You can put this towards a Contiki, G-Adventures, Trafalgar, or any other tour you like before your trip starts (or after it ends)!
STEP FOUR: Arriving in your destination (a.k.a The Fun Part)
The day has come!
Your bags are packed, you’re ready to go, you’re standing there, outside your door.
🎶 Cauuuuseeee yoour leeaving on a jet plaaane, don’t know when yoou’ll be back again. 🎶
You’re going to be the most chill person on that plane KNOWING that everything will be sorted on the other side. Sit back, relax, have a glass of champagne (you’ve earnt it), and watch a movie.
Once you arrive there will be a transfer waiting for you to take you to your initial accommodation.
Then it’s time to get going, most of our trips have an orientation. You’re going to meet all of the people in your course (these guys will almost certainly become your best friends) and do some included local cultural activities, before diving head-first into your TESOL/TEFL course. This course will keep you busy, but not too busy that you can’t go and explore that incredible part of the world you’ve found yourself in.
The course will be run by world-class trainers and will leave you more than ready for that class full of adoring students we talked about earlier. You’ll take your course in the HEART of wherever it is you decided to teach, leaving you walking distance from the action! You’ll have enough time off to go explore with your new friends too!
Your course is also going to include interview preparation and assistance to find you that DREAM job teaching. Not only that, but once you’re qualified, you are able to take that qualification wherever you like in the world!
STEP FIVE: Becoming a teacher (a.k.a the REAL fun part)
Then the real part begins, you’ll head off to your new home (organised by our partners) to start teaching in A WHOLE NEW COUNTRY! This is the stuff that legendary travel stories are made of. If you start a story with, “when I was teaching english in _____”, trust us, everyone's listening!
What we talked about at the start of this blog, that’s your life now. You’ll be living like a local in an amazing part of the world. You’ll become a part of a community that at the start may be a bit strange and exotic, but after a few days will be feeling like home.
Having gone through Global you’ll have got your qualification at an academy that knows what they’re doing, making you fully prepared for what's to come. You’ll have gotten a job teaching at the best possible place that you could land. Global will help you find accommodation that is absolutely perfect for you. Whether that’s sharing with other teachers, or a place to call your own.
When it comes to your actual class, what you can expect will vary depending on your preferences and suitability. You could be doing anything from teaching a full class in a school, to running private lessons in a language academy. Whatever happens though, it’ll be an experience you’ll never forget.
STEP SIX: Finishing your placement
All good things must come to an end… or do they? Most of the teaching contracts average around 6 months, but there’s always a chance to have them extended!
Even still, your qualification that you’ve worked so hard to get is now your ticket to the world! This will help you garner employment wherever it is you may want to go. Most of our TESOL/TEFL training partners have connections just about everywhere and can help you out if you want to go back and teach again.
There are actually lots of people who use these qualifications to Teach English online back home (or while travelling the world) to make a little bit of extra income.
This is your chance to get a job teaching in other countries without a degree AND get paid.
Do your travel stories always seem to get 1-uped by your smuggest acquaintance? Do you dream of exploring the most vibrant, exotic, interesting corners of the world? Do you want to return home from the trip of a lifetime to tell that smug person to shut up as you spill details of the travel story of a lifetime?
You will come back with a plethora of not only memories; but also new life skills, a sense of accomplishment, probably a knowledge and basic to moderate understanding of a brand new language AND you’ll know that you made a huge impact on the lives of a whole range of people.
There’s travel, then there’s TRAVEL! With our help, you’ll have the coolest travel stories in the room, whatever room you may be in.