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What comes to your mind when you hear the word, TEFL? 

If you are someone like I was, a while ago when I knew little about TEFL, you would say, “TEFL? It’s an easy deal. Get the degree and set off on an interesting travel-cum-teller bandwagon! “

If you think anywhere close to this, I would suggest, read on, to know about some of the common MYTHS associated with the TEFL certified teaching. 

Apart from TEFL, there are a couple more certificates like TESL and TESOL, which are also the different types of certificates to teach English to the non-English speakers. Choosing among these depends on your teaching destination. For example, in Canada, TESL certificate is the requirement. Please do a thorough research about the certification requirement for a particular country before heading on.

TEFL Courses

There are a number of online and classroom courses for TEFL that help you with the nitty-gritty of teaching English abroad and with the concepts to clear the TEFL certification exam.

Must Check US Ranked No. 1 TEFL Certification Course Online

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Coming to the Reality

You will find a pool of articles on the beauty of teaching English abroad in different countries with a decent salary. There is no denying on the fact that teaching abroad gives you an enriching experience. But just as popular as it is, association of some myths with TEFL is inevitable. 

Here is a list of top myths about TEFL. How many of these have misled you as well?

1. Being a TEFL Certified Teacher is Easy

If you are a dab hand at speaking English, you may be tempted to teach one as well. And what’s better than choosing a foreign country as your teaching destination! And why not, after all you just need a TEFL certificate as the basic eligibility. But hey, step back and analyse as to do you really want to take this up? 

Many think that being a TEFL certified teacher is easy and leap ahead only to land on the marsh of disappointment:

• Teaching is a difficult job. Most of the TEFL jobs will lead you to teaching kids. Teaching each age group of kids has a different level of challenge. They would not know even the basics of English and teaching them from the scratch could be quite a challenge.

• You would be responsible for teaching the kids English grammar, among other things,  with limited English vocabulary of theirs. Your teaching should be exciting enough and should involve creative pedagogy to keep them interested. 

• If this is your first teaching experience, it may turn to be a nightmare if you directly start teaching the foreign kids. You should first consider taking an in-class TEFL course in the destination country so that you get a real hands-on experience with the kids there. 

• Go for it only if you love teaching English, can empathise with the kids and can go according to their pace. 

Click here to know about some of the best teaching practices.

2. TEFL Certified Teachers Travel to Many Countries

If you opted for TEFL certification only because you think your passport will get inked every week while you hop onto multiple countries, you need to do a reality check first. 

With TEFL, you do teach in a foreign country of your choice, but it doesn’t mean you keep travelling to many countries during your teaching stint. In fact, getting a leave or a vacation can sometimes be quite taxing, based on your school policy. 

During the weekends though, you can visit the nearby cities or countries, if your visa allows.

You work at the location where you are hired as a school teacher. You may switch to other teaching jobs in countries based on your visa eligibility, but unless you spend a couple of years in a particular school, you wouldn’t get established as a teacher or for that matter, be considered for a salary hike. 

3. TEFL Certified Teachers Get Good Payment

Well, this one may have some exceptions where they do pay you well with great perks as well, but in general, you may have to struggle a lot before landing on to a job that pays you really worth your hard work. 

The salary level is too low in few countries such as in Mexico, China and Vietnam. It is always safe to have some backup fund for the rainy days there.

There may be few schools or organizations that pay well but give zero allowances. So, do a very proper discussion with the employer and research about the institution that offered you a job. There are people who need to do multiple switches of  locations and teaching jobs only to get a better deal of income.

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4. TEFL Certified Teachers Teach Kids Only

Though the major teaching opportunity will revolve around school children, you may also try your hand at teaching adults as a part of a business training.

If teaching kids is not your cup of tea, this doesn’t mean you do not have a choice. Teaching adults needs a different strategy and practice. Again, it’s always better to have a prior experience to teach adults before jumping into the real project.

5. If You are a Native English Speaker, You Do Not Need a TEFL Certification

Being a native English-speaker, you may find some temporary job, but you can not flourish in the field. 

If you wish to establish yourself as a foreign English teacher, you surely need to be TEFL certified. This also expands your visibility among the employers. Also, TEFL certified teachers stand a better chance to get paid better.

So native English-speaker or not, if you plan to teach English abroad, please take TEFL certification before going ahead with your teaching venture.

6. TEFL is Meant For Young People Only

There sure are many young TEFL professionals and their density may confuse you about the age limitations for TEFL teachers. But the fact is, there is no such defined age limit to take up TEFL. 

There are many who pursue TEFL only as their second innings, after finishing their other job as a different professional, at the age of 50-55. 

So it is never too late to think of venturing out as an English teacher abroad. 

7. You Need a Degree to Teach English Abroad

True, there are many countries that do need a minimum graduation degree as a TEFL eligibility. But if you are a native English-speaker, you may find opportunities as a foreign English teacher, even without a degree. 

In most of Eurasia, they may ask you for a degree, but in South American countries, for example, you may proceed without having one. 

Again, a proper research about the degree requirement for your destination country is a must before you enrol yourself for a TEFL program.

8. You Need to Speak the Local Language of the Destination Country

Not at all. All that is needed to be eligible to teach English abroad is to qualify in the TEFL certification. And knowing the local language of the destination country is only optional. 

True, that knowing the local language helps you in many ways, but it is not mandatory. You are meant to teach English without taking the help of any local language. Also, few schools have ‘English only policies’ that restrict the teachers from using any language other than English.

Nevertheless, it is always a good idea to learn the local language to make your stay easier in the destination country. Follow this link to get some tips to learn a new language when planning to teach English abroad.

9. It is Difficult to Find a Job Teaching Abroad

There are online portals with hundreds of English teaching jobs posted frequently. Send your resume to your shortlisted employers and get an interview call sooner than you expected. 

Especially the TEFL certified teachers have a greater chance to get good job offers with good salary. Do a proper research and keep applying at all possible job portals.

Click on this TEFL job portal to see multiple job posts across the world.

10. Class Sizes are Small

Usually, the class size is small, about 10-15 students per class. But sometimes the class size may go up to 50-60 students. 

A point to note here is that the salary remains the same, irrespective of the number of students in the class. During the salary negotiation, remember to do a proper discussion about the class size before accepting the offer. 

11. You Only Teach There

Teaching is only the tip of the iceberg that you see yourself doing from your native, before leaving. Fact is, you need to spend a major portion of your time learning, doing research and making notes for your class. 

Many schools do not provide you with the course syllabus and materials. It is usually your responsibility to prepare the structure from the scratch. This includes syllabus, slides and assignments.

You also need to spend time after school, checking the assignments of the students. 

12. School Hours are Short

Heard of split shifts? They are very common in the ESL industry. Your working hours are usually spread throughout the 12-hour day.

Working for a few hours, taking a break and  then working again and continuing like this till the dusk, may be frustrating at times as you don’t get a nice stretch of free time post-school hours.

Clear your working hours before you sign off the contract. 

13. Tourist Visa is Enough

Many employers ask for an immediate joining and claim that a tourist visa would suffice. While it may be true in limited countries, in most of the countries you would need to get the correct visa related to your teaching in that country. Many people manage to work under the table upon arriving but this game may not go well for long. 

Do a proper enquiry with the visa consulate and research in detail about the kind of visa requirement for teaching in a particular country.

14. You Get to Eat a Lot

You may fantasize eating a variety of lip-smacking delicacies at your destination country throughout your teaching stint there. While it may be true to an extent that you get new flavours to try, there may be limitations to that. 

The cooking style, food texture, variety and taste there may be quite different from the one in your home country. You may like few of them in the beginning, but after a while you will long for a taste that makes you feel at home. 

A solution to this may be self-cooking sometimes, if not daily. Learn the basic cooking skills and be aware of the food challenges that you may face there.

15. Students Would be Full of Energy in Language Classes

Language classes are mostly scheduled after the main academic classes in schools. You as an English teacher would be responsible to teach them in these language classes. 

After the day-long normal classes, students tend to be restless and tired. Also, English being their secondary language, may not interest them as much as you may expect. 

So take a very proper hands-on with the students before entering into the real class scenario.

In a Nutshell,

Teaching English as a foreign language is a great opportunity and anyone interested in teaching abroad may try their hand at the same after clearing their TEFL certification.

While TEFL may look like a passport to permanent happiness, you need to do a lot of homework after clearing TEFL and before venturing out to another country.

There are many myths associated with TEFL certified teaching and it is important not to get misled by any of those. 

I have listed out the top misconceptions about teaching abroad after clearing TEFL. Do keep these in mind to save yourself from falling for any wrong information. Also, do let me know if I missed out any point.

Also Check this  Video

Recommended Read:
– What is TEFL Certification
– Top 10 TEFL Certification Program in 2021
– Top 15 Free TEFL Certification Courses in 2021
– Top 50 Best TEFL Certification Courses
– TEFL Vs. TESOL

 

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