Chapter 2

Looking at What TEFL

Teachers Actually Do

In This Chapter

▶ Addressing common concerns

▶ Looking at basic teaching methods

▶ Meeting your students’ needs

I

n this chapter you get an insight into the world of teaching English as

a foreign language. You find out what the job entails from the teacher’s

point of view and the student’s too.

Answering Common Questions

Many would-be teachers are plagued with fears and insecurities about what

TEFL is really like and whether they’re up to the challenge. In this section I

give you some of the most common – and commonly troubling – questions

and their answers.

Can I teach English without knowing the students’ language?

In a word, yes! The only language you really need to know well is English.

Some schools use the students’ language in the classroom but this is by no

means typical of the TEFL industry as a whole, and it’s positively discouraged

in most cases.

With so many different kinds of teaching situations and places to teach in,

you’d have to know the language of everyone you may meet in the classroom

at any point in your career, so neither you nor any other teacher would ever

get started.