Chapter 2: Looking at What TEFL Teachers Actually Do 21
Can I teach without a degree and formal qualifi cations?................
Yes you can, but finding work is easier if you have them. Most schools adver-
tise vacancies for graduates in any discipline who have a TEFL certificate
comprising about 100 hours of training.However, if you actually live overseas and are prepared to trawl around the
local language schools, you may find that these schools welcome native
speakers with open arms, without or without the typical entry requirements.Get some training if you can as this gives you better opportunities.
I hated language lessons at school. Will the job be like that?
I remember some of the phrases I learnt in my O-level French lessons. Most
of them are pretty irrelevant to my life now and even to my life back then.
Fortunately, language teaching has moved on rather a lot in the last thirty
years. So these days there’s less emphasis on grammar drills and more empha-
sis on practical role-playing and creating a relaxed learning environment.Even if education in general in your chosen destination is still rather dry, you
can expect to teach according to the livelier techniques of the modern TEFL
industry.Are there lots of books and exercises
for students to work through?
You can make use of the stacks of course books, work books and resource
books on the market but most schools encourage teachers to use their own
ideas too. Depending on the country and the employer, you probably have a
book and syllabus but a fair amount of latitude as well.Most large bookshops have a section on English as a foreign language, so have a
browse through some popular course books to get an idea of the kind of material
teachers use. Some examples of course books that are popular in many countries
are titles such as Innovations, Cutting Edge and English File, which are available for
each level of English students and cover elementary, pre-intermediate and so on.