It is becoming highly popular for young North Americans to teach spoken English when traveling overseas – using this to gain experience or earn some extra cash that would finance the trip as well.
But those aren’t the only benefits of doing it. There are more, and that is exactly what I am going to do here: bring them out in the open for you to read and learn.
1. It is a Resume Booster, even if teaching is not your ultimate career choice
You might think that an experience like this will not be more than a line on your resume. But the truth is, don’t underestimate the skills you develop teaching in a foreign country. Communicating across cultural barriers, using solid leadership skills to conduct classes, and being able to speak a different language, are all great assets that recruiters are always looking for.
2. The training is easy and painless
A TESL certificate can be achieved through a 100 hour course, and most schools offer sessions in evenings, weekends or online. The fee starts with approximately $500 and many schools offer services to help with the job hunt as well.
If you do have some extra cash and want to start traveling right away, larger ESL schools offer four week TESL trainings in exotic locations around Europe, Southeast Asia or Central and South America.
3. You Experience foreign cultures instead of Observing them
A single trip to a foreign country may be fun, but it doesn’t let you experience much, and you sight see and come back. But when you spend a year in a distant land, you’ll get much more insight in single trip. You’ll learn how the Chinese New Year is celebrated differently or how the Muslim Eid is different form Christmas. In short, you’ll get to experience a very unique version of a familiar holiday.
4. Teaching provides an opportunity to learn
It is always exciting for people to see a foreigner taking interest in their culture. So regardless of age, your students will be glad to offer you help regarding local traditions, foods, sight seeing places and things to try.
Candid conversations with your students can give you an insight into their family lives and customs, and younger students can teach you a lot about the pop culture or local slang.
5. Your social network of local acquaintances will expand very fast
It doesn’t matter where you are teaching: a public school or a language learning institute; you will always bee amongst co-workers who speak English. Regardless of how adept they are at the language, they will try to practice their skills on you. This way, you’ll make new friends very quickly, and they will help you in adjusting to their way of life as well.
6. It is a crash course in cultural sensitivity
It’s natural for anyone living abroad to get frustrated with the local culture at some point. It is a completely normal phase in ones adjustment to a new society. But once you get past this cultural shock, your mind opens up to new and familiar things. So be it the crazy traffic rules or something a new acquaintance has said that seems invasive; just be patient.
Very soon, you’ll learn to appreciate the ways in which foreign cultures operate. Very often, you will be surprised to see customs that will seem far more practical than those in your country.
7. A good home base can simplify travel
This is to say, if you are teaching in Thailand, it won’t cost more than %50 to visit Cambodia or Laos. Similarly, teaching in a European country means you can spend your weekends in Prague or Berlin by taking a cheap flight to any of your favorite destinations.
8. You will be tapping into an excellent grapevine
Lots of good ESL jobs are accumulated by word of mouth, just like good travel tips. By meeting other ESL teachers, you can get ideas and advice about new destinations or jobs from people who have already experienced it.
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Everyone, but everyone should spend at least a year working in another country. The first time I saw the Statue of Liberty was when I was leaving the US . It was a harbinger of the real personal security, economic and social freedoms I found when I left. It’s crammed down Americans’ throats how the US is the best at everything, but it is simply no longer true if it ever was. There are wonderful people and great ideas everywhere, even in impoverished 3rd world countries like Laos and Nepal. By discovering this one discovers there are no sides on a round planet.
Nice idea…
I would think it would be a good idea for all Americans to first of all learn proper English before they venture abroad to start teaching it……!
William Wallace´s last blog ..Nottign Hill7