Why TEFL?

I had a recent conversation with a young woman who was planning on leaving a steady job and a secure life in Australia to take a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) Certificate course in order to become an English teacher and live and work overseas. 

In our conversation, the question of why TEFL was at the forefront and it caused me to reflect on the decisions I'd made in the past. Interestingly enough, we both shared a similar desire and motivation; to challenge and fulfill ourselves through travel and teaching. Because becoming a TEFL teacher almost inevitably combines both, although most teachers can almost always gain a higher wage in their home country, the majority live and teach abroad because living in a foreign country makes the experience even richer. Teaching will always be a challenge no matter where you work in the world, and I think that's what makes it so interesting and ultimately rewarding, however being able to also immerse yourself in the culture and language of a foreign country in and out of the classroom is a unique experience.

Which brings us back to the initial question - why TEFL? Because you can study a TEFL Certificate course almost anywhere in the world, so from the beginning you are able to live abroad and experience another country and culture. Because it's a professional qualification that only takes a month to complete, and for the rest of your teaching career you will continue learning. Because it allows you to live in whichever country takes your fancy and meet people who will enrich your life as much as you enrich theirs through helping them to discover the beauty of language learning. 

I could continue with many more reasons, but I think that's actually enough reasons for me! What about you? 

Becoming a TEFL Teacher in Argentina

Years ago when I first started out as a TEFL teacher, Argentina was where I "cut my teeth" as the saying goes. And not just in Argentina  but in the big bad world of Buenos Aires, home to over 14 million people and one of the most vibrant, pumping capital cities in the world.

I was fortunate enough to have chosen a TEFL course whose trainer was magnificent; a natural teacher who inspired us all, and the course encompassed practical teaching of real students on Friday evenings. This was an incredibly important experience and integral to our future success as teachers, which is why I strongly recommend to any future teachers that they ensure their TEFL Certificate course includes practical observed teaching of real students. 

So, back to Buenos Aires - after completing our TEFL course and with the priceless teaching experience behind us, we were ready to throw ourselves into the corporate world, as the majority of English teaching in Buenos Aires is Business English. Small and large companies and corporations contract teachers to deliver in-house classes to their employees, which is how I found myself in one of the major banks delivering an English class to a powerful executive in his lunch break. This, and many other similar teaching experiences in Buenos Aires, were rewarding for me on both a professional and personal level. Not only was I learning as much about teaching as my students were about English, I was also given the opportunity to learn about Argentina and South America from my students. These incredible insights also taught me how much I can learn from my students and incorporate their knowledge into the classroom and their English language learning experience, something which I still strive to do as a teacher. 

Despite the many challenges I faced in my first few months as a TEFL teacher in Argentina, I will always remember it with fondness and I hold a deep appreciation for the country and culture that first welcomed me, both as a teacher and as a person. 

Why TEFL Teaching is a Profession of the Future in Latin America

Despite not having the most native speakers in the world, English is still the international language of business, and in non-English speaking countries, dominance of it is considered vital to increasing future opportunities. Spanish and Mandarin Chinese may be the most spoken native languages in the world, however in an international setting, it is English that is the main form of communication. This means that being a TEFL qualified English teacher is a smart career move for anyone with a desire to travel, live and work abroad and enrich the lives of their students through teaching.

Latin America offers more and more opportunities in terms of TEFL Certificate courses and teaching positions; countries such as Peru are modelling themselves off Brazil's booming economy and their models for social development and English is seen as key.
For those seeking a suitable place to study their TEFL course, countries within Latin America offer many advantages; on average the cost of the TEFL courses are lower, the cost of living is significantly cheaper compared to their Western counterparts and these countries are rich in culture, diversity and history. Also, due to the growth of mining, foreign investment and general economic development, there are now many diverse teaching opportunities available for TEFL graduates.

If we take Peru as an example, TEFL Certificate courses are offered predominantly in the major cities of Arequipa and Cuzco, both of which enjoy international and local tourists all year round. Graduates can then choose to work in either of these cities, or in the capital Lima, or they can step off the beaten track a little and explore the opportunities in rural Peru. In some of these rural areas the demand for native, TEFL qualified English teachers is even higher due to their scarcity and students who are lucky enough to have one of these teachers are grateful for the opportunity. So whilst a simpler life outside of the classroom may be part of teaching in a rural area, the rewards from teaching students who truly appreciate having a native, qualified English teacher to learn from are significant.

Whilst making the choice of where to study your TEFL Certificate course may be a challenge due to the abundance of options, a country in Latin America should be at the top of any aspiring teacher's list. Not only can its countries offer a unique place to study TEFL, thanks to continuing economic development, they can now also offer interesting teaching opportunities.

How A TEFL Course Can Change Your Life

Have you ever thought about implementing significant change in your life? Would you like to travel the world, work, live like a local, learn a new language and become a citizen of the world? Then you have probably considered becoming an English language teacher by studying a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) Certificate Course.   

The decision to take a TEFL Course can be a life-changing one, for many different reasons. From my personal experience, it involved walking away from a well-paid job and the comfortable stability of life in Australia to study in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This initial change involved being forced to learn another language and adapting to life in a Third World country. However this was also the beginning of two great loves - discovering my love and connection with South America, and realizing that teaching was my true vocation. That was many years ago and I am now the proud owner of TEFL Zorritos, a Paradise TEFL institute in a small fishing and surfing town on the coast in Peru.
However, enough of me, let's examine some of the ways a TEFL Course can change your life;

• Language - if you choose to study your TEFL course in a foreign country you will benefit from being obliged to learn and use a different language for at least the duration of your course.
• Live abroad - for anyone with a love of travel their ultimate dream is to be able to live like a local in a foreign country, and a TEFL course enables you to be able to do exactly that. Once you are qualified you can choose to live and work almost anywhere in the world.
• Communication - teaching is all about communication and in your one month intensive TEFL course you will learn how to communicate effectively, which is a priceless life skill.

So, whether you become a life-long TEFL teacher once you complete your TEFL course or not is actually irrelevant, either way you will have already received the benefits of changing your life with a TEFL course.