TEFL jobs are best to use as an opportunity to see some parts of the world that give you an opportunity to live and work in a country that you would never have thought about seeing.
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The pros and cons of being an ESL Teacher abroad.
After over 20 years of being in the ESL game abroad, here is my list of the pros and cons of being an ESL Teacher abroad
18 Pros of being an ESL Teacher.
1. Freedom.
With the exception of fulfilling a course’s curriculum as well as your class hour times and things like staff meetings and training seminars. You are pretty much on your own.
You can plan your own lessons, play games with your students to make them more entertaining etc.
Once you’re done for the day or with your classes etc. then you’re pretty much on your own to explore your new country.
2. Learn other languages.
By moving to a new country and teaching English, you also have the opportunity to learn the local language.
In fact, some schools even offer their teachers free introductory language lessons.
In addition, local teachers in your new country may offer language lessons and you would be surprised at how affordable they can be.
Not to mention, best of all is that you have an opportunity to practice that language every day.
However, there is one caveat in the TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) community. “the worst way to learn another language is to teach your own.”
3. Job satisfaction.
After you get situated and more and more confident in your skills as an English teacher, there will come a certain amount of job satisfaction.
If your students feel they benefit from you and they value what you offer them that is very rewarding.
Let’s not forget that most students study English not so they can travel and see Big Ben or the Statue of Liberty, but to improve their lives through better job and education opportunities.
English is the international language of business as well as travel, so by learning English and being able to speak the language well, opens up a variety of job opportunities for your students.
If you are teaching children, these are the main motivations for their parents as well. Just knowing that you are helping better someone else’s life by giving them the ability to provide for their families with a skill that you are teaching them is very rewarding.
4. Short-term or Long Term contracts.
Some schools will give you a short 3 to 6 month contract. Others will give you a full year’s contract and much more stability.
There are also opportunities to work for various schools in a particular city, picking up classes here and there. But with these, you will be paid by the class or academic hour. Academic hours are considered to be 45 minutes.
So you will need to choose which option is best for you in your particular situation.
5. Travel.
Not only will you have an opportunity to live and work in a foreign country. But you’ll also have plenty of opportunities to travel within that country’s borders.
You’ll be able to go to towns and different cities as well as different areas of the countryside that you probably wouldn’t have the opportunity to see, if you were in that country for a one or two week visit as a tourist.
Not to mention if you are there in a particular country for one year or more, you will have the opportunity to also visit neighboring countries as well.
6. Job perks.
There are quite a few job perks for being an English teacher. Many schools of course provide all the materials you will ever need to do your job effectively. Schools oftentimes have parties for the teachers or teacher/student parties as well.
Many schools will organize excursions for their teachers or day trips, perhaps a river cruise for example.
7. Transportation costs covered.
If you get a one-year contract with a reputable school, they will normally cover your travel expenses to and from your country of origin.
Also, some schools will buy you a public transportation pass so you can get to and from the school from your apartment. You can also use it for off-site classes, like business classes for example where you have to travel to particular corporate offices.
Some schools even have their own drivers or will pay for taxis for their teachers to get to and from business classes which are usually held in a company’s offices.
8. Wages and Pay.
Wages could range from abysmal and barely survival wages to quite livable wages.
In fact, you may find that you’ll have plenty of money left over every month to even save some.
Many contracts include accommodations and utilities so you won’t have to worry about paying things like electricity bills or internet access every month for example.
9. Summer vacations and holidays.
Just like teachers back in your home country, usually you’ll have your summers off as well as all the public holidays. You too as a English teacher abroad will also have the same type of holiday and vacation perks as teachers back home.
However, many times you’ll be in a country that celebrates holidays either at a different time of year or don’t celebrate the holidays you would normally celebrate in your home country at all. So that might be a bit of a sticky wicket if you want time off to go home and visit family.
However, most schools will take these things into consideration when doing their yearly course plans and actually give teachers time off for their home holidays as well.
10. The opportunity to further their knowledge.
Many reputable schools encouraged their teaching staff to take extra courses in teaching.
Some will even pay for you to take a course in another country, pay for all your accommodations and expenses as well as the course. Others may have two or three day seminars where they invite guest speakers etc.
They’re plenty of opportunities to further your teacher development in TEFL too. You may decide to become an Examiner for Cambridge or IELTS for example.
Perhaps you want to become a dose and we’ll get your CELTA Diploma from Cambridge or the Oxford TESOL Diploma equivalent.
Maybe you’ll even get an MA in Education.
There’s plenty of opportunities to further your own teacher development and as well that can open up new opportunities for you in TEFL.
11. Social life.
Moving to a new country can be a very lonely experience.
But if you already have a job with a good school, you’ll automatically be plugged in to a big social network that includes your fellow colleagues who are in a similar position as you, the local staff that work at the school as well as of course, your students.
You might spend Friday night after class with students in your group for a beer or two after work.
Not to mention many schools have extra activities for their students like pub quizzes and treasure hunts. You will also need to participate in them as well.
These can be as fun as you make them. In general they’re quite fun, although sometimes you may resent giving up a Saturday or Sunday of your own time to participate.
But it’s all in good fun and part of the experience, so I would highly encourage you to make the most out of these times. They’ll make for some great memories.
12. Accommodations.
Yes, as I had mentioned above, many schools include accommodation in your compensation package and contract.
Some schools may not include the accommodation, but will assist you in finding accommodations etc.
Some schools, if you already have your own accommodation lined up, will compensate you for 100% of the rent or a percentage of the rent.
Always check to see if accommodation is included with your contract If so how much and what is exactly included for example are electricity bills internet gas heating etc included?
These are things you need to check over in your contract.
13. Visa’s, Work Permits and Registration.
Part of the hassle of moving to a new country is wading through all the bureaucracy of Visas, Work Permits, Registrations etc.
Many schools will do most of this for you. All you need to do is just show up to the embassy of the country that you’re going to and follow the instructions given by the school. This will take much of the hassle out of moving to a new country.
14. Assistance with local issues.
If you have any issues like problems with the neighbor or your landlord, even medical and legal issues, your school may be able to help you to a certain degree.
Your school can also give you advice on, for example, how to get a local cell phone number or internet access for your accommodations.
Having local contacts already set up who will help you take care of all the little things that you don’t think of, can be of great value when you need it
15. Opportunities for Advancement.
If you’re lucky enough to work for a reputable school and you find that you enjoy teaching, then the opportunities for advancement will present themselves to you.
The world of TEFL is quite transient. People go into it for one or two years as an opportunity to live and work in a foreign country and then usually go back to their home countries and settle into so-called “normal life”.
Other teachers use TEFL as a lifestyle. Meaning they might work in one country for one to two years and then travel and work in another. They could do this for years.
However, if you stay with one reputable school and you prove your worth, the owners of the school may and will actually encourage you to get further training.
Perhaps you’ll become a Head Teacher or a DOS (Director of Studies). If you work for a reputable school, they may even pay for courses or send you to courses for additional teacher training.
You may even one day become a CELTA Trainer yourself and train aspiring future English teachers. TEFL schools around the world conduct courses to train up new teachers.
There’s plenty of room for advancement if this is what you really enjoy doing. Who knows, perhaps you may want to open up your own school or have an opportunity to buy into the one you’re working at.
16. Become an Examiner.
Since English is the lingua franca of the world at the moment, there are a few exams that students of English may want or need to take.
For example, Cambridge University has a standardized exam system which evaluates students levels in English.
Students like these exams because it gives them a goal to shoot for and pushes them to study.
Also, these exams are unbiased and the standards are quite stringent.
Therefore, they are considered to be quite reputable.
In addition, if a student wants to go abroad either to work or to study, many universities and employers will require them to either take a TOEFL exam or an IELTS exam.
I personally was an IELTS examiner for 10 years. First, it could be some very good extra money, if that’s what you’re looking for.
Second, by becoming an examiner you become acutely aware of a student’s level of English and where perhaps they can improve and how to improve.
Finally, it just looks very good on your resume in the TEFL world that you were or are an examiner for an internationally recognized exam.
17. Opportunities to pick up Private Lessons for extra money.
If you work for a school, you’ll not only have access to plenty of students, but many of those students are also looking for extra private lessons.
Furthermore, many of your students may also be looking for a private teacher for their children or even their parents.
The amount of referrals that you can get from just teaching out of school for private lessons can really make a difference in your monthly income.
On top of that, if you work for a very reputable school that charges a pretty penny for lessons, you too, can charge a pretty penny for private lessons as well.
You see in many countries if students could afford the higher priced schools, they also can afford higher priced private lessons.
Needless to say, I was able to sock away quite a bit of extra cash on private lessons alone.
In fact, private lessons became so lucrative that I actually left my employer to become just a Private Tutor. You can too.
18. Meeting other Expats.
As English teacher in a foreign country, you are also an Expat. Expats have certain pubs and cafes where they hang out and mingle with other Expats.
There are also different groups and associations that have mixers where you can build your own Expat Network. Expats do tend to stick together.
Not only Expats from your home country or even Expats that speak your own native language, but other Expats from different countries.
The good news is English is the lingua franca and most Expats, whether they’re from Spain, Russia, China or Brazil will normally converse with each other in English.
18 Cons of being an ESL Teacher.
1. It’s not always about the teaching.
Teaching and working for a school can be like any other workplace environment.
Office politics, difficult students, as well as other issues that have nothing to do with teaching may come up in the course of your day.
Also some schools tend to designate one or two of their favorites as the “Guru” teacher.
Guru teachers are normally the most popular teachers among students. From a business standpoint I can understand a school showing favorites to the teachers who basically “keep bums in seats”, as we say in TEFL.
But if you’re not considered a Guru, it could be a little demotivating because you won’t be treated as well, even though you may have the same amount of experience or more than the “Guru teacher”.
So popularity contests can either work for or against you.
2. Workload.
If a school has a lot of classes you may find yourself working more than your contracted hours.
Also you may find that in order to make even a livable wage in your new country, you may have to take on a few extra classes to cover those costs you hadn’t anticipated.
In addition, schools may increase your schedule depending on their needs, not on yours.
However, the opposite can also be true. In times of economic downturns, holidays, end of the academic year when students start going off on holiday, etc. your workload can be reduced. Your school may also try to reduce your salary or cut your hours, if you’re paid hourly.
So your workload can fluctuate from more work than you can handle, to not enough.
3. New DOS’s and Unreliable Colleagues.
If you’re only going to be at a school for a year then chances are this will not be an issue for you.
However, at some less reputable schools, staff turnover can be quite high. This could mean that you will have a constant stream of new and inexperienced colleagues, many of whom are questionable as far as their reliability is concerned.
You can also have a few different DOSes as the academic year progresses as well.
Each DOS has their own way of doing things and you would have to adjust to their way of doing things, even if it’s different from your previous DOSes.
Additionally, unreliable colleagues have a habit of calling in sick, usually due to nights out on the town and drinking too much.
Well, guess what? Someone has to cover those classes and usually it’s you.
So be prepared. If you’re a competent English teacher, you may need to have to pull up the slack for someone who isn’t.
4. Newbee first year growing pains.
Many first year teachers, especially if they’re native English speakers, underestimate just how difficult teaching English as a foreign language can be.
Most have never spoken in front of a group of people, let alone teaching a class of 10, 12 or 15 students, 2, 3 or 4 times a day.
Also native speakers grow up with an understanding of grammar in English that is different from non-native speakers.
Native speakers are taught grammar differently and do not know most of the grammar terms that non-native speakers use for references.
Therefore, it may seem like the native speaker knows nothing about the grammar in which they use to speak English.
So having to teach English using unfamiliar grammar terms as well as gaining the confidence of your students that you know what you’re doing, is usually the biggest stumbling block.
But you should get over that within your first 6 months.
Though it might take you a year to really become confident in explaining grammar and vocabulary without referring to a grammar book, or god forbid, you use the tired excuse of, “That’s a good question, that’s not part of today’s lesson, but I’ll explain it to you a little in detail for the next lesson.”
As you feel more confident in teaching English, you’ll find that your classes go by much smoother and are much more rewarding.
5. Travel time if teaching off-site.
Travel time can take a lot out of your day. You might have three or four classes for a total of six hours, but those classes are spread out during the day.
So you may start out at eight in the morning and finish at 8:00 in the evening.
That travel time between off site clients, the school and home again can make for some very long days.
6. By-the-hour or Salaried contracts.
Some schools pay teachers by the academic hour, whereas others give you a monthly salary with a set amount of teaching hours.
However, those hours can increase or decrease accordingly to and depending on demand and the time of year.
In addition, if you are paid by the hour, you are generally not paid for travel time.
Any salaried positions put additional hours into your contract to cover for other teacher’s absenteeism and sick time.
Also your contract may include staff meetings, extra student activities, as well as training and seminars.
These can all add up over a month’s time depending on your school.
7. You don’t always know how much you’ll get paid.
If you are working on an hourly contract as I had mentioned above, your hours can go up or down depending on demand and the time of year.
Therefore, it may be difficult to estimate how much you’ll make on a month per month basis.
8. Lack of support from administration.
Many schools don’t support teachers regardless of their experience or lack thereof. So teachers are pretty much left on their own to fend for themselves.
You may be given the very minimum basics and you may even have to plan your own curriculum.
Most reputable schools will have curriculums for each term according to level. All you have to do as a teacher is to make sure you have the materials and that you keep to the scheduled curriculum plan.
However, other schools just give you a book and say go in and do your stuff.
In addition, staff may be unsupportive in regards to backing up a teacher if they get complaints from students.
The more reputable schools conduct teacher observations etc. to make sure that all their teachers are up to standard.
So if or when a student complains the DOS already knows how well a teacher can teach and in most cases, those schools will support their teachers in disputes. But not always.
Some schools don’t do observations or are so insecure about losing students that their administration will always take the side of the student.
9. Little to no benefits.
Some schools will just pay you per class and that’s it. There are no 401ks or retirement plans, nor medical benefits when teaching English abroad.
However, some schools do offer vacation time and pay, sick pay as well as medical assistance.
Additionally, some schools do offer accommodations and travel expenses to and from the country as well as to and from classes.
So you really need to check your contract before committing.
10. Salary.
You’re not going to get rich teaching English as a foreign language. Most salaries are enough to live comfortably in the foreign country of your choice, but that’s about it.
However, many salaries don’t give you much room to save every month for that rainy day or what you will do after your teaching stint is over.
You certainly won’t be able to plan for your future having a career in TEFL.
That is unless of course, you decide to open your own school.
11. Professional development days and staff meetings.
As much as you may want professional development in the forms of training and seminars, many of these training and seminars can seem redundant. Even a waste of time. Especially, if you’re more experienced.
These self-development seminars and staff meetings can add up over month’s time.
If you are a salaried employee, you also have to make allowances for this extra time as far as how much you make per hour.
12. Thrown in at the deep end. Teaching Kids.
The future of TEFL is of course teaching kids. As much as you want to teach adults, for the most part you have to be prepared to have a few kids classes thrown in. Even if you don’t feel qualified.
There is simply no avoiding not teaching children. Teaching children is much more difficult than most people think, especially teenagers.
Just remember when you were a teenager and think about teaching a class of 12 to 14 of them for 8 or 9 months.
13. All about results and standardized testing.
Many schools have standardized tests a few times during the term or at the end.
You’ll have to put up with things like grading curves and schools passing students to the next level, even when they fail.
Many schools want to give students the illusion of progress even when they don’t put in the work.
This will often frustrate you as you may feel that a student is not ready for the next level and the school is passing them just to collect their fees.
14. Staff turnover issues.
The worse the school, the higher the turnover. This could be at any job or company.
However, as a TEFL teacher you may have to tolerate new colleagues coming in and old colleagues leaving quite often.
Many times these newer colleagues just aren’t up to scratch and you may find yourself either at being asked to help them or even cover for some of their classes when they call in sick.
15. Covering for other teachers.
Speaking of helping out the weaker members of staff, you may also be asked to actually cover classes for teachers who have a habit of calling in sick or just not showing up.
In addition, teachers can do what’s called in the TEFL world, “a runner”.
A runner is when a TEFL teacher decides that life in the country or at the school is not for them and they decide to just up and leave without giving any notice.
So when a teacher does a runner, someone has to cover their classes and that someone may be you.
16. School owners.
For the most part you’ll be dealing with the office staff, the DOS and possibly an Office Manager.
Many TEFL school owners in foreign countries behave like absentee landlords. Also, many school owners feel that they are above interacting with their staff.
These are more cultural business attitudes than rudeness. You may never even meet the owner of the school you work for.
This distance by school owners to their staff can create some friction, if you feel you’ve been wronged in your contract for example.
However, the opposite can also be true as some owners may try to hang out with their teaching staff and participate in office gossip. This may come to bite you if you’re not particularly careful.
Anyway it may seem strange to some that the owner of the school that they are working for is never around.
17. Odd hours.
TEFL teaching revolves around students and their availability, not yours.
Therefore, you may find that you will teach a business class at 7:30 or 8:00 in the morning. Then, you have to come back to the school and teach an early afternoon children’s class.
In addition, there are evening classes that are mostly for adults coming after work. Anyway, by the end of the day you may rack in 12 hours with only three classes.
These can all add up to make for some very long days.
18. Gap in Resume/CV.
At the end of the day, unless you are going to become a professional school teacher or university lecturer, your job experience working for TEFL schools will not exactly boost your Resume or CV back home.
In fact, many employers may think that you are not a very serious person for having traveled abroad for two or three years just teaching English.
Many employers back home will not value all the experiences and skills that you’ve learned from living and working abroad as well as from being an ESL teacher.
The Pros and Cons of being an ESL Teacher Conclusions.
So there you have it. The pros and cons of being an ESL teacher abroad by a 20 year VET. It can be a great and life-changing experience or it can be a nightmare from hell.
But in general, as long as you know what to look for in a job, as well as training and you do your homework on the school that you are going to along with the country and city, you should be able to mitigate most of the cons.
My advice if you’re going to become an ESL teacher abroad, do it for two or three years max. Afterwards you’re better off either going home or pursuing another career, unless you plan on opening up your own TEFL school or getting an MA in Education that you can then use for your to get a teaching job back home.
Overall, being an ESL teacher abroad can be a very rewarding experience that will give you lifelong lasting friendships from people from different parts of the world and memories for a lifetime.