Open the Door to the World with The TEFL Academy

This post will explain:

1. Why NOW is a great time to get a TEFL Certificate!

2. What you can do with a TEFL Certificate

3. Why studying with The TEFL Academy is a great choice

Teaching English as a Foreign Language can change your life and open new doors.

1. Why NOW is a great time to get a TEFL qualification!

If you have been considering teaching English as a foreign language, there is no better time to start.

Here’s a few facts and figures to mull over:

‘The number of people learning English is still increasing year-on-year with an estimated 2 billion in 2020.’

‘Roughly 100,000 English teaching positions open every year.‘

‘There are hundreds of thousands of online teaching jobs’

‘It is estimated that up to 400 million Chinese people are learning English (nearly a third of the population).’

‘Millions of Japanese adults take English classes each year.‘

‘The quest to master English in South Korea is often called the “yeongeo yeolpung” or “English frenzy”.

‘The growth of international business, travel and education means that thousands of schools in countries throughout the world are hiring thousands of fluent English speakers every year to teach English.’

‘Europe has plenty of opportunities despite Brexit, Spain topping the European charts for TEFL jobs.’

‘Saudi Arabia’s TEFL market is growing fast.’

Information courtesy of The TEFL Academy

2. What can you do with a TEFL qualification?

Teach English globally

Whether you want to travel the world and teach as you go, stopping a few months here and there, or you want to land yourself a permanent position with progression opportunities, the world is quite literally your oyster.

TEFL gives you the chance to immerse yourself in a new culture, make new friends and build connections with students from all walks of life.

Employment is diverse – from teaching English in primary schools in Hong Kong, international schools in the UAE, adult classes in Japan or even teaching English for business in London.

With an estimated 100,000 English teaching positions open every year, there is no shortage of jobs.

A sign next to the sea with many place names including Kuala Lumpa, Hong Kong, Tokya, Crystal Bay

Teach English online

Teaching English online has seen exponential growth in the last few years! It offers the ultimate in flexibility and location independence. Perfect for the aspiring digital nomad.

You can literally teach from anywhere that has a decent WIFI connection!

I began teaching children online with a company called DaDa 3 years ago, and even within those first couple of years I began to see a rapid expansion in online teaching companies.

Now, with the impact of the pandemic, the need for online English teachers has gone through the roof!

For more info of working as an online teacher for DaDa check out this post here.

Myself sitting in from of a laptop teaching with Dada

There are hundreds of thousands of online teaching jobs available online!

Teach English in the UK, USA & Australia

Teaching English as a foreign language is not limited to teaching in countries that do not have English as the first language. There is also an increasing demand for TEFL teachers in the UK, USA and Australia due to rising immigration and integration polices.

I began teaching English as a foreign language to Polish students in adult education classes in the UK.

Opportunities are available in:

Universities – to help prepare foreign students for studying in English
Mainstream schools – many schools in the UK now have a small EFL department catering for children who need to learn English in order to access education *
FE Colleges – most colleges in the UK have ESOL departments, running a range of post 16 ESOL courses*
Language schools – private schools cater for adults wanting to learn English for a variety of purposes
Community language centres – usually based within communities that have a high proportion immigrant population

*you may require additional teaching qualifications and QTS to work in schools and colleges

Career progression

Today TEFL teacher… tomorrow…?

As with all professions, with experience, the opportunity to progress and apply for positions with greater responsibility and higher salaries are also available within the TEFL sector, examples include Subject Leads and Director of Studies.

Freelance and Diversifying

Getting a TEFL certificate could be the first port of call to creating a dynamic and exciting portfolio of freelance work.

There is plenty of scope for TEFL teachers to diversify and take on a variety of roles including private tuition, writing course material, marking and delivering exams.

This is where my passion is! I created a flexible portfolio of education related freelance work including online teaching. For more on this read here.

This is the beauty of a TEFL qualification, it can either be your main source of income with exciting career progression, a side hustle, a string to your freelance bow or a way to branch out into world as a digital nomad.

Ultimately it gives you choice.

With choice, comes freedom.

Red and yellow background - shows the different meanings of TEFl< EFL, ESL, ESOL, TESOL

3. Choosing a TEFL qualification

Finding your way through the mine field of TEFL qualifications!

There are many companies that offer TEFL and finding the right company is crucial to ensuring you have the knowledge, skills and experience to be able to begin your career in teaching (whichever road you decide to go down).

TEFL is not an easy wham bam thank you ma’am type qualification!

And yet look on the internet and there are many cheap and cheerful TEFL courses, offering you a certificate within just a few hours of study!

Navigating the web of TEFL courses can be quite stressful and hard to understand.

But think of it this way, would you expect to send your child to school to be taught by a teacher that has qualified in a matter of days? Would you think that they had the subject knowledge and experience to provide a sound education? Probably not!

Whilst there are some employers out there that may take you on with any two-bit TEFL qualification, most these days are looking for teachers that have completed a MINIMUM of 120 hours of study and teaching experience.

So, if you see a TEFL qualification offered at $24 to be completed over the weekend, I’d hazard a guess it’s probably not going to set you up too well.

What’s more, on a personal professional level you want to feel confident when you walk into or log on to that classroom for the first time. And the only way to gain that confidence is through studying with a reputable teaching company.

Also, let me just say – TEFL is not easy!

I’ve done many qualifications in my life (including a degree and a PGCE), so I’m no stranger to study, but without a doubt this qualification was by far the MOST challenging. It hurt my head a lot!

Sure sure, this may not be the case if you have a degree in linguistics or a firm grasp of English grammar! But in my experience, even though English is my mother tongue, I can say for certainty that my English lessons at school did not give me a solid grounding in the grammatical structures of the English language.

And if you’d asked me how to teach tenses, verb conjugations, spelling…I wouldn’t have had a clue where to start.

The intricacies of any language are complex and that includes English.

Therefore, choosing a course that adequately prepares you to teach English as a Foreign Language in any situation you may find yourself in and supports you in the process is fundamental.

Why choose The TEFL Academy?

Firstly, let me tell you my story – way back, 10 years or so, I worked for a UK FE college and I was asked by my manager if I would like to do any CPD. I said yes please, thank you very much – I’d love a TEFL qualification and they nicely paid over a £1000 for me to do an intensive CertTESOL with Trinity.

I’ll be honest with you, that was probably one of the best things that the college did for me! It’s a great qualification to have and later enabled me to escape said college and start up a significantly more rewarding freelance career.

The TEFL Academy offers rigour and quality on a budget

If my present-day self was without a TEFL qualification, I would be looking for a qualification that offers the rigour and quality of the esteemed qualifications CELTA and CertTESOL, but on a budget.

I have recently done a recce of TEFL qualifications with my experienced educator hat on, and I’ve come to the conclusion that the TEFL Academy is a great option.

Here’s why:

The TEFL Academy are accredited and regulated with the UK and US governments
it’s a specialist Level 5 TEFL Course (168 hours)
it offers an additional 30 hours in top up courses (= 198 hours of TEFL tuition)
budget friendly (with frequent special offers)
two modes of study – choose between pure online or a combined programme
experienced, professional, and passionate EFL Trainers
access to virtual assistance within 24 hours
access to the TEFL Academy job board, paid internships and volunteering.

The top 3 bullet points are REALLY important!

1. Why is it important to choose a TEFL course that is regulated and accredited?

The TEFL Academy is the only course provider that has received official recognition from the government regulated awarding bodies in both the US and UK.

When a course is regulated it means you are guaranteed quality.

The TEFL Academy is regulated by Ofqual (UK government department) and awarded by Qualifi, a UK government recognised awarding body.

The TEFL Academy is also approved by the DEAC (US Department of Education National Accreditor) as meeting the criteria for Approved Quality Curriculum (AQC) status.

Note: if a course is not on the Register of Regulated Qualifications, then there is no guarantee of its level or quality.

You can verify the TEFL Academy qualification here

2. Why do I want a Level 5 TEFL qualification?

A regulated Level 5 qualification means that Ofqual have approved the qualification to be recognised as the same level as the following qualifications: a diploma of higher education (DipHE), a foundation degree, and the CELTA and Trinity CertTESOL qualifications.

Most employees will be looking for teachers with Level 5 qualifications.

3. Why do I want to complete 168 hours of training?

Most employers will look for a minimum of 120 hours of study and practice. The TEFL Academy ensures quality through providing you with 168 hours of training so this is well over the minimum!

Furthermore, The TEFL Academy offers a free add on of 30 hours in: Teaching Young Learners, Teaching Business English or Teaching English online & 1-1.

So that’s a whopping 198 hours of tuition!!

It’s a guarantee of quality.

On successful completion, you’ll receive an internationally recognised Level 5 TEFL Certificate.

4. Great Value for Money

The TEFL Academy provides rigour and solid teaching at a budget price.

What’s not to love about that!

They also often have great discounts. Check out the latest offers here.

5. Two modes of study

The TEFL Academy gives you the option of studying purely online or taking a combined programme with an additional 20 hours of classroom teaching.

The aim of the 20 hours in class teaching practice is to give you the chance to gain real life peer-to-peer teaching experience with feedback. This will enable you to build confidence to a level where you feel comfortable standing in front of your first class.

Personally, if I’d never taught before I would opt for Combined. Knowledge is great, but practical application is everything.

Check out Amy’s TEFL Journey from starting out to getting her first job!

For more information on The TEFL Academy courses visit their website here

6. Other benefits of studying with The TEFL Academy

As well as great teachers and speedy virtual assistance, the TEFL Academy offers a selection of paid internships, a comprehensive job board and a list of volunteering opportunities.

The TEFL Academy not only helps students across the world but they also nurture all students once the program is complete by offering roles with partnering companies to help travelling to a desired company to work as easy as possible.