ESL Teaching - A Wonderful way to see the World

ESL Teaching - A Wonderful Way to See the World
Kevin R Burns

Keen to visit varied lands and be paid for doing so? Then why not consider ESL
teaching? You don't necessarily need to have a university degree, although a
good educational background is desirable and, of course, you'll need to be a
native English speaker, or with a really good knowledge of the language.

You'll discover many affordable courses to help open doors to the multitude of
jobs teaching English which exist Worldwide. Never before have there been so
many people eager to learn English, so let's have a look at the various types of
course available.

ESL

First of all what, exactly, is ESL? The initials stand for "English as a Second
Language". Strictly speaking, ESL applies to teaching non-English speaking
students in an English-speaking country. Whereas EFL - or English as a Foreign
Language - refers to the teaching of non-English speaking students in a
non-English speaking country.

There is also another term - ESOL. This stands for English for Speakers of Other
Languages, and encompasses both ESL and EFL.

TESL/TEFL Courses

Are you a native English speaker, or perhaps you have an excellent knowledge of
English - both written and spoken? Then why not make the most of this ability?
Take one of the numerous TESL or TEFL courses and start teaching!

Courses for Teaching English as a Second Language, or Teaching English as a
Foreign Language can be found both online and offline.

Online courses tend to be cheaper, costing from as little as $150. The drawback
to these is that they don't normally include any teaching practice, so they're
more suited to people with teaching experience. However, some do arrange
teaching practice at local schools and academies... and there's nothing to stop
you offering your services for free in order to gain experience!

A full-time offline course normally lasts around 4 weeks and, although more
expensive, should include a supervised practical teaching component.

CELTA Courses

Whereas TESL/TEFL are certificate courses offered by various institutions, CELTA
is an English Language Training Certificate validated by Cambridge University,
and is available in some 50 countries Worldwide.

Although the abbreviation stands for Certificate in English Language Teaching to
Adults, it does also prepare you for teaching children. Teaching practice is not
only a requirement on the course, but also very much emphasised.

The drawback to CELTA is its price, which can be as much as $2,000 for a 4-week
full-time course. And, the sad fact is that potential employers do not always
fully understand the differences between the various courses, with the
presumable superiority of the CELTA course being lost on them.

Whichever course you finally plump for, it will surely open up a new World for
you, be it in your home country, overseas, or even online. So, do check out EFL
and ESL teaching possibilities. You won't regret it!

Kevin Burns is creator of
[http://www.how-to-teach-english-in-japan.com]how-to-teach-english-in-japan.com
where you also find interesting information about
[http://www.how-to-teach-english-in-japan.com/esl-teaching.html]ESL teaching.

EFL Job Survey

EFL Job Survey


Dear colleagues,

My name is Douglas Meyer, and I am organizing a nation-wide survey on our EFL profession. I am interested in the various working conditions, opinions and thoughts on language education in Japan, and have made an easy-to-complete (5-6 minute) anonymous online survey to gather your input. Please forward this message to friends if you have already completed the survey.

In order for this survey to be successful, we need responses from a few hundred language teachers from across Japan. Can you do your part by helping to spread this survey (and the job survey links) to 3 or 4 of your teaching colleagues?

The only way we can make any positive changes in our profession will be to add hundreds of voices to this call. The more responses we can get, the harder it will be for educational institutions to ignore the results of this national survey.

Here are the links:
For elementary, junior, and high school teachers
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/D5LM52D

For college and university teachers
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NZZ85RV

Please note that this is a personal research project, and not connected to JALT in any way. I am hoping to use this data in a report on our EFL profession in Japan. Should a large number of teachers reply, the Ministry of Education may be interested in the results. If you are also interested in the results, please complete the survey (if you haven't already) and pass it on to your teaching colleagues. Thank you for your time!

Sincerely yours,
Douglas Meyer
National EFL Job Survey Organizer
Osaka, Japan.