subject: What Could You Do with a TEFL Certificate? [print this page] What Could You Do with a TEFL Certificate?
You're bright, talented and generally wonderful. Mix in a TEFL certificate and you could do some pretty amazing things. Just check out what you could do with a TEFL course
See the world
There's a whole world of colours, smells, sounds and experiences out there: from firecrackers echoing in the streets of Beijing at Chinese New Year, to the smell of street food wafting through Thai markets. Some people spend a fortune flitting around the globe, but teaching English gives you a chance to get paid to see the world. Japan, South Korea, Mexico, China it doesn't matter where you want to go, your TEFL course will help you get there.
Challenge yourself
Have you ever looked around you and thought Is this it Really?' Well, it might be time to do something a bit more challenging with your life.
Teaching English abroad can be full of challenges. When you're living a new life abroad even simple things like shopping for food can be an exciting challenge. Try it for yourself and you'll experience lots of challenges like no other in a good way!
Experience new cultures
Have you ever been abroad and felt like an outsider peering in? Not when you teach abroad you won't! TEFL is a great opportunity to live and work in one place for an extended period of time: you'll be welcomed into the local community, get to know all its little quirks and before too long you'll be an insider looking out.
Make a difference
For your students, good spoken English can be the difference between a high flying career in international business, or a frustrating life in regional bureaucracy. Your talent and your teaching could literally transform your students' lives. And you're not just being paid in warm and fuzzy feelings. You get cold, hard cash too!
Enhance your CV/resume
Apologies for stating the obvious here, but when you're teaching English abroad, you're not just going to be sitting around on a beach or lazing by the pool for a year. During your stint teaching abroad, you'll gain develop some key skills that are transferable to any job. Such as leadership, communication and organization skills. You'll have an impressive CV/resume that will make you stand out from the crowd even if you don't fancy making a career out of teaching.
Meet new friends
When you start teaching English abroad, you won't just be thrown into the deep end and expected to either sink or swim. There's lots of support available to you, from local teachers at your school and there is usually other expats out there who know what you're going through. So, not only will you have some amazing memories from your TEFL experience, you'll make loads of new friends to share it with!
