I'm currently in Cambodia in a (supposedly) reputable international school. The teaching hours and office hours are fantastic, but there is this nagging performance review BS and a plethora or digital BS they like doing. I've also gotten in trouble for failing too many students. When in Rome do as the Romans do and fudge the grades (if you want to keep your job)

It's coming up to 6 years and I've honestly had enough of Cambodia and feel it's time to move on.

I'm studying for a postgraduate certificate in education, which should really open doors. I really like Vietnam and Malaysia, but I really feel that work in China would pay well and I've heard the schools often don't have a huge amount of lesson plans and paperwork work ?

I was in Vietnam recently and I had an epithany of "what am I doing in this dump (Cambodia) and I really need to get out of here"

Where should I go if I'm looking for good money with not too much paperwork ?

It seems that residence permits and work permits in any European country require you to already have a job secured, and require cooperation from your employer in helping you obtain the right to live and work in the given country. And, if I understand correctly, almost all language schools and other sources of employment for TEFL teachers in Europe hire only EU passport holders and aren’t willing to work with you in getting your residency permit if you are a non-EU citizen.

Is this the case? Is there any hope of finding TEFL work in Europe if I don’t have an EU passport? Are there any particular countries where this is not the situation? Is my only real option to go through a government program like Spain’s NALCAP?

I've noticed all academy classes in Spain are in the evenings between 4-10 pm. I prefer to work mornings as I'm an auxiliar and currently have my evenings free. Though not paying into social security so feel I'd need an academy job to do that.

Anyone work mornings at academies or anywhere else? How do you get such jobs?

I'm from Canada and about to go for a fingerprint record check. The thing is in 2007 I was arrested for spray painting my middle school, did community service and in 2012 I was arrested as an accomplice to shop lifting under $100 when I was in high school. Ever since those 2 incidents I've had a clean record

How bad is it going to effect my chances of getting a visa through the Korean consulate.

I thought that I was in the clear when I passed a level 2 criminal check but realized that I need an RCMP Fingerprint criminal check for the Korean consulate.

I'm literally freaking out right now and really wanted to teach English in Korea but my past may of ruined this opportunity for me.

PS: I've been unemployed for 4 months and don't have the time or money to go through the pardoning process so I don't know maybe I'm totally cooked.

Yes, I read the Wiki and the FAQ.

I’m having trouble finding affordable courses that issue out of the USA. Some people have said they got their TEFL.org certificates notarized in the USA but their website says you have to get it approved in the UK since that’s where they are based.

So can I get a certificate from anywhere (as long as it’s 120 hours?) and have it be approved in the USA? Or is the DEAC approval enough?

Im currently in HK looking to move to Bangkok in April. I have a BA degree(not education) and a TEFL 120 hour. I got 5 years experience in the industry and looking to get into a primary school Im curious to know whether I must first go to Thailand and then look for a job or should I first find a job before I go I've been getting mixed reviews Some people say go first Others say find a job first Would love to hear the opinion of people who is currently on the ground there.

Is there any way to teach in Georgia that is not a "volunteer work" position like the Peace Corps? I need a basic salary just to afford basic rent. I understand that the pay will be low, however I'm completely okay with that.

Also, is it recommended to just go to public schools in-person and physically hand them my resume? I don't know the recommended way to find a job here.

Hi all,

My last 3 TPs are with beginner English. The class has lots of different levels but mostly beginner for now- i struggle with timing them for the activities. I know they need longer time for the reading and less time for speaking. I put the speaking time 5 minutes and listening for gist 3 times the audio length. My tutor says it's too short... but with them I believe I can make the speaking even shorter as they can't really speak though I monitor and ask open ended questions... what are your experiences with this? I know every class is different but would love a few ideas.

I [30F] am an English teacher. I have been teaching since the last four years in India. I have completed CIDTL [Cambridge Diploma in Teaching and Learning]. But, I am in EU currently and am not able to find work here as a language teacher. My friend has suggested that since I am not a beginner, DELTA makes more sense. Is this a good piece of advice? I took the advice seriously at first because CELTA is quite expensive for me and DELTA I heard can be done without tuitions. Please help me decide if I should go for DELTA OR CELTA. And, can DELTA be done without a CELTA? Is that practical?

As a native speaker, I never actually learned all the grammar rules. Obviously, I need to learn them in order to be able to teach. I did go through the list of grammar books on Wiki, but I was just hoping for suggestions on which one is best to start with as a native speaker.

Also, for those who are already teaching, how much grammar do you actually teach? I realize this depends on the level you're teaching and the age of your students, but I was hoping to hear from teachers about their experiences.

Thanks, everyone!

TEFL is a very new curiosity for me and I’m very early into the research process, so excuse my confusion. But do I have to be bilingual in order to teach English abroad/online? Are degrees necessary or can I get by with the certificate courses I’ve come across online?

I am currently studying towards DELTA Module 1 and I can see that quite often I'll need to provide a phonetic transcription for a word or phrase. I am worried about this because phonology is not my strength at the best of times and due to my Scottish accent, I find it really difficult because I can't use my own pronunciation as a reference point. It's hard for me to imagine exactly how an English person would say a given word.

I did an interview with a trainer last year who told me that I will need to learn how to transcribe 'Standard English' (presumably RP / Estuary English as she had that accent). In the pre-entrance exam I was marked wrong a few times because I had written the wrong vowel sound, eg. I hadn't written /ʊ/ when I should have (this sound doesn't exist in my accent).

I can imagine that some things will be easy to learn, eg. not putting an /r/ at the end of 'teacher', but I think the vowels will be lot harder for me to learn, eg. caught vs. cot, pull vs. pull. I can hear the difference when an English person says words, but it's really hard for me to work out how the English person would pronounce them just from a word on a page - for me, the above are pairs of homophones.

I want to know if anyone has experienced this problem and how they dealt with it. Were you able to learn or did you just accept it's likely that you'll drop from points?

Many thanks for your advice!

EDIT: To clarify, I'm not 100% sure how it works. I'd like someone with experience of DELTA to let me know. I know about the online tools so for Modules 2 and 3 there won't be a problem. What I'm worried about is the exam.

I am working my way through this course (51M), without any kind of teaching background.

I submitted my first written assignment earlier, on Module 2, which was planning a lesson to teach the present-continuous tense to elementary students.

It took me some time to get my head around the various PPP phases, but I passed first time with 100%.

A huge confidence boost!

If I'm looking to teach at university, kindergarten or public school in China, how much money should I have saved up before I go? Would $2,000-3,000 be enough?

I'm including plane ticket, visa, first month or so of living there (before my paycheck) and anything else I might need to pay for. I'm hoping to arrive and start a job in August/September and I'm looking for jobs in Northeast China (probably Shenyang or Dalian). I'm from Australia.

I've begun my hunt to find a teaching role in China but so far I've been offered what seems like a million different things from recruiters, stuff like teaching history or science at a public middle school to more standard "English teaching".

What things should I be avoiding? In Korea the only options for me really are Public Schools or Hagwons, so I was not expecting such a variety

I'd like to stick to Middle School or High School aged students mostly. So no Kindergarten

Should I just be applying for Public schools, or are international schools etc open to me?

My experience/CV:

Degree in Business Management, one years professional experience in Supply Chain Management

Two years teaching ESL (Conversation classes really) for EPIK in South Korea

120 Hour Online TEFL

Hi I'm from Canada, and I'm wondering what exact level of criminal record check is required for teaching abroad. I'm just really confused at the moment because Peel region police is giving me a hard time with processing a recorded check. I requested a level 3 record check for vulnerable sector since it's required for working with kids.

PRP sent back this email

"The Peel Regional Police Service has received your record check application which was requested on 1/7/2025.

Your Record Check application is being returned to you as incomplete as we require additional details in order to proceed with your application.

**Please provide the full name of the organization that is requesting this record check. If this organization is outside of Canada, we will not be able to do a Vulnerable Sector Check and will need to downgrade to a Level 2 Criminal Record and Judicial Matters Check. Please confirm."

I was pretty specific with the recruiter and school that requested the recorded check but when I do reply to the email I'm just going to copy and past the job description.

Primarily I'm wondering how Canadian teachers did their request successfully.

PS: I have a clean record and not worried about the results. I'm just really annoyed with the back and forth emails for this record check.

Hi! I'm a brand new teacher and I just started my first class with level 2 adult students.

For the first class, I prepared a speaking activity with them using images to talk about likes. In pairs, they'd each hold a picture and ask each other "do you like to ____?" then answer the question, working their way through every picture.

They did a good job, but they went through it way faster than I was expecting. I'm planning on repeating this activity and adding more layers onto it for future lessons, but I'm worried about them getting bored doing the same thing every day. I'm struggling to find ways to keep them speaking for more of the class when many of them are still below the level of being able to have conversation topics or more complex activities.

Any advice or activity ideas for ways to keep beginner students talking?

I’m currently using English file which is good but the grammar is a bit heavy and I’m noticing the students aren’t that up for it. Any recommendations for something lighter?

Hello, I (27F) am an Italian Australian native English speaker. I speak english at a C1 level even though I wasn't raised in Australia (only took trips to visit family). I'm curious about starting to teach english mainly in person as a way to travel and as a side job/ plan B to my current career. I have a degree (not in English) and was wondering if right now this is a good career choice? Is CELTA worth it/enough for me to start teaching? What else would be required of me to get into this world? Thank you for any help.

I wanted to ask this somewhere because my friend said they are trying to systematically get rid of expat teachers here as the new president believes Vietnam can do it without expat teachers, what are everyone thoughts?

I'm preparing to leave in a few weeks to take the CELTA with Apollo English in Vietnam. Before the course starts, one of the tutors sent me a pre-course task (not pre-interview task) to complete a week prior to the course starting. It's 33 pages long and has about 50 "tasks" to do. Does anyone else have experience with doing this, and how much time should I set aside to complete it?

My question is simple. I know that with inflation across the world the cost of living is in a constant rise. Is 470.000 VND/h (gross) in HCHMC district 7 enough for me to live modestly and save a little (at least the cost of a plane ticket in case of emergency). How much do you spend in Vietnam per month? (I don't drink or party)

Greetings, I have been teaching in Thailand for the past year, and I am interested in teaching and living in Turkey. Not only do I have over a year of experience now, but I am also a native speaker from the USA, have a bachelor's degree (in computer engineering, so unrelated), and a 120-Hour TEFL.

Does have any advice on how I can find a teaching position in Ankara, specifically?

I also heard mixed information regarding the TEFL certificate requirements. My TEFL does not have an in-person component, however I do have over a year of real, in-person teaching.

Also, is it difficult to find a teaching job there?

I tried looking for facebook groups about teaching in Turkey specifically, however the only ones I could find seem dead with unrelated advertisements.

Hello! I'm wondering if anyone knows of any established programs that cover the cost of the TEFL course, similar to how Meddeas works. I've already applied there but am still keeping my options open. I'm willing to go anywhere but have a preference for Spanish-speaking countries. Any resources are greatly appreciated, thanks!

I've been teaching in Korea for EPIK for two years by the time my contract expires at the end of August, and I am looking to move to China.

When speaking to recruiters they all seem to say that August is a great start time with more jobs than say October or November, but frankly I would like a month or two off in-between.

Am I shooting myself in the foot if I do so? Should I just start working in August in China and wait for the winter vacation?

Hello All!

Can anyone speak to "TEFL Worldwide Prague," or "The Language House," In terms of doing Tefl in Czechia and being successfully set up for work afterwards? They both have good reviews. I am an American looking to work in education and hoping to teach abroad for a couple of years. I studied in CZ and loved it. I want to return in August/September of this year to do my tefl course, and am a bit nervous about getting a job lined up for after. I do have a decent amount of money saved up, So I will be alright if I temporarily don't have a job(3-4 months) but will want to be teaching shortly thereafter.

Thank you!

I have a bachelor's degree, and 3 master's degrees. All in Education. I have taught for 8 years. The last three years I have been teaching English as a second language. Prior to that, I taught middle school ELA.

I want to teach abroad. Preferably in Europe. I am open to teaching in Central and South America or potentially in Asia. It has always been a dream of mine to teach abroad. My first choice is Europe. Any advice?

Hi, I am just starting as a volunteer TEFL assistant in a Colegio in Colombia. My counterparts want me to help them choose material for their students for this coming year. Students are grades 6-11. English level is generally A1-B1. Any advice between these workbooks would be super helpful, thank you so much. They go by grades and English levels but are in general series of workbooks with writing, reading, and listening activities.

Light Up by Pearson
Oddysey by Thomas Hong and Garreth Powell
Insta English by Emma Heyderman Fiona Mauchline
The New Leaning plus by Maya Educacion

Use this thread to ask questions that don't deserve their own thread on the subreddit. Before you do that, though, use the search bar and read through our extensive wiki to see if your question has already been answered. Remember that subreddit rules still apply here.

So I received my TEFL in October, and after completing the course, the same company offered me a teaching job in Costa Rica. It’s a 6-month contract, and I’m currently in my 3rd month.

Recently, I’ve been considering teaching elsewhere because I got an amazing job offer from a different school in Colombia. I haven’t asked anyone I know personally yet, but from what I’ve read and heard, if you leave before completing your contract:
A. You won’t be rehired by the company.
B. You won’t get a reference.

That all makes sense, but my question is: will it matter in the future? Should I just stick it out here for another 3 months to finish the contract, or leave early and try to minimize burning bridges by being as transparent as possible?

What would you do? Thanks in advance! :)