If you are passionate about English and want to help people to acquire it, the call of being an English teacher fits you. You will get not only a rewarding and respectful job but also an international experience working abroad. Apparently, in order to get a well-paid job and travel around the globe, you need to prove your competence to become the best and preferred candidate.
Getting the certification is the first step to becoming a professional ESL teacher regardless of whether you are going to work with kids or adults. That is why TESOL certification is vital. It can help you to improve your knowledge in teaching and find a decent workplace. Keep reading this article to know some significant reasons for getting a TESOL certificate. The list of perks you get from being a certified ESL teacher is almost endless, however, we have highlighted only the most important ones.
About TESOL
The Perks of Having a TESOL Certificate
Many teachers know how English grammar works, but it doesn’t mean they can easily explain it to others. Things are getting complicated when it comes to teaching non-native speakers. TESOL stands for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages and teaches tutors to combine cultural features and English learning. In that case, they can explain things using nothing but tangible things. Such a way is completely different in comparison with a typical learning process.
The ESL teaching world is full of terms such as CELTA, TEFL, TESL, and TESOL. But what do they mean? Don’t be confused, there are many ESL training to enhance your competence. However, TEFL and TESOL seem to be the most valuable, recognized, and affordable. By the way, sometimes employers and even teachers use them interchangeably. It’s not a mistake, but there is a subtle difference.
TESOL allows you to teach foreigners living in English-speaking countries, whereas TEFL lets you teach people in countries where English isn’t official such as China and Japan.
Despite their difference, most employers worldwide require to have any of them. Another proof is that being a certified teacher, you automatically become a preferred candidate.
Course Program
Course Program
As long as English is the most spoken language, it’s a valuable skill to speak it fluently. So, your mission is to provide your students with different ways how to do it as quickly as possible. Whether you are working with teens at school or employees in the business environment, being TESOL certified you always have many approaches to click with your class and help it. TESOL certification makes you confident enough to motivate and inspire even the most gloomy student in a class. And such knowledge from a TESOL course will allow you to work with people of different ages without hesitation.
During the course you will learn:
- how to teach productive and receptive skills;
- the ways people learn and how to help them do it better;
- making lesson plans and adjusting materials;
- how to make interactive lessons and activities;
- understanding of the connection between the language and culture;
- teaching approaches and methodology.
As usual, taking a TESOL course in person means full-time studying abroad. Whereas 120 hours is the minimum duration you can opt for. But it’s enough to become familiar with the most effective learning approaches through 100 hours of theory and 20 hours of practice.
There are the following modules:
- teaching people of different ages;
- how to manage a class;
- searching for materials;
- adjusting activities;
- teaching language skills;
- live practice.
5 Profits you get with the Certificate
As we mentioned, there are many advantages of getting TESOL certified. Not only will you become a professional but also competent enough to work abroad. If it has been your dream for a while, it’s time to take some action towards it. In practice, it’s not as complicated as it seems to be. But the result you will get will cover all struggles you have. So, let’s take a look at what is going to fight for.
1. A variety of choices
Teaching is one of the most benevolent activities, helping people you help yourself to. Searching through individual ways of learning the languages through culture, you may find new skills in yourself. Needless to say that working abroad will help you to make new friends and acquaintances, so you will broaden your perspectives and horizons. If you are good at some specific things you may help adults to have exams to study and work abroad. As an immigrant in a foreign country, you may feel the same that your students who are struggling to have a citizenship exam. In other words, you will have many ways to use your teaching skills depending on what type of students you want to teach.
2. The wide recognition of the certificate
Having a TESOL certification you prove your competence and knowledge to teach foreign people abroad. That’s a way how employers around the globe understand that you have enough experience to work as an ESL teacher. Also, you can make a good first impression on a potential boss even before having an interview. Your resume and CV will speak volumes.
Many companies, and private and state schools require this certificate to hire appropriate candidates. Sometimes, TESOL can fit the bill in the USA private schools, so in order to get a job there, check the requirements beforehand.
3. Valuable skills
While you are learning the course, you get not only professional knowledge about teaching but also soft skills. Most of them will come in handy in many tricky situations in your life. You will learn how to give reasonable feedback, ask for help, and react to mistakes. Definitely, you will become more patient and calm. Teaching is also a way to be better at time management and to become open-minded. Some valuable personal traits up your sleeve may impress potential employers the same as professional skills.
A TESOL course helps you to develop:
- leadership, as you have to encourage students not to be afraid of mistakes;
- management, as you have to find a balance between some jokes and useful exercises;
- communication, as you have to find something in common even with people that don’t seem to be your soulmates;
- patience, as you have to repeat something in different ways to get your explanation across.
4. A way to become a preferred candidate
As you see, most employers worldwide prefer to hire candidates with either TEFL or TESOL certification, — having both of them is perfect. So, having at least any of them increases your chances to get a well-paid job among other candidates without it. It will become important and noticeable when you apply for a job in some countries such as Japan and China, where the labor market is quite competitive.
As a bonus, some trustworthy providers of the courses offer job assistance, so you don’t need to worry about how to get a job with such certificates.
5. Traveling
TESOL training gets more popular around the globe because provides amazing opportunities not only to work abroad but also to travel around. It’s a dream of those who want to travel and earn at the same time. And the list of benefits of traveling and living abroad is very long, but most ESL teachers highlight immersing in a new culture as the first. It will make you understand people’s behavior better and jazz up your usual life. Living abroad is an incredible experience in terms of many factors. You will visit beautiful sights, meet interesting people, and exchange cultural backgrounds with students and acquaintances.
The world is so big that sometimes it’s so difficult to choose the only country to go to. When it comes to teaching abroad, tutors should pay attention to such factors as cost of living, salary benefits from the employer, workplace, and lifestyle of citizens. If you want to figure out the difference between some countries in terms of work conditions for ESL teachers, read this article. After reading, you will be able to weigh some popular destinations regarding your preferences and choose the most appropriate one.
Do you need to have a degree to take the course?
The good news is you don’t need to have a degree to enroll in a TESOL course. The only thing you need is a high English level to understand a program. However, having a bachelor’s degree will come in handy when it comes to applying for a job. Most employers opt for degree-holder candidates. So, it will broaden your variety of workplaces. Even if your major has nothing to do with English, it is still better to have it rather than nothing. Sometimes having a degree has something to do with visa regulations in the country you are going to work. So, in order to fit the bill, you need to have a college degree.
Also, it isn’t necessary to have a TESOL master’s degree for ESL teachers, but it can improve your chances to get a good teaching position abroad.
How much money do you need?
The price of the TESOL course changes from company to company. Everything boils down to such factors as a place and a way of studying. For example, if you want to earn your TESOL certification abroad, you must be ready to pay for: accommodation, visa expenses, flight tickets, and start-up costs. Let’s have a look at some ways of getting a TESOL certificate.
Three ways of studying
Probably, the most expensive course is getting a master’s degree in TESOL, because you will have to pay a tuition fee in an institution. However, your qualification is also better. An approximate price fluctuates from $15,000 to $40,000 a year. It depends on the course duration and status of the university. But there is always a chance to get a scholarship to cover at least some amount of your costs.
If you got used to studying in a class, a typical way of learning TESOL — in person — will fit you. The cost depends on the location and duration of the program, usually, it’s about $2,000 for the course. Needless to say that you must have some money for accommodation. If you want to save a bit, try to find some employers who are ready to cover TESOL course costs for you.
It is important to add that some TESOL certificates are more required than others. As the minimum length is a 120-hour course, it’s better to have 160 or more just to stand out from the crowd of other applicants. In addition, some countries will willingly accept TESOL holders, whereas European ones would prefer to hire CELTA-certified teachers. That is why you should search for the requirements of the country you are going to work.
The most affordable and achievable way to become a TESOL-certified tutor is online studying. Firstly, it’s cheaper than studying in person. Secondly, you can work part-time while you are studying. There isn’t a need to leave your motherland and spend much money. Having your pace of learning you may spend from $200-$500 on an online TESOL course. The good news is that most of the TESOL certificates don’t mention online studying. So, there isn’t a difference for a potential employer.
Conclusion
As you see, as long as English is the sign language to have the international business and work opportunities, ESL teachers will always have a job. Certified tutors don’t have problems with employment, because employers know — due to the resume — that a candidate has all the necessary skills to teach people of different ages and languages.
Depending on your wish and determination, it will take from a few weeks to a couple of months to complete a TESOL course. As soon as you finish the course the whole world is open to you. Having a TESOL certificate you may work abroad and online. It’s up to you! Turning to an online way you may keep working earning money and spending time with your loved ones. Working abroad will give me incredible international experience and new acquaintances.
We hope, you found this article inspiring and instructive. Let us know in the comments section below, what way of getting a TESOL certificate you would choose.
