Where Will You Teach After The Coronavirus?
• News
For many, going abroad to teach English as a foreign language (TEFL) is the dream career. You get to experience a foreign country, help teach children a valuable skill, and immerse yourself in a new culture.
TEFL is very rewarding and many people from all walks of life have gone on to do it. Students who have graduated in unrelated subjects often go on to TEFL after university but plenty of other people have done it as well, including primary and high school teachers.
Now is typically the time when most people would be putting their applications together for training and teaching. But, due to COVID-19, many people simply won’t be able to travel to teach and no one really knows how schools are going to operate as we hopefully move out of the pandemic.
Well, the good news is while things might be a little different when it comes to actually carrying out lessons, English as a foreign language teachers are still going to be in demand. Yes, travel might be a bit more difficult, but we think it’s safe to say overseas TEFL jobs will be back up and running again soon.
So, if you really want to join the TEFL team and get out there teaching, you likely still will be able to towards the end of the year. But competition will be even tougher which means for many people an online TEFL course will be very beneficial. Let’s take a closer look at the benefits of TEFL courses in more detail.
Online TEFL Courses – The Benefits
Online TEFL courses provide numerous benefits especially nowadays when in-person training is going to be very difficult to find or attend due to COVID-19.
It might seem like teaching English as a foreign language would be quite straightforward, especially for people who have been speaking English their whole lives.
But knowing a language and teaching it are two very different things which is why anyone wanting to teach English as a foreign language will usually need to undertake some training if they want their job application to be successful. An online TEFL course is the best way to go about this because it means you can train at your own pace in the comfort of your own home.
TEFL courses come in numerous different forms. Some are longer and take a more in-depth look at how to teach across a broad range of contexts while others are shorter and focus on specifics such as teaching grammar, teaching Business English etc. So, don’t worry if you have a strict deadline or simply don’t have much free time to train, there is always a TEFL course available to suit your needs.
An online TEFL course will help you get the skills you need to ensure your application to teach stands out. But there is also another benefit to undertaking online TEFL courses. Online training can also give you the skills and qualifications needed to teach English online yourself!
Teaching English Online
Teaching English online can be done in conjunction with a regular TEFL job in a foreign country or it could even be an alternative to it.
Due to COVID-19 some people might simply not want or be able to travel to teach this year. Teaching online could be a great alternative for those looking to continue in this field while the pandemic eases.
Even if you do still want to make an application to teach overseas, then online teaching could be something you continue to do alongside it or use to get some practice in the meantime. There is a lot of availability for teaching English online so now is a great time to apply for online teaching jobs.
Teaching English online does provide some great benefits, namely you can do it from the comfort of your own home and there is no need to travel. Undergoing an online TEFL training course also means you will be able to get a better sense of how to teach others more effectively.
Teaching someone a foreign language is a difficult skill to master, and it requires more than just having a good grasp of English. So, whether you’re looking to travel to teach or simply want to focus on teaching English online, a TEFL course can be incredibly beneficial and a useful qualification to have in these challenging times.
Previously: Taking Teaching Virtual