Who does a TEFL course?

Have you ever wished you could move abroad, but don’t think you have the right background to be an English teacher? Our students at TEFL Iberia come from all walks of life – you’d be surprised at the diversity of our trainee teachers.

The university graduate

You’ve been studying hard for four years and you’ve just graduated from university. But the job market isn’t great and you’re sick of your weekend job in Starbucks / Tesco / the student union. Taking a year out to teach English abroad seems like a great idea – a way to gain experience, explore a foreign country and immerse yourself in another culture.

You’ll be a great teacher because you’ve been a student for years – you know what works and what doesn’t work. Teaching English is about so much more than verb tenses – you’ll find imparting your linguistic and cultural knowledge to students incredibly rewarding.

You’d be good at teaching adults in their 20s and 30s, who want to meet someone from an English-speaking culture and improve their language skills in order to travel or find a job – they’ll find it easy to relate to someone of a similar age, who’s in a similar position.

The 30-something career changer

You’ve been working in the same field since university, ten years ago. You thought you’d find the world of work exciting and challenging, but you are bored by the daily repetition and you miss being in a learning environment, doing new things and meeting new people.

Teaching English abroad is a great solution – something completely different, in a new city with all its attendant challenges. As a TEFL teacher you’ll be connecting with people in a new and fulfilling way.

You’d be great at teaching business English – you’ll have the confidence to interact with professionals that some younger teachers don’t have and your experience in the professional world will make you a valued teacher.

The midlifer looking for a challenge

You’ve built a great career for yourself and you’ve achieved everything you wanted to. You’re at the top of your game, and you are looking for a new way to challenge yourself and an experience unlike anything you’ve had before.

You’ll be a great teacher because the experience of standing in front of a class will be nerve racking but exhilarating. You’ll be energised and motivated by the thrill of the new, and you’ll find that you have a whole range of experiences which will inform and inspire your teaching style.

Teaching groups would be your forté – you have a natural authority and confidence that comes from your success in other areas which would give you an excellent classroom presence. Students of all ages would trust you as a teacher and be motivated to learn English.

The gap year student

You haven’t quite decided what you’d like to do or what you’d like to be. It’s a big world out there and you’d like to see a bit of it before you make up your mind to settle down to studying or working.

Teaching English abroad is a great way to fund your travels. Living in a foreign city is a richer and more meaningful experience than going from hostel to hostel, but being based abroad means a lot of places are within easy reach. So whether you’re based in Barcelona and flying to European cities for mini-breaks, teaching in Germany and Inter-railing on your holidays, or working in Bangkok and island hopping at the weekends, teaching English is a way to finance your adventures while at the same time meeting local people and engaging with the local culture.

You’d be great at teaching children and teenagers. Your enthusiasm would be infectious, instilling a real love of language in your students – an essential quality in a teacher.

Almost everyone has some special quality which they bring to teaching. Don’t let reservations about grammar, teaching methods, or lesson planning hold you back – that’s what TEFL Iberia is here to help with! Sign up to a course today – it could be your passport to a whole new life!