Are TEFL courses worth it?
TEFL courses are becoming increasingly popular and for a good reason. These TEFL courses give you the skills to teach abroad in countries like Thailand or Costa Rica. You’ll have an opportunity to see new cultures and people while earning money at the same time! If you are interested in this type of job, read on to find out whether TEFL courses are worth it.
Remember when we were all fresh out of high school? The excitement that comes with thinking about all the possibilities for your future career is exhilarating! But then reality sets in. College tuition costs more than most people’s annual salary. Student loans are crippling our generation, and finding a job is becoming increasingly difficult. Imagine if there was an easier way…
- To get a qualification for a fraction of the price.
- To be qualified in several weeks and not 4+ years.
- To get you are respectable job with a salary to go with it.
- To travel as many countries as you want.
I think you know where I am going with this.
Of course, a TEFL course is worth it! It is a course that qualifies you to begin a professional teaching career online or abroad. You can earn a high living salary while fulfilling your dream of travelling.
Why are TEFL courses worth it? Give me more details and examples!
Let’s look at the benefits of TEFL courses in more detail:
- Cheap: Compared to getting a degree or diploma, a TEFL course is cheap. You can even do it online from your kitchen at home! It takes around three months and costs between $400-600. The in person classes, which are more expensive, are worth it in the end for the face to face teaching and practicum. A lot cheaper than four years of university for $50,000+!
- There are many, many options in terms of TEFL courses out there: You can study online, which is cheaper, and you can do it from home. There are in-person TEFL courses in most major cities. Last but not least, our favourite, TEFL courses abroad where you can fly to the country of your choice to train for four weeks and then start working almost straight away after graduation if that’s what you wanted to do or travel around some more first! Go to Asia, Europe, The Americas, Africa or the Middle East, so many options for you to choose from!
- Transferable: TEFL courses award you with certification that is widely accepted throughout the world. Upon completion, you will receive a globally recognised certificate that can be used in any country. It is the traveller’s golden ticket to every location that can allow you to stay abroad indefinitely if you wanted to!
- Can enhance your academic qualifications: For anyone who has already got a degree, TEFL can act as an add-on to further improve their chances of landing a job abroad or at home. If an employer in your home country saw that you taught English abroad, they would be very impressed at your ability and commitment to working.
- Allows you to earn extra cash: Not everyone who does a TEFL course plans to move abroad. Many want to join online teaching platforms such as VIPKid or Preply to earn money on the side, at weekends or in the evenings when they finish work. It can also be a full-time job if you wanted and the salaries can be pretty good, too.
- Memories: If you take a TEFL course to teach English abroad and you follow through, imagine the stories you will be able to tell. Which of these stories do you think sounds better?
- The ten years you spent working in the same office and had to sit in hours of traffic to get there and back every day in your home town.
- The year you spent teaching and exploring Thailand, where you rode your scooter past the beach to work every day and then headed off to Vietnam for a couple of years and then to Tokyo, Japan, where you ate sushi every day and partied with robots, will be the one you’d remember the most!
- Child handling skills: TEFL courses train you in the correct methods to deal with children of all ages. From how to keep them engaged with the lessons to how to console an upset child to how not to be too stern but not let them run wild around you. When you begin teaching, you will pick up more amazing skills that will stick with you. Learning how to educate others is a fantastic skill to have! These skills can be beneficial if you ever have children of your own.
- Visas: Is there is any country in the world you want to live in, but you don’t know how to stay there long-term and without it just being a vacation? Do a TEFL course. Once you complete the course and get your TEFL certificate, you can apply for a teaching position in any country where English is not the native language.
- Feels good: After a few months of teaching, when you have settled into your routine and everything is going well, you will begin to see your work paying off. You will begin to see the changes in your students and their improvements. This is a truly heartwarming feeling. There are not many careers in the world where you get to help people or influence their lives, but teaching is definitely one of them.
- You are respected: I know from my time in schools that teachers in most countries are not respected by students, not even a little. In many countries abroad, this is not the case. The role of the teacher is looked at differently, and people will respect you for your work. This can especially be true in many Buddhist countries as Buddha was a teacher, and therefore they have tremendous respect for the profession.
- Better quality of living: In most of our home countries, the price of rent has gone through the roof, and the idea of owning a home is something we can only dream of! For most people to live in the big cities, they have to share a flat or accommodation with multiple people. The countries most in need of TEFL teachers are poorer countries, and therefore the prices are more affordable. You can rent a good condo or any accommodation to yourself for half or even a quarter of what you paid at home.
- You can teach forever: TEFL certification never expires so you can continue teaching until you retire and never have to be retested or have follow up courses.
- Fast: You’ll soon be qualified to teach English as a foreign language in a matter of weeks, and you can then start earning money as an English Teacher immediately! TEFL courses get you certified fast so that your savings account isn’t depleted for too long. If you’re looking to start off with a bang and travel immediately afterwards, this is a great option for you! It is a far better option than you spending years studying something unrelated to travel, recreational activities or languages just because it will help you get a job in the future.
- – I spent 4 years getting a BA in English Literature and Art History… you can imagine there weren’t many job offers coming my way, and you’d be right. I got a TEFL certificate, put myself online and got seven job offers that day. If I had a time machine, I would not have had to waste €60,000 on college fees and accommodation and four years of my life for something that can’t even get me a job. I would have spent approx 1000-2000 and be in a teaching job in less than two months. –
Are you required to do a TEFL course to teach English abroad?
Schools abroad require teachers to have a 120 hour TEFL certificate at the minimum. To get this certification, you must complete a TEFL course either online or in person.
It is proof to the school that you are serious about this career, you have some training in teaching methods and child care, and it is needed to prove to immigration you are in that country for work purposes, and you should be granted access long-term with permission to earn an income legally.
I have not been to school in a long time, and I am scared to go back.
There is no need to be scared. Everybody that attends are adults, all with the same goals as you, to begin helping others improve their language skills and travel.
The curriculum for TEFL courses is very straightforward and easy to understand. English is your language, and you use it every day. The focus of the courses is to show you how to give your knowledge to others.
Which TEFL course is best to teach English abroad?
Any accredited TEFL course over 120 hours will give you the certification required by schools abroad. Stick to the well known TEFL companies and avoid the cheap $20 courses you come across posted online, they’re usually fake, and schools will reject them.
Final Thoughts
Stop wasting time asking yourself are TEFL courses worth it, and just get in touch with a TEFL expert and ask them all the questions you can think of and begin your journey as soon as possible!
If any TEFL teachers are reading this, please send us your thoughts on why TEFL courses are worth it, or if you think they aren’t worth it, we would like to hear from you also!
If you are interested in online teaching, consider enrolling in an accredited TEFL course and earning your certification today! It will be worth it and you won’t regret it when you can finally say ‘I did it’ and then book that ticket to Thailand or wherever else you may want to go.
