Hello, Linda here from ITTT for another weekly live session on Facebook and YouTube at the same time as always. If you've watched one of my sessions before thanks so much for tuning in again and if this is your first time watching, hello and welcome. If you are listening to this as a podcast episode, thanks so much for downloading the podcast, it means a lot to us as we always turn our live sessions into podcast episodes and you can find them on Spotify, Google Podcasts, itunes, all those podcast places out there.
Today's topic is teaching English in Europe. So two weeks ago I talked about teaching English in Asia and I focused on seven of the most popular countries in Asia and today we're going to do the same thing for Europe. Today I think I'm going to talk about eight countries in Europe and basically what the situation is there for TEFL teachers. These are also the most popular countries in Europe for teaching English as a foreign language. Some information about how to get a job there, what the demand is like, what kind of schools or companies are hiring teachers in those countries, information about salaries, and whether they have any government-funded teaching programs.
So happy to have you here guys. If you can see me and hear me just throw a quick hello into the comment section and let me know that you guys are here and watching. I see that there are some people, but just quickly let me know where you're watching from. I'm in South Korea about an hour and a half south of Seoul. It is 10:00 a.m. on Friday and I'm so excited to be here week after week, it's a pleasure. Hey Juliana, nice to see you again. Hey Marika, hi Jonathan, thank you guys it means a lot.
I guess since you're here you're interested in teaching in Europe potentially or you're just checking out your options, that's really cool. Jonathan is from Russia, about four hours from Moscow. Cool, I've always wanted to go to Moscow. I'm dying to take the Trans-Siberian train, that's one of my bucket list trips. I hope I can go on it sooner rather than later, but who knows. Then we have Tunji, I hope I'm saying that right, from Nigeria. Thanks for tuning in today.
Before we get into it I just want to mention this QR code in the upper right hand corner. You can scan that at any time throughout the session and also if you watch a replay, no problem, scan it and you can get a 30% discount on any TEFL or TESOL course from ITTT. We also have a discount link in case you are not able to scan the code. Let me just paste that link into the comment box. If you are not certified yet this is a great opportunity, just click on the link and it leads you straight to the application page. But you can also check out other pages of course, it is cookie based so even if you return later the discount should be saved. But in case it's not, just make sure you click on this link and after you apply and submit the application you will see the discounted price. If you don't, let me know and I'll help you out. Make sure you get the discount, you don't want to miss that.
Tiana is here. Good to see you again Tiana. We also have Erin from the Philippines, awesome. Please don't forget to like and subscribe so you don't miss any of our other upcoming live sessions. I go live once a week and my colleague Liza goes live once a week. If you are a non-native English speaker who wants to teach English as a foreign language, I highly recommend checking out Liza's live sessions because she is a non-native English teacher from Russia and she knows a lot about career development. She also does a lot of online teaching at the moment and so she has a lot of great live sessions about how to plan your online classes, the best platforms for teaching online and things like that, so be sure to check that out.
We have Caroline from England, hi there, and we have Marcia from Chile. Great to have you all, we're very international today. I'm super excited. Right, let me turn this off and then let's jump right in. If you've seen one of my live sessions before, you know that I have prepared a visual presentation or just some visuals to go along with what I'm going to say. As always, feel free to throw your comments at me at any time, but there will also be a Q&A section at the end so there's plenty of opportunities to ask questions. Don't hesitate, just ask. I want to make this as informative and fun as possible so that we can all have a good time. Today it's probably going to be about 45 minutes to an hour for this session. If you don't have that much time, no problem you can always come back and rewatch the video as it will be in our playlists on YouTube and on Facebook.
Let me make myself a little bit smaller and then we can take a look at the screen here. So teaching English in Europe, that's probably why you're here to get more info about that. So first I would like to introduce myself so my name is Linda, I'm a travel writer and content creator under my name Linda Goes East. You can find me on social media, especially Instagram, I love sharing my pictures there. My account is basically travel and teaching in Asia, so if that's something that interests you please check that out. I am originally from Germany/USA as my mom is from Germany and my dad is American. I’ve lived in both places and I've been in South Korea since 2015. Before that I also taught English in China and then I've been a TEFL and TESOL marketing professional for the last a couple of years. You can find ITTT at teflcourse.net and on Instagram at International TEFL Training. We are a leading TEFL and TESOL course provider and we have online courses, in-class courses, and combined courses, for all different needs and preferences.
I already have a question from Caroline. I also taught English in China, where were you teaching Linda?
I was in China the first time because I studied Mandarin in university, so that's why I wanted to go to China. The first time in China I was in Guangzhou, near Hong Kong which is beautiful. Lots of fun and there I only kind of taught English part-time. I was working for a German startup company at the time in marketing and then I went back home for a little bit and then I returned to China to Changsha in Hunan province. I also worked in marketing there and then I switched completely over to teaching English for a private English school there. How about you, where were you in China Caroline? Guangzhou is absolutely amazing, I was there in 2012. I'm so eager to go back because I think it probably changed so much because it's been a long time. I mean the big cities in China change even in a year because they just build, build, build. I really want to go back and I just hope the borders open up again soon so I can go to China again.
Anyway that's enough about myself. Oh, Caroline says she was in Mao Ming, about four hours away from where I was in Changsha. We talked about this two weeks ago when I did my session about teaching English in Asia. Obviously China is the biggest ESL market in the world and most people usually want to go to Beijing or Shanghai or maybe Guangzhou, the biggest cities. But actually I looked it up and I think it was 117 cities in China that have more than one million people, so there are many other great options for living in China. Anyway, today we're not going to talk about China, today we're going to talk about Europe.
So these are the countries that I'm going to focus on today. We have Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Greece, and Turkey. Those are at the moment the most popular countries with the highest demand. I have ordered them alphabetically so we're going to start with the Czech Republic. For people who really want to go to Europe we always kind of recommend the Czech Republic as a first option because it's relatively easy compared to other countries in Europe to get a work permit for non-EU citizens.
The most common form of employment for foreign teachers in the Czech Republic is through private language schools. Non-eu citizens are definitely recommended to find a job from within their own country and then apply for a work visa through the school office on arrival, that's typically how it works. So if you're interested in the Czech Republic you would job hunt from your own country because there are some other countries where it's more common to job hunt in person on the ground. We're going to talk about that in a bit, but for the Czech Republic you can certainly find jobs from within your home country and then once you have a job you go there and then apply for a work visa through the school.
Typical requirements for the Czech Republic are a TEFL certificate and a bachelor's degree in any subject. It doesn't have to be a degree in teaching or in English or anything like that. Then we have the salary and benefits. So as a teacher in the Czech Republic you can expect to make between $700 and $1,200 dollars a month. Many teachers also supplement their income by taking on private students in their spare time. You're going to see that this is a theme throughout all of the European countries because salaries aren't the highest and the cost of living is high especially compared to Asia. I always like to compare everything with Asia because I live here and I have more experience in Asia. The cost of living is relatively high in Europe so usually you're not going to be able to save a lot from your salary. It's a little bit tough and so many teachers like to supplement their income by private tutoring.
For job hunting there are recruiters that help you or online job boards and so I have listed four really good online job boards specifically for the Czech Republic right here. You can check out Expats Czech Republic, that's a really good site. You're going to find jobs there and also general information about what it's like living in the Czech Republic. We also have JoyJobs.com for the Czech Republic. Also, ESL Base has a lot of jobs for many countries in Europe and also around the world. We also have Guardian Jobs and if you are not familiar with the Guardian, it is a British newspaper that also has a very big job board on their website.
We have some questions. Tiana asks do European countries offer accommodation?
When talking about teaching English in Asia we're used to seeing all these great benefits like paid airfares, free housing, health care and so on, but these things are not typical in Europe. Normally, you would have to arrange your own accommodation. Your employer would probably help you find an apartment but you would most likely have to pay for it. Which is why a lot of people live in shared housing with other teachers. There are many Facebook groups or websites where you can find shared apartments with other young people, that's very common in Europe especially in larger cities where housing is scarce or just expensive.
If there are no questions about the Czech Republic, oh, actually I wanted to share this link with you guys. There is a link here about how to get a work visa in the Czech Republic. So if you're interested in teaching in the Czech Republic please check that out. Also, our FAQ section is great for answers to so many questions, so I always recommend checking that out as well. This other one explains a little bit more about how the visa system works.
Next we have a question from Krishna. Which language do we need to learn when we are planning to go to the Czech Republic?
Generally, English is widely spoken in Prague and the other big cities so you can definitely get around with English only, that's no problem, and that goes for most European countries. If you have language proficiency in their native language that's always a plus and if you really want to go to the Czech Republic it would be good to take a course in Czech, but it's not a requirement for foreign teachers to know the local language.
Next up we have France. I think a lot of people are going to be interested in France as it has always been a popular option. It is actually the most visited country in the world I think, so it's a super popular tourist destination. The demand for English teachers is strong in the major cities. What's great about France is they also have a lot of English summer camps, maybe not this year but usually in normal times, it is very popular. So you can find short-term English positions through these camps. It is also a great way to get started teaching in France and to check if it is something that might be interesting to you long-term. You could do a summer camp first and if you make friends and like teaching there then you could look for something more long-term. Also, doing a summer camp in France would be a huge plus when applying for more long-term and permanent jobs later on. Teaching business English to employees of private companies is also very common in France.
Independent employers in France often prefer to hire their teachers on a face-to-face basis, so you might need to be prepared to head to the country to interview for jobs. Unlike as I was saying about the Czech Republic where it is common to find jobs from within your own country online and then apply and interview via Skype or whatever, in France they prefer to do their interviews and hiring face-to-face. The best time to arrive in France to look for jobs is at the end of the summer, from late August to early October, that's the main hiring season.
The requirements for teaching English in France are typically a TEFL certificate and then it's just the more qualifications you have the better. They do not specifically state that you need to have a bachelor's degree, but it's definitely going to be a plus if you do have one. As for salary and benefits. In France you can make between 1,000 and 2,000 euros a month and again many teachers supplement their income by taking on private students. Especially if you want to be in Paris as it is a very expensive city to live in, so you need to be very smart with your money.
For job hunting there are a few good online job boards that I have listed here. One is TES. Another is Glassdoor and also again we have Guardian Jobs. The Guardian has a lot of jobs in France, I think they also list summer camp jobs. Another very popular option is the TAPIF Program which is a government-funded program that places English teachers into schools in France. It's a really great option for people from non-EU countries. I actually did a live session about the best government-funded programs a while back where I go into it in depth, so if that interests you I recommend you go back to that one. It's called the best government funded teaching programs or something like that. There's a lot of information about the program there, but to join it I think I remember you need to have French language skills. I think you actually have to write an essay about why you want to join the program in French. So that's something to keep in mind.
Maybe Caroline that would be something for you since you're learning French, maybe you can check out the TAPIF Program. It sounds like you'd be a great candidate for it. If you're interested in it just check out tapif.org and you'll find all the requirements and hiring processes there. Also, check out the previous live session and our FAQ section as they both have more information about teaching English in france and the TAPIF Program.
Okay, Fauzon has a question. Hi Linda, when hired do they give me a program to teach or should I find one myself?
Do you mean the TAPIF Program? With most of these programs you apply and then they place you in a school around the country and typically you cannot choose where you want to go. They just see which schools currently are in need of teachers and then they place you there.
Omar says, how can I join to teach English and also learn French?
That's what a lot of people do and you can do this in France, Italy and in Spain I believe. They have this option where you can apply for a language student visa for taking a language course. So if you want to go to France you would sign up for an official government sponsored French language course that you can pay for and then you get a student visa. The student visa also allows you to work a set number of hours a week, so that's what a lot of people do from non-EU countries. They get this visa and then that visa allows them to teach as well.
Faizan says, no, I'm talking about the actual lessons you teach.
That typically depends on the school. Some schools have their own curriculum, they have all their materials and they just give it to you and this is what you have to teach. Some others are not like that and they ask you to create the lessons. So it varies from school to school. I would say that the majority probably have some sort of curriculum or at least a framework of what you need to teach, but then maybe you would have to come up with your own materials. But it depends on the school.
Giuliana says, I was studying French at Allianz Frances Bordeaux.
Wow, in Bordeaux, that's beautiful. How was that, did you get a student visa? Maybe you could share some insight, that would be really interesting because that's what a lot of people do. They take French language classes and then they work on the side.
Faizon says that it's kind of hard to plan the lessons, do TEFL courses provide any lesson programs for us?
So that's what the TEFL or TESOL course is pretty much about. Lesson planning is a big part of our courses. If you take a course you get a lot of materials that you can print out and use in your classroom later on. So lesson planning is a big part of our TEFL training because it is difficult especially for people who have never taught before, it can be very hard. Our courses include a lot of materials and a lot of resources that you can adapt and tweak to fit the classes that you're going to teach later on. So don't worry about it, when you take your course you're not going to have any major problems later on with planning your lessons.
Luciana says, I would like to teach English in Europe but I think I must improve my English.
That's a really good point and that's also something I researched because when it comes to teaching English in Europe a lot of resources say it's best to be from an EU country and a lot of countries in Europe only hire people from the UK or Ireland because there's no visa process or anything like that, it's super easy. However, nowadays there's more and more people from other countries who want to come to Europe and it's also getting more common and accepted. From what I've read, employers expect you to have the English proficiency level of C-2 or C-1, so that's pretty much the highest level from the European Proficiency Framework.
I asked Liza my colleague because she knows more about that because she's a non-native English teacher and she's all about improving her English, so I asked her what are the top English proficiency certificates to get and she said either IELTS or TOEFL. But she also said that for Europe the gold standard is the Cambridge CPE Certificate and that's also something that she's currently working towards. So if you really want to go to Europe as a non-EU teacher it's not going to be super easy, but if you put in the effort and the work you can do it for sure. I recommend that you work towards that Cambridge CPE or any other English test like IELTS or TOEFL.
Let's move onto the next country, Greece. Greece is also a really popular destination in Europe and it continues to be a favorite among English teachers as well. Due to economic problems in recent times there has definitely been a reduction in the number of teaching jobs on offer across Greece, but there are still jobs available especially in the national network of language schools known as Frontistiria. They have over 6,000 of these private language schools all over the country, so those are great places to start if you want to work in Greece. The typical requirements for working in Greece are usually a TEFL certificate and again the more qualifications you have the better.
Salary and benefits for Greece. You can typically earn between 800 and 1,000 euros a month and again many teachers supplement their income by taking on private students. The cost of living in Greece is actually significantly lower than many other countries like France or Italy, so you can probably have a more comfortable lifestyle. In terms of job hunting, the main hiring season in Greece is September and there is also a secondary season in January. Again you can either go with recruitment companies or online job boards, and for Greece a really great online job board would be the British Council. They have this online job board where they share teaching jobs, so check that out if you're interested in teaching in Greece. We also have Linkedin which proves to be quite a good source for teaching jobs in Greece and other European countries. Another one is ESL Base and again Guardian Jobs.
We have a question. What about Germany?
There's no Germany today unfortunately because like I said I'm going to focus on those countries where either the demand is high at the moment or it's relatively easy to get into. With Germany you can find jobs there, especially in the bigger cities, but I didn't include it at the moment because it's usually not that popular compared with the eight that I'm mentioning today.
Let's move on with the next one, here we have Hungary. In recent years Hungary has become very popular in terms of English teaching as there's a strong demand for the English language in the country. Hungary also has a low cost of living compared to many other countries in Europe so it's become a very popular destination. There are opportunities at state-run primary and secondary schools, private language schools, and even at universities and individual businesses that hire English teachers for their employees. So there are some really great options for Hungary.
Typical requirements are a TEFL certificate and again the more qualifications you have the better. The average salary is between 1,000 and 2,000 euros a month. It’s also worth noting that Hungary has a teacher placement program called the Central European Teaching Program or CETP. I think this program is really great and it could be a great doorway into Europe for a lot of people because this program is open to native English speakers from the US, Canada, the UK, or any other EU country. There's also no official upper age limit. For this particular program you do need to have a bachelor's degree and a minimum of a 40-hour online TEFL course. Another great feature of this program is that partners, friends, and families can often be placed together. For example, if you and your partner want to go and do this together you can apply together and then they will place you in the same area, which is really cool. I wanted to put that out there because this type of program is quite rare, especially in Europe, and this could be a really cool opportunity. I've been to Budapest and it's an amazing city, I would love to live there so I highly recommend it.
Job boards to check out include TES, Glassdoor, and also Guardian Jobs. Definitely check it out because I feel like Hungary is a little bit under the radar, but it has become very popular especially among English-speaking Europeans in terms of teaching. You can see they're really trying to push English language education with the Central European Teaching Program. I think that's a really cool program and I think it needs to be highlighted more because it's so unique.
Up next we have Italy. I know a lot of people have been waiting for Italy because it's one of the most popular countries in Europe and a lot of people want to go there. In Italy teaching jobs in state schools are very popular because they tend to pay well and they also have fewer working hours compared to private schools, but those jobs are hard to get as you usually need to have already worked in Italy and have a good standard of Italian language skills. So a more realistic option for many teachers is working for a private academy and those can be found all over the country. English summer camps are also popular and these positions are for a month or two months perhaps. So great for people who are looking for something short-term because most English contracts are for nine months or a year.
Typical requirements for teaching English in Italy are a TEFL certificate and again the more qualifications you have the better. The average salary ranges between 800 and 1,000 euros a month. The main hiring season is in September and there's also a secondary season in January, which is very similar to other European countries because the schools start around the same time. Again you can go with recruitment companies and also online job boards. Here are some great options in terms of online job boards where you can find positions for Italy. One other thing I would also like to mention for Italy is the same as we mentioned about France. A lot of people sign up for an Italian language course and then they get a student visa that also allows them to work a certain amount of hours so you can also teach.
That's a great way to get started with your Italy journey. You sign up for a language course, you go to Italy, you learn Italian, you also teach on the side and get some teaching experience, you earn some money, but more importantly you build your network. I think a lot of times with teaching abroad it's all about building your network, especially the first year of teaching somewhere. The first year you're new in the country, you don't know anything about how things work. I think especially the first year it’s an important time to basically just figure out what type of school you want to teach at and then you can sort of build your network. You are going to meet people and you can expand your network. You're going to meet other teachers who have connections to other schools and so on. The first year of teaching is not likely to be in your dream school or your dream position, but it's a foot in the door and then from there you can build towards your ideal position in the ideal location. That's in my opinion how it typically works.
Let me look at some questions. Ava's asking are there any countries in Europe that hire non-native speakers?
Yes and I've talked about that quite a bit, so if you have just joined us you can watch the replay. Basically it's not impossible to find a job in Europe as a non-native speaker and I just mentioned the Cambridge CPE Certificate that my co-worker Liza, who is a non-native English speaker, recommends for teaching in Europe. That's sort of the gold standard of English proficiency certificate to have, it's not a requirement but it's going to be a huge bonus for employers in Europe. I think as a non-native English speaker you need to have an English proficiency certificate as proof that you're fluent in English and you understand grammar and all of those things.
Fauzon has a question. Excuse me, I got in here late and I want to know how much is the salary in France. I signed up for the 120-hour course.
Let's just jump back, the average salary in France is between 1,000 and 2,000 euros a month. It's going to depend on what school you work for and also your personal qualifications, but that's the typical range.
Another question from Margaret. Do these countries offer opportunities to teach English online from another country?
So do you mean you want to stay in your own country and then teach English to students in Italy, for example? Is that what you're asking or do you want to go to Italy and then teach online there? Obviously with online teaching platforms your students can be from all over the world. I think my co-worker Liza did a live session about the different online teaching platforms that there are at the moment and which ones are really great, so I recommend you check that out.
Fauzon asks if we have a TEFL certificate, why do we need the CPE Certificate?
Good question. So you do not always need to have a TEFL certificate and you do not need to have a CPE. It's just that the more qualifications you have the better. A TEFL and a CPE are two completely different things. A TEFL certificate is a certificate that shows that you know how to teach English. It's a certification for teachers, but the CPE is an English proficiency test that shows that you are proficient in English. Just because you have a TEFL certificate it doesn’t mean that your English is of a high standard. People who get the CPE do it because they want to prove their English is good enough to get a job in an English-speaking country or they might want to go to university in an English-speaking country. The two certificates are for different things, but if you combine them as a non-native English teacher who wants to teach in Europe that combination is really powerful. It's going to help you because it shows that with the CPE you're proficient in English and then the TEFL certificate shows the employer that you know how to teach the language.
Next we have a question about the BA in English studies. Does it qualify me to teach English in Europe?
A bachelor's degree in English or teaching or anything like that is a huge plus, but still a lot of countries require a TEFL certificate at the same time. Because again, a BA in English studies probably doesn't cover the teaching part of the language. So a TEFL certificate is always recommended as well.
Margaret says, ideally I'd stay in Canada but teach in Hungary.
Like I said there are so many online teaching platforms and the students are from literally all over the world, so you could find a teaching platform that has predominantly people from Hungary on it. Perhaps that would be an option.
Brett says, hi sorry I'm late. No problem, nice to have you here. Let me move onto the next country. We have three more to cover so let's get through it, but still keep your questions coming. Let’s talk about Portugal. Portugal, especially in recent years, has become a booming tourist destination and that's also one of the main reasons why there is a strong demand for English language teachers. However, Portugal's economy is currently quite weak so teacher’s salaries are not particularly high. You can still find opportunities for teaching in Portugal, especially at state-run schools and also private language institutes. The requirements are typically a TEFL certificate and or a degree, so either or. Also, native English speakers are preferred, typically people from the UK or Ireland, because of the economic situation not a lot of schools are going to take on visa sponsorship because it costs a lot of money.
The average salary typically ranges between 700 and 1,000 euros a month and again many teachers do tutoring on the side to supplement their income. The job hunting process is typically done in person, so you would have to be in Portugal during the main hiring season which is between June and July. There's also a second season in January. Again you can go with recruitment companies and I'm going to mention some recruiters that we work with at the end of the session, and also online job boards. One really good one for Portugal is Wall Street English, which is actually a big English language school chain and they have a lot of schools in Portugal and other European countries. Also, Glassdoor, Linkedin, ESL Base, and Guardian Jobs.
Next up we have Spain. So the demand for English teachers is very strong, particularly in the major cities. Spain is a great place to find summer English camp jobs, so if you're looking for something short-term a summer camp would be a great way to gain experience and also to check out if that country fits you. Spain is also great for teaching business English to employees of private companies. The majority of teaching jobs are filled locally by interviewing face-to-face, so again if you want to work in Spain you need to be there by mid-September to look for jobs and to interview in person.
The requirements are typically a TEFL certificate and a bachelor's degree. Spanish language skills are also a plus but not a requirement. Previous teaching experience is a big plus and that goes for all the countries mentioned. Typically salaries are
between 700 and 1,800 euros a month, so that's a huge range. It depends on the kind of school you work for and your qualifications and experience. Again many teachers supplement their income by taking on private students.
For the recruitment process you can either go with a recruiter or online job boards and great online job boards are TES, Seek Teachers, ESL Base, and again Guardian Jobs. Guardian Jobs is great for pretty much all the countries in Europe, as is ESL Base. Spain also has the popular Cultural Ambassadors Program. I've mentioned that in a previous session about government programs, but if you're interested in that you can check out this link.
Next we have Turkey. Turkey is obviously very unique and interesting because it's sort of on the crossroads between Europe and Asia. Only a small part of the country is actually in Europe and then the bigger part of the country is in Asia. The demand is very high for English language teachers at the moment, especially in the big cities and tourist resort areas because the people who work at the tourist resorts need to be able to speak English. The requirements for teaching English in Turkey are a TEFL or TESOL certification and some schools or employers may also ask for a degree and or previous experience. So again the more experience and qualifications you have the better.
The average salary is between $800 and $1,800 US a month. As for the job hunt, you should start your job search during the summer months. It's kind of both in person and also online. You can find a lot of jobs online and set up an interview before you go. I'm going to share our partner recruitment companies with you just after this in a little bit and then also online job boards for Turkey. We have all the usual ones I have already mentioned, plus a really good one which is the Health and Education Foundation and this is particularly only for Turkey. They share a lot of English teaching jobs there as well as information about living in Turkey.
Okay, so these are our partner ESL recruiters, you can also find them on our website. You can reach out to them and let them know that Linda from ITTT sent you. They're great recruiters not only for Europe but also for Asia and all the other parts of the world. We also have a lot of recruiters that focus specifically on China as you can see here. So check them out on our website. Next we will move on to the Q&A section where I will answer any questions you have. Before that I just want to mention again the 30% discount. You can either scan this QR code or you can get your discount with the link that looks like this in the comment section. If you're listening to this on the podcast it is in the podcast episode description, the same link, so you can click on that and get your discount as well.
Okay, we have a question from Apt, I hope I'm saying this name right. What is the difference between a TEFL certificate that is free and one that is paid, apart from accreditation?
Apart from accreditation, basically when it comes to TEFL courses and especially free courses, you get what you pay for. If you pay nothing for it you basically don't get much in return. Free TEFL courses are not going to be accredited and they're probably not going to offer any materials that you can use later on. They probably won’t even give you an actual certificate. This is what our certificates look like, it's embossed and all of our certificates also have this verification number right here that you can punch into our website and your employer can verify that this is a real certificate and that you own it. Also, our TEFL courses have free lifetime job assistance, free certificates probably don't have that.
Fauzon asks, how do I get the certificate once I finish the course?
It will be mailed to you. First you receive a PDF version of the certificate right away via email so you can start applying for jobs straight away. Nowadays we apply for a lot of jobs via email or online applications and stuff like that so you can attach that, it has your name on it and everything. Then we mail you via registered post and you get this actual physical certificate anywhere in the world. That's also included in the price.
Brett says, I have a couple of months before I leave for my course overseas, when do I want to start narrowing down which country I'd like to work in?
I think you're already doing that right now because you come back every week and watch the live sessions so you're gathering as much information as you can, which is great. Then you go to Rome in the summer, which I'm still very jealous about, and maybe you like Rome so much that you want to stay. I think you're already doing it, you're doing the right thing, you're gathering as much information as you can. You probably have a broad idea of the countries that you're interested in, so you could check out YouTube channels or blogs and see what life is like there and see if that fits your vibe. Don't worry too much about it, just enjoy the journey.
Next. What countries will hire online in Europe?
So which countries hire teachers in advance through online interviews. We mentioned the Czech Republic earlier, that is certainly one option. Also, any government run teaching programs tends to recruit in advance. So in France you have the TAPIF Program. Hungary has the CETP and Spain has the Cultural Ambassadors Program, all of those recruit in advance via their websites. In some cases Italy is an option, but most other countries in Europe usually prefer to recruit face-to-face. I think they're also transitioning because they realize that a lot of people are not going to go without having anything lined up. More and more jobs are now being advertised online. So keep an eye on the job boards.
Shauna says, I taught in Korea for seven and a half years and did your course 10 years ago. I loved it. But I can't afford the in-person risk.
I think a lot of employers in Europe are realizing that and so they are definitely moving towards online hiring more and more. Good luck with your job search Shauna.
We have a question from Mimi. Is it possible to teach in the UK or Ireland?
Everything is possible. The countries that I mentioned today are the ones with the highest demand or they are relatively easy to get into compared to other ones, but that doesn't mean that other countries in Europe don't hire any teachers at all. It just means it's a little bit more tricky or there aren't as many jobs available and I think that's definitely the case for the UK and Ireland. You can find a job there and I actually did my very first live session with Jessica from Go Overseas and she is American and she had a job lined up in Ireland. I recommend you check out some Facebook groups. I always like mentioning Facebook groups because they are great. You can search for teaching jobs in Ireland or teaching in the UK, things like that, and you will find a lot of groups out there. Reach out to people who are doing what you want to do and ask them for advice and contacts, stuff like that.
Another question. If I have a C-1 English level from a TOEFL test for example and the requirements list includes being at a native speaker level, am I eligible for the job?
I can't make that decision, you would have to apply and then the employer is going to make that decision. But something that I said in a previous session, and this is just my personal advice for anyone, if you fulfill 70% to 80% of a job offer, apply for it because some job offers have ridiculous requirements that nobody can actually fulfill. The companies know it too, so there's no perfect candidate, nobody actually can fulfill those ridiculous requirements. So if you fulfill many of the requirements just apply as you might be in with a shot. It doesn’t always come down to certifications and qualifications, your personality and motivation are also important.
I think I'm going to sign off here. If you have any questions check out our FAQ page or leave a comment below, even after this ends and we will get back to you. This was fun, it was a long one today but it was really fun. We had a really active crowd and I hope to see you again next week. If you have any topic suggestions for other live sessions leave them in the comments box. I always try to make it fun and interactive and sometimes I just do a Q&A where you can just ask whatever, there's no specific topic.
I should also say a quick disclaimer that neither ITTT or me are official representatives of any government or company from any of those countries. The information is based on our experience and my own research, but obviously you can always reach out to the official organizations or embassies for more information.
Thanks so much for coming back here week after week, you guys are amazing. I really appreciate it. If you have any topic suggestions leave them in the comments or reach out to me directly at Linda Goes East on Instagram and let me know what you want to talk about next. I still have that on my agenda talking about our different course options, but like I said last time we are currently restructuring a little bit so once that is all finalized I'm going to do a live session about our different course options. If you have tuned in late, watch the replay from the beginning as there's a lot of info about different countries. Today we talked about eight different European countries, so if you're interested in teaching English in Europe I highly recommend you watch it again from the beginning.
Also watch my colleague Liza on Tuesday and don't forget to like and subscribe so you don't miss any of our other live sessions in the future. Have a lovely day and a lovely weekend. I hope to see you again next week. Bye, bye.
