I’m looking into getting my TEFL certification and I’m wanting to live and work in Europe, specifically a Scandinavian country. I love teaching and I have a BA degree in education. I’m looking to improve my quality of life, experience new cultures, and generally want to be somewhere I can feel safe.
How likely is it that I could get an ESL job as an American? I heard it’s difficult if you aren’t from the EU. I do have 2 years of full time teaching experience in public schools.
Don’t be racist. Move to Africa
It can also be worth your while to focus on smaller cities. Perhaps not as much fun as the capitals or mega cities, but demand is higher for native speakers in the second or third largest cities and immigration laws seem easier to bend.
Go look at r/internationalteachers and read the stickies there. If you are a licensed teacher with 2 years experience, you can get an actual teaching job, not just ESL. Better pay and benefits. You may not be able to get one in Europe, but there are lots of places you can go that will be plenty safe. Much of Asia is quite safe, quite possibly safer than Europe.
I considered South Korea for a long time and might revisit it.
There’s zero chance. TEFL certificates are meaningless in real schools, they’re for working in language academies and teaching privately, neither of which you’ll get a visa for in Europe. You need a teaching license and experience in your own country in order to get a job at an international school (an MA in TESOL is helpful), or you need to meet the requirements to work as a teacher in your target country (which is often a profession restricted to citizens, as teaching in some countries is a civil service position).
There are some teaching exchange programs if you just want a change in scenery for a year or two, where you’d just be working as a classroom assistant. The Spanish ministry of education runs one (I’ve worked in it for years), and there’s TAPIF in France. There’s also the Fulbright ELA program, which is highly competitive, and an extremely small program in Italy called SITE, though it’s very limited. You can also apply for a freelance visa and teach in academies and as a private tutor in Germany, though that option requires some commitment due to how much work it is getting set up, finding clients, taking care of taxes, etc. But lots of people do it, so it’s definitely an option.
You can always try to get a teacher position at military schools etc… Great environment und pay etc
Hey OP- What about teaching in Hawaii? They have a huge teacher shortage, pay pretty nicely, and from what I understand the requirements are pretty light- but it’s not my professional field. It might be enough of a flavor of a different country for you… You will definitely have a new culture and perhaps feel safer depending on where you’re coming from; and optionally could learn the language but use English whenever. I saw a job posted for a 9th grade english teacher paying 55-70k or something like that.