is it possible to teach abroad, without certification ?

Question

I just happened to visit a TEFL site and read this article "Are you Tefl material?", dated September 27, 2004.

I am really interested in teaching abroad, and would love to take it up as a profession. Currently I am working as a Communication Trainer (American Voice and Accent) for American processes which have been outsourced to India. I am employed with a leading business process outsourcing org. in India. The point is, neither am I a 'native American', nor do I have any particular qualifications to teach. CELTA is too expensive and I'm not sure what I need to do, to be able to teach abroad.

It is the following paragraph in the above mentioned article, which has sort of raised my hopes again...

"Non-native speakers need at least the CAE (Cambridge certificate of advanced English) or an IELTS 7.5 level of English, but don't necessarily need the certificate to prove it. They may, however, be asked to complete an additional language task. " and later "It's good to point out here that you're not supposed to be a walking grammar reference book before you get on the course, but schools do like it if you are able to demonstrate some language awareness before you start."

Thats really inspiring, however, I still do not know how to go about it.Will someone help me, please ?

Pyewacket · Accepted Answer

Aneeta:

I think you can teach abroad without the certificate. I did, but I'm a "native American" (as you say). It is certainly easier to have a certificate though (you'd probably get paid more). I worked in Japan without a certificate. I saw people get jobs there after walking in off the street. I got my job there through the help of a friend. I didn't have a certificate when I lived in Peru either and I walked into a language school, showed them my resume and got a job. I had to visit a couple of schools before I found one that would take me though. If you don't have a certificate, it helps if you have a resume listing your experience and letters of recommendations.

Now, I teach ESL at the university level the US. For that I had to get a Master's Degree in TESOL. The benefit of an MA is that you are qualifited to teach anywhere in the world! That might be something to consider, too. However, a certificate will probably guarantee you a job in most places (not everywhere). Not having one is up to chance.

You said that you are an accent coach -- would the company pay for you to get certified? If you are a valuable employee, it might be worth it for them to make sure that you get enough training to do your job well. An American company would do that for a valuable employee here, so you may want to inquire about it. Once you have your certificate in hand, then you can decide whether you want to travel abroad.... Yeah, it might be a sleezy way to go about it, but if you can't afford the certificate....

I hope that helps.

pyewacket

Aneeta Mathew · Answer

Thank you...its good information. I guess I'll just have to wait and watch for now.

Thanks again !

is it possible to teach abroad, without certification ?

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