A TEFL Certificate & How It Could Benefit Your Teaching Career

There are those that think that being a native English speaker affords them the luxury of teaching English anywhere in the world and while this is true up to a point, it still doesn’t mean that you can teach the language effectively to your students. Just because you speak the language doesn’t mean that you are good at imparting your knowledge to people who want to learn. Teaching isn’t for everyone, but if you feel that it is a calling then it’s best that you are better prepared for the road ahead. You can never get too many qualifications but the one that you must simply start with is definitely a TEFL certificate.

If it is your plan to teach in the Asia region and specifically in Thailand, then you’re definitely going to needTEFL certification in Thailand before you can’t even consider going into a classroom and trying to teach young children and adolescents. There are several onsite TEFL courses Thailand schools have on offer. The school that you go to will have a minimum expectation that you do hold such a certificate and for those of you who feel that this is something that you don’t need, let me explain about the many benefits of having such a certificate.

1. It helps you to stay legal. – Thai immigration and the Thai Labour office take their jobs very seriously indeed and there are a number of rules that need to be followed in order to be able to teach in this wonderful country. Everyone needs to have the correct visa in order to work and so the relevant authority will provide you to have at least the minimum credential of having a TEFL. If after a few years, you decide the teaching is definitely for you then maybe you can push you a bachelor’s degree and get yourself a full teaching license.
2. It makes you a better teacher. – There is nothing more unsettling than walking into a classroom full of young eager minds for the first time and not knowing what you’re doing. Doing a proper TEFL certification course prepares you for what lies ahead because you will also be given hands-on experience in real classrooms before you are released into the teaching world.
3. It creates opportunities. – Having a TEFL certificate helps to open up many doors for you and it allows you to be a bit choosy when it comes to the learning institutions that you would like to teach in. If you’re worrying about the cost of such a certificate, then you can have peace of mind knowing that your TEFL certificate will get you a much better paying job and so you will recover any money that you have paid in no time at all.

As well as all the above, getting your TEFL certification will allow you to get a taste of what the teaching life is like in Thailand and to decide whether or not it is your future calling. The other wonderful thing is that you can use your TEFL in many other countries including in Europe and beyond.