Teaching English as a Foreign Language

This week I've decided to do something a little different and write about my experiences of teaching English as a foreign language. Although this isn't exactly a post about travel, I still feel that it's relevant to this blog, as this is one of the best careers you can choose if you're looking for a job with plenty of travel opportunities!

In this post I will talk about my own experiences of working in this sector, teaching training, online teaching, and my go-to lesson resources. Hopefully, it will serve as a useful guide to any readers who are thinking of getting into English teaching.

How I Got Started

It had always been my intention to have a job that involved travelling and languages, hence why I studied Spanish, French and German at university. However, my initial plan was actually to become an interpreter or translator, rather than a teacher. But during my time at university, I realised that being an interpreter probably wasn't the right job for me, and although I searched for jobs in translation after I graduated, I wasn't able to find any online work in this area - the only jobs on offer were in-person jobs based in the UK, which weren't, and still aren't, compatible with my particular set of life circumstances.

So I started to consider if perhaps teaching would be a good path for me to go down. I had some previous experience in the sector, having volunteered at a primary school during my Gap Year, and having worked as a teaching assistant for the British Council in two secondary schools in Austria during my Year Abroad. Although I had enjoyed both of these experiences, I still wasn't 100 percent convinced that teaching was for me, given that I am naturally quite an introverted person.

But one day shortly after I'd finished university, I was doing my usual fruitless job search, when an advert came up that intrigued me. It was offering free hotel accommodation in amazing destinations around Europe, in exchange for helping people learn English as part of an immersion programme. I thought that sounded like a pretty good deal, so I decided to go for it, though I was slightly worried it could be a scam. Luckily, it wasn't! The company is called Angloville, and though not everything about the experience was quite what I expected, I had an absolutely brilliant time completing a programme in Poland. It was hard work that involved lots and lots of conversation, but it made me realise that teaching English as a foreign language was an area I wanted to work in. So I got back home with the sense of finally having a bit more direction in life, and decided to sign up for a TEFL course...

Teacher Training

You don't have to complete a course in order to teach English as a foreign language, but it's definitely recommended, as it gives you a grounding in lesson planning, teaching the different skills involved in language learning, and teaching in general.

Some people choose to go abroad to study a TEFL course, and this was an option that interested me. However, it was simply too expensive, so I decided to do an online course instead. I chose to get my qualification through the TEFL Academy, and I'm really glad I did; as well as being reasonably priced, its course is officially recognised by both the UK and the US governments, so it stands you in good stead when looking for work later.

After you've qualified as a TEFL teacher, you can obtain some further qualifications in areas such as business English or exam preparation, if you're interested. Earlier this year I completed the IELTS Teacher Training Program, which IELTS Australia offers for free to any English teacher from any part of the world! I'd really recommend earning this certification, as many many students are interested in taking the IELTS test, so you'll get more business once you know how to prepare students for it. And it also looks good to have an additional qualification on your CV.

Where Teachers Work

The traditional path of most TEFL teachers is to spend a year or two working in a particular country and taking advantage of the travel opportunities there, before moving on to the next destination. However, we are now living in less traditional times when it comes to teaching!

The pandemic has caused a large amount of teaching to move from the classroom to the internet, which has led to a boom in the online English teaching market. Since I qualified back in late 2019, I've only ever taught online classes, working on a self-employed basis through two companies: Cambly and Verbling. The two platforms are actually pretty different, so I'm going to write a little bit about my experiences working with both of them.

Cambly

Cambly was recommended to me by one of the coordinators at Angloville, and therefore it was my first port of call when I started looking for an online teaching job. Now I've been working on the platform for nearly two years! Here are my thoughts:

- Cambly is a great place to start if you're a new teacher who's looking to gain experience teaching online. One reason for this is that it's a simpler, less formal platform compared to some of the others, and its main focus is conversation, rather than more structured teaching.

- Another advantage of Cambly is that it gives tutors three different ways of working. Students can book reservations with you, you can "go visible" and wait for students to call you, and you can sign up for "priority hours", where you must answer every call you receive during the hour for a guaranteed 15 minutes of pay.

- The priority hour system is very useful for new tutors, as it allows you to start working and earning money straight away, and it can also help you build up a base of regular students.

- However, I am personally not a fan of the priority hours and have not signed up for one in over a year. This is because I prefer to know in advance exactly when my lessons will take place, how long they will be, and which student I'll be teaching, so that I can feel prepared. During priority hours, you have no way of knowing whether the next class will be five minutes long or an hour long, which I find a bit stressful. You also have no way of knowing whether the next student will be someone who's actually serious about learning English, as not all students on Cambly are. The worst thing that happened to me was being sworn at by two teenagers, but I know that many tutors have had much much worse experiences.

- One of the most common complaints about Cambly is its rating system. It's not very transparent, and sometimes doesn't seem to make sense. My rating took a bit of a hit during my early months of working priority hours, and never really recovered, despite the fact that for several months I only worked with regular students, who I knew were giving me five stars after each lesson. A lower rating means new students are less likely to book classes with you, and you're also less likely to be offered priority hours, so it can seriously affect your earning potential.

- Speaking of earnings, the pay rate on Cambly is pretty low ($10.20 USD per teaching hour) and cannot be changed. You are also not paid for cancelled classes (even very late cancellations) and you only receive $1.10 for a no-show. For this reason, most tutors find that they need to work on at least one other website in addition to Cambly.

- Nowadays I just do a couple of lessons on Cambly each week, so it's more of a side gig than an actual job for me.

Verbling

I applied to work on Verbling in March 2020, after the pandemic started to affect the amount of work I was getting on Cambly. Now it's my main source of income, and I have quite a full schedule most days! Here are my thoughts on this platform:

- Getting started is perhaps the hardest thing. There is no priority hour system on Verbling, so the only way you can get work is if a student books a 60-minute reservation with you (though you can also choose to offer 30-minute trial lessons). I had to wait for two or three weeks until I got my first student, but the good news is that once you've worked with a couple of students, you start to get more and more reservations.

- The pay on Verbling is a definite advantage, as teachers have the ability to set their own rates. So I earn a little more for my work there than I do on Cambly. In addition, I get paid in full for no-shows and receive 50 percent pay for late cancellations.

- I feel that on Verbling more is expected of me; I have to show my skills as a real teacher, rather than just a conversation tutor. The platform has a lot of different features, which I found a little intimidating at first, as it was so much more complex than Cambly, but I quickly got used to it. Now I really appreciate the fact that I can edit documents with my students, watch videos with them, and create vocabulary cards, all within Verbling's classroom space.

- I've found that students on Verbling are very keen to learn English and are willing to work hard, so most of my lessons are a pleasure to teach.

My Favourite Resources

Here are some of the online resources I use on a regular basis in my classes:

- Engoo Daily News: This website has articles aimed at different proficiency levels, which cover a wide range of interesting topics. They're great for learning vocabulary, improving reading comprehension, and most of all, for stimulating discussion.

- Perfect English Grammar: Here you can find detailed explanations of every grammar point you can think of, as well as exercises designed to check understanding.

- British Council: Learn English: The British Council's website has a huge amount of useful content, from grammar exercises through to business English lesson plans. The kids section of the website also has some great resources, including animated stories and songs.

- Conversation Questions for the ESL/EFL Classroom: Occasionally, I get students who say they only want to practice conversation, but who aren't very responsive when I ask them questions. I've found that asking them to pick a topic we can talk about from this website is a good way of increasing their enthusiasm. It also means that I don't get stuck for questions to ask them!

- IELTS: It goes without saying that this is the best resource for information about the IELTS test and for sample questions.

June 2022 Update: I've had a message sent in from a reader, Amanda, who recommended this article about homophones. It's an interesting and very useful article, which illustrates the differences between English words that sound the same but have different meanings. Thank you for the recommendation, Amanda!

What I've Learned

Being an online English teacher has been a really educational and enriching experience. Since I started, I'm sure I must have spoken to students from at least 50 different countries, and I've learned a lot about their lives and cultures, and had some really interesting conversations. It's also very rewarding to hear my students' English improve over the weeks and months. In general, I enjoy my job a lot, and I think the last 18 months would have been so much more difficult had I not been working in this particular sector.

I also feel quite proud that I've managed to build up the student base and relatively full schedule that I have. I never really imagined myself being self-employed, and I definitely didn't imagine myself in a job that involved so much social interaction. But I've gained a lot of confidence since I first started teaching, and I've also developed skills in communication and organisation that will come in useful in whatever job(s) I have in the future.

My Future in Teaching

Within the next couple of months (if everything goes to plan), I'll finally be starting my first in-person TEFL job in Santiago de Chile, which is very exciting! I do feel a little nervous about working for a company and about working with students in person; I've got very used to being a self-employed, online teacher. But on the other hand, I feel much less nervous about it than I did last year, because I've now got more than 1000 lessons under my belt, and I know that that experience will be really useful for me. I'm looking forward to documenting my South American travel and teaching experiences very soon!

While I don't know if I will work as an English teacher forever (I'd like to try new work challenges after my year in Chile, whether that's in the education sector or somewhere else), I'm really glad that I decided to become a teacher, because it's been a great experience so far, and it's something I'll always be able to come back to in the future. And whether I'm working in a school in a foreign country or working remotely from my laptop, I know it'll give me plenty of opportunities to travel the world!

Where Teaching English Has Taken Me (and Will Take Me) so Far...

Places where I've taught (or will teach) in clockwise order starting from top left: Modrzewiowe Wzgórze hotel in Poland; my home county of Wiltshire (pic is of Castle Combe); Oxfordshire (pic is of the Radcliffe Camera in Oxford); Feldkirchen in Kärnten in Austria; Santiago de Chile (pic is of Parque Metropolitano and the Costanera Centre).

My Gap Year 2014-2015 (Plus Gap Year Tips)

Taking a Gap Year was a decision I took fairly late. From the age of 15, I'd wanted to study languages at university, so I knew I'd have a Year Abroad and all the travel and freedom that comes with it to look forward to. Therefore a Gap Year didn't really seem necessary.

However, my final year at sixth form college was a difficult one for many reasons, and choosing a university just wasn't a decision I was in the right frame of mind to take. And I certainly didn't feel ready to actually move out and start university. So taking a year out was the natural thing to do while I figured out what to do next and focused on things outside of studying for a while.

I hadn't really planned any of the year properly before it started, so it's no surprise that it didn't turn out how I'd imagined it would! It definitely didn't resemble the stereotypical image that most people have of a Gap Year - I didn't go backpacking in Southeast Asia, nor did I go and work in a bar in Australia. Despite this, it was still a great year, during which I achieved a few important goals in life and travelled to various places, including three countries I'd never visited previously.

So in this post, I'm going to break down the different things I did during the year, and I'll also share some tips on how to make the most of a Gap Year.

Work and Volunteering

My original plan was to spend the majority of the year working as an au pair in either France or Spain in order to practice my language skills and to experience life in another country. So after I'd finished my final exams, I applied for an au pair programme based in Spain that had been recommended to me. It was a voluntary exchange programme, and something I didn't believe you could be rejected for, and yet I ended up being rejected, which was pretty disappointing and humiliating. This put me off the au pair idea, which in hindsight was a good thing. (I actually ended up au pairing in France during my Year Abroad and had an awful experience, so it's not something I'd recommend doing.)

Afterwards I made a new plan, which was to find a job close to home for most of the year, save up money, and then travel somewhere new and exciting. Several of my peers were able to easily carry out similar plans, quickly finding work in supermarkets and shops, and then jetting off to places like Thailand and Australia. However, when I was a teenager, many things just didn't come as easily to me as they did to other people, and finding work was one of those things. Although I spent hours painstakingly working on job applications, I never heard back from most of the companies, and on the rare occasions that I did get an interview, I wasn't successful.

So it's fair to say that my Gap Year didn't get off to the greatest start! But in September 2014, things took a turn for the better. I realised that I needed to start doing something with my time - I couldn't spend the whole year constantly applying for and getting rejected from entry-level jobs. In the summer between my first and second years of A-Levels, I'd volunteered for a few hours every week at my local Red Cross charity shop, and so I decided to go back and volunteer there again, which I did once or twice a week from September through to January. This made a huge difference to my mental health, as I was getting out of the house, interacting with other people, and doing something with a purpose. The Red Cross is an amazing organisation which provides emergency aid to people all over the world, and it was really rewarding to play a small part in that process.

At the start of October, I decided to take on some further voluntary work and started spending one day a week helping out at my local primary school, which I continued with for the rest of my Gap Year. Not only was working there fun and rewarding, it was also very valuable work experience. It gave me a taste of what teaching is like as a career, and clearly I liked it, as I'm now working as an ESL teacher!

Volunteering was a great experience, but naturally I also wanted to save up some money too! Fortunately, in the middle of October I finally had some luck in this regard. I had heard about a local recruitment agency that offered various bits of work to young people, which I applied for and got accepted for! Soon I was working different jobs (mostly waitressing and cleaning) around the local area and earning my own money for the first time. Although I wasn't earning as much as I would have done with a stable full-time job, one of the advantages was that I got to try working in various places, including a university, a hotel and a golf club. I could also turn jobs down if I wasn't available, meaning that I had the flexibility to fit work around other things like travelling and volunteering. 

I was very happy to finally get my working life started, and luckily it had started just in time for me to have something to write in the "paid work" section of my UCAS application...

Education, Hobbies and Other Projects

As I already had my A-Level results, the process of applying to universities was a lot easier than it would have been if I'd done it a year earlier. I received unconditional offers for all 5 of the universities I'd applied for, and decided on Nottingham as my final choice (more on that later!)

There were a couple of other important goals I finally achieved during my Gap Year. One of them was passing my Grade 8 piano exam - something that I'd worked towards for 10 years. The other one was passing my driving test (and the Pass Plus), which was actually an even bigger challenge. Driving was another thing that didn't come as easily to me as it did to other people, but it was something I needed to do, as I lived in a small village without any public transport. Most people I know passed their test after a few months of driving lessons, whereas I needed nearly two years, so I definitely felt frustrated and demoralised at times. But when I finally got my licence, it was such a relief! It gave me the freedom to take on a lot more work with the recruitment agency, as well as to go and meet friends or go to the sports centre when I wanted. And although I've barely driven since 2015, I'm still glad to have the ability to drive, which may come in useful in the future.

During the year, I kept up with my French and Spanish studies, albeit in a much more relaxed and enjoyable way than during my A-Levels. I also had the opportunity to focus on hobbies, such as cooking, exercise, reading and watching movies.

But by far one of the most important things about my Gap Year was the fact that I got to spend lots of time with my cat Pickle, who was just the best cat ever. She died a few months into my first year at university at the age of 19, so I'm really glad I was with her for the majority of her final year. ❤

Travelling

One of the most exciting things about doing a Gap Year is having the chance to do plenty of travelling, or even living abroad. For me, the main focuses of my year were working, volunteering and learning to drive, so I never spent any extended periods of time travelling, although I did go on many great day trips and holidays. In hindsight, I don't think I was ready at the age of 18/19 to do something like working abroad or going backpacking on my own, and living at home was absolutely the right decision for me at the time. Part of me regretted a little bit that I didn't travel outside of Europe during the year, but I did visit various places around England, as well as five other European countries, and had some great travel experiences.

As this is a travel blog, it seems like a good idea to write a little bit here about some of the best trips I had! (Unfortunately, my photos are not the greatest - that's partly due to the Nokia phone I was using, and partly due to my own lack of photography skills at the time. I'd like to think I've improved a lot since then!)

July 2014: Slovenia and Austria

The first trip abroad of my Gap Year was a family holiday to Lake Bled in Slovenia, a country none of us had been to before. Although I was unlucky enough to be ill during the holiday and had to have an emergency minor operation there, it was still an enjoyable week. Bled is a really beautiful part of the world, with a fairytale castle and a little island in the middle of its lake, which we rowed to. 

One day we visited the picturesque town of Kranjska Gora and nearby Lake Jasna.

We also enjoyed exploring Slovenia's capital Ljubljana, a very attractive city featuring colourful architecture and a castle!

During the holiday, we went on a day trip to Austria, another country that I hadn't been to before. Here we visited Klagenfurt and Velden am Wörthersee in the Kärnten region. I didn't know it at the time, but I would end up living in the region three years later as part of my Year Abroad!

October 2014: Cannes, France

The second trip abroad of my Gap Year was to the city of Cannes in the south of France, where my Granddad used to live. Famous for its film festival, Cannes is a very flashy and expensive place, but it also has a beautiful beach. I spent a few days out there with my mum, and particularly enjoyed swimming in the sea.

October 2014: Sheffield and the Peak District, England, UK

Later that month I went up north with my parents to visit my sister, who was living in Sheffield. Then the four of us visited the Peak District National Park, including Chatsworth House, a stately home which has appeared in several films. Sadly, my picture of the house itself came out terribly, so here's one I took of the grounds.

November 2014: Birmingham, England, UK

Birmingham is the second largest city in England, so you'd think it would be something of a tourist destination. However, it's actually considered to be one of the ugliest cities in the country, so for most of the year no one visits! But at Christmas time, the city transforms into a winter wonderland, when the Frankfurt Christmas Market comes to town. It's the largest traditional Christmas market outside of Germany and Austria, and it really makes you feel like you've stepped into one of those countries. It was great fun to visit the market back in 2014 and to look around all the stalls selling things like gingerbread, beer and Glühwein. But I have to say my personal highlight was the singing moose (it's definitely a must-see)!

February 2015: Nottingham, England, UK

After I got into the University of Nottingham, I was invited to an offer holders' day to get to know the university better. I'd already visited the campus on an open day the previous year, but this time we stayed overnight and did some sightseeing in the city centre. Nottingham is not exactly known for being the most attractive city in the country, but it does have some interesting sights including Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem (the oldest pub in England), the Robin Hood statue and Nottingham Castle.

March-April 2015: Valencia, Spain

One of the two biggest highlights of the year was my trip to Valencia in Spain. I spent a week studying Spanish at a language school and stayed in the home of a really nice lady (and a sausage dog!), so it was quite an authentic Valencian experience. I had every afternoon free to go sightseeing, which I enjoyed a lot, as the city is very beautiful.

One of the most interesting parts of Valencia is the City of Arts and Sciences (Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències/Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias). It's a cultural and architectural complex, consisting of various museums and exhibition spaces, that looks incredibly futuristic and makes you feel like you've stepped into the year 3000!

May 2015: Blenheim Palace, England, UK

One of the most elaborate palaces in England is Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire. Both its interior and its exterior are incredibly grand, and the grounds of the palace are also very picturesque. I had a great day out there with my parents, and I'd love to go back again in the future.

June 2015: London, England, UK

I think my favourite day trip of the year was when I went to London to visit the Olympic Park. Here I swam in the Aquatics Centre, which is one of the best swimming pools I've ever been to (and surprisingly cheap). It was amazing to swim in the same place where the Olympic Games had taken place three years earlier. The Olympic Park is also a great place to walk around, as it's so futuristic and interesting to look at.

August 2015: Bruges, Belgium

The other main highlight of my Gap Year was my trip to Bruges, also known as Brugge. I'd never visited Belgium before, and it had been one of my dream destinations for many years, so I decided to use the money I'd earned from my work with the recruitment agency to take my first proper solo travel trip. I travelled there by Eurostar and then spent the next few days exploring the cobbled streets, canals and museums of the city. It's definitely one of the best cities I've ever visited; the architecture is so beautiful and it has a real fairytale atmosphere. I really hope to return there in the future.

September 2015: Newark Park, England, UK

Newark Park is a nice National Trust property in Gloucestershire, which features a pretty Tudor house surrounded by the Cotswold countryside. I went there with my parents towards the end of my Gap Year, and remember meeting a very sociable peacock who lived on the estate!

September 2015: Nice and Cannes, France

I finished my Gap Year travels with another foreign trip, returning to the south of France with my mum. We visited my granddad in Cannes again, but this time we stayed in the nearby city of Nice. Unfortunately, I was ill while we were there and had to spend a whole day staying in the hotel room. However, I recovered by the end of the holiday, and we had a really nice day exploring the historic centre of Nice.

 

Gap Year Tips

The great thing about doing a Gap Year is that it can be whatever you want it to be! Unlike a university Year Abroad, you don't have to fulfill any specific requirements, so you can choose what you want to focus the year around. However, one thing I would definitely recommend is to have some idea at the start of what you want from it. It probably won't go entirely to plan, but that's part of the fun! 

Here are a few of my tips on how to make the most of your Gap Year:

• Decide on your goals for the year. Most people associate Gap Years with travel, but they don't have to revolve around travel (though I do think it's nice to take the opportunity to see a bit of the world). They're also a great chance to achieve other milestones. For example, a lot of people leave school with no work experience whatsoever, so a Gap Year is a ideal time to start building up a CV. You can also use the time to work towards other qualifications, whether that's passing your driving test or getting a vocational qualification. I did my TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) certification after graduating from university, but come to think of it, it would be the perfect thing to study during a Gap Year, as it opens up a world of job opportunities to you, even if you don't have a degree.
• Be wary of scams! It goes without saying that when you're looking for work or volunteering opportunities, particularly abroad, you're likely to find plenty of scams online. In addition to this, there are other offers, which while not illegal, may not be exactly what they seem. I think au pairing is particularly bad for this; although many au pairs have a great experience, there are also a lot of horror stories out there. Unfortunately, it's inevitable that some host families will be exploitative and will demand that the au pair does a lot of work for very little (or no) pay. So it's important to make sure you research any job offer carefully before committing to it, and if you have a bad feeling, it's best not to pursue it any further.
• Consider volunteering. It's not easy for everyone to find paid work, so volunteering is a good alternative. Often volunteering opportunities are more interesting than the job opportunities that 18 and 19 year-olds can realistically aim for, and they can be a great way of finding out if you'd like a career in a particular sector. And of course they'll give you experience that will help you to find paid work in the future. 

Finally here's a list of a few organisations that might be useful: 

• Blue Stamp Travel. Previously operating as Halsbury Travel, this organisation offers work experience, language school courses and home-stays in France, Spain and Germany. I used them to book my Gap Year trip to Valencia as well as several other trips before and since.
• The TEFL Academy. This is the best organisation if you want to get TEFL qualified. Their Level 5 TEFL certificate is reasonably priced, can be completed online, and is officially recognised by both the UK and US governments.
  
• Angloville. This is another organisation I worked with after finishing university, but I think it would be a great thing to do during a Gap Year. It's a volunteer programme that's mainly based in Poland and other Eastern European countries, during which you help people to learn English through conversation practice. In return you get free accommodation in hotels of varying quality, a city tour at the start of the programme, and another tour halfway through the programme. Each programme lasts a week, but if you like, you can join two or more programmes together and get to know various regions and countries. It's a very full-on experience involving long hours of talking, but it's a lot of fun!
  

Overall, I really enjoyed my Gap Year, and when it ended, I felt like I'd done pretty much everything I'd wanted and needed to do in those 15 months. It wasn't the most adventurous year in terms of travel, but to be honest, I wasn't really ready for major travel adventures. 

Fortunately, three years later I definitely was ready! From 2017 to 2018 I undertook a Year Abroad as part of my languages degree, during which I lived in both Europe and South America, and travelled on a very regular basis. It really was an incredible experience in many ways, and I plan to write a series of posts here on this blog about the highs and lows of a Year Abroad and how to plan an amazing one!