Teaching English abroad is something that thousands upon thousands of people do each and every year, whether they’re taking a gap year, funding their travels or just looking to do something fun in the sun, teaching English abroad is certainly a lot of fun. However, teaching jobs in Europe or anywhere in the world for that matter, can be tricky at first and a little overwhelming, so here are ten of my top tips and tricks to getting your class onside and making a good job of your new vocation.
1. First step: relax. If you walk into a classroom a shivering wreck students will neither respect you nor learn from you, and that’s not what you want! Take deep breaths; reassure yourself that you are capable (you’re a fluent English speaker after all!) and go for it.
2. Prepare for your new job. We’ve all been students sitting in a classroom, so we all know how boring or frustrating it can be when a teacher clearly isn’t prepared. Take more exercises than you think you’ll need, more games than you anticipate and a few DVDs or CDs too. You can never be too prepared to be a teacher!
3. Get your students on side. The key to good learning is to have mutual respect and trust between teacher and student, therefore, start off with a few ice breakers to show that you’re human and get to know them as people, rather than just people who are funding your pay cheque!
4. Create a good learning environment. Whether you want to make name-badges, posters, hang up flags or even play music, the key to being a good teacher is creating an environment where the students want to learn.
5. Engage with your students. A good way to start with a new group of students is to show them things that you’ve brought from home; that could be pictures of your family and friends, pictures of your hometown, a few of your favourite CDs, etc. Just get them talking!
6. Make sure they know it’s ok to make mistakes. All students need to know that it is ok to make errors; that’s just part of learning a new language. Reassuring them of this will give them that all-important confidence to keep going.
7. Use media to encourage their learning. You can use music, television and film to teach your students new topics. You can start a lesson by watching a five-minute clip on YouTube, and then spend the rest of the lesson discussing it.
8. Make learning fun! As a TEFL teacher, games like ‘who am I?’ and ‘what am I?’ will become your best friends. Make sure you have plenty of Post It notes and a few pens!
9. Make their learning creative. Students of a foreign language love to practice it, so putting on plays, making up short stories and doing role-plays can be a great way to encourage their learning process.
10. Remember why you’re there! All too often TEFL teachers get stressed or worried that they’re not doing a good enough job, but remember, support is always there and you are there for the right reason. Enjoy it! It’s probably the best job you’ll ever have…
If I haven’t completely put you off the job by now, it’s easy to find teaching English overseas jobs, just take a look online or speak to an agency.
