TEFL Institute provides professional TEFL training, job placement advice and international job assistance to obtain paid jobs abroad teaching English as a foreign language. All instructors are university professors with over 10 years experience in the field of English as a Second Language and English as a Foreign Language.

TEFL Institute is a Chicago-based company that has spent many years helping people travel abroad through a variety of teaching opportunities. We would love to meet with you, so please feel free to drop by our office or even schedule a time with a TEFL Institute program advisor to look at ways to fulfill your travel dreams. Our staff has visited over 70 countries – teaching, living, working and volunteering abroad. TEFL Institute offers online courses and international in-person courses around the world.

That’s entirely up to you. Some people take the course as they are preparing to move. Other people find that having the class finished and then having an additional 3-6 months available to get their affairs in order works for them. Either way, the sooner you make a commitment to take a class, the sooner you'll be overseas.

There is no really good time or bad time to take the course. But, our experience has shown us that there are better times to look for an English Teaching job than others. It usually depends on the country you want to teach. For instance, it is well know that in Europe the months of July, August, and part of September are not the best times to look for an English Teaching project because it is height of their vacation season. Similar dates exist in other countries around the world. Jobs in Latin America typically start in mid-February after their summer and again in July. Jobs in Asia are available to begin nearly any month of the year.

Your TEFL Institute advisors will help you select the best course date for your anticipated departure date. A general rule of thumb is to begin your TEFL course at least three to six months prior to your anticipated departure date. Usually it will take at least three months to make sure you have a solid English teaching job abroad. It is possible to take your online class or in person class and start immediately afterward. It is best to plan well advance to ensure you have the best experience possible.

You cannot use this certificate to teach English in a public school in the North America or the United Kingdom but it may be used to help you gain employment with private language contractors devoted to ESL instruction.

You are required to observe or assist an ESL class and/or tutor an English language learner for at least 20 hours in order to obtain your certificate from the TEFL Institute. Our students have done their practicum at ESL classes at community colleges, park districts, language schools, and immigrant community organizations. You will see a wide variety of students from the young to the old and from the beginner speaker to the advanced speaker. When you are abroad you will teach a similar wide range of students seeking to acquire conversational English skills.

You will graduate with the necessary course background and practicum experience required to teach English abroad. Our graduates have all the confidence and skills necessary to launch a successful ESL career and to work in a professional manner around the world.

The TEFL Institute courses qualify for up to sixty CEU or CPDU credits. We are an approved educational training organization by the Illinois Department of Education.

If you are at least 18 years old, hold a high school diploma, and are a native English speaker from an English-speaking country, you are eligible to teach English overseas. Some countries are willing to work with non-native English speakers from non-English speaking countries, but you will need excellent qualifications, including a TEFL certificate.

Some governments have strict requirements regarding nationality and educational levels in order to grant working visas while others have no requirements at all.

No! Many countries, particularly in Latin America, are happy to work with teachers who have little or no college. However, many countries do require at least a Bachelors Degree. The qualifications required by employers will vary widely depending upon the demand and availability of teachers and the work visa requirements in your country of interest.

There are English-teaching jobs in almost every country and probably even in your home community! Be sure to check with our TEFL Advisors for a breakdown of requirements for each of the most popular countries. Although there may be many jobs advertised for a particular country, you may find that you do not match the profile they are looking for.

For example, the Japanese and South Korean governments require a BA to grant a working visa, and most employers in France, Italy, Spain will only accept EU citizens for advance interviews. Many schools in the Middle East require a high level qualification and several years of teaching experience, and will not respond to inexperienced applicants. Having said this, most Latin American countries are happy to accept newly qualified teachers as well as those who don't hold college degrees.

There are English teaching opportunities in almost every country in the world. However, the demand for English teachers is much greater in some countries than in others, and qualifications vary widely. Take a look at job boards such as the Dave’s ESL Cafe to get an idea of some of the countries where work is available at the moment, since demand often changes by season. Other factors such as government initiatives and political instability can affect job availability. (Please note that many schools in Latin America do not advertise their jobs online, but rather rely on word of mouth to attract teachers.)

Countries that currently high demand for teachers include China, Taiwan, Japan, Turkey, Georgia, Spain, Ukraine, Mexico, and the Persian Gulf countries.