How to teach English as a foreign language in the UK?

ThriftyWanabee

I have recently left the Civil Service and am in desperate need of a new career...only thing is I have no idea what I want to do with my life, and now I'm in my 30's I'm starting to panic.

I have 3 A-Levels grades C,C and D and am halfway through an OU degree. I'm now wondering if teaching English as a foreign language in the UK may be an option and if so what qualifications would I need. I wouldn't rule out teaching English abroad but for now would like to stay here.

Any advice would be appreciated, thanks.

vwelsh13

have a look for TEFAL courses maybe?

BillTrac

I think you mean a second language....:rotfl:

I know the UK is being inundated with peoples from abroad, but I hate to think that the language of the country would be thought of as a foreign language...:eek:

saintjammyswine

BillTrac wrote: »

I think you mean a second language....:rotfl:

I know the UK is being inundated with peoples from abroad, but I hate to think that the language of the country would be thought of as a foreign language...:eek:

There are 2 types of english courses.

EFL - English as a Foreign Language and

ESOL - English for Speakers of Other Languages.

Dont forget we are foreign. Just to other people!

BillTrac

Maybe in Southampton, not in Portsmouth

we speak proper English (mush)...:rotfl:(But don't mind me I wasn't born here)

Seriously, though I thought it was taught/classed as a second language.

But if you know better, then I bow to your knowledge:T

de1amo

İts TEFL. or CELTA. i have never taught in the uk because i always thought it was poorly paid and very seasonal there. İ come from Bournemouth which has lots of schools but most of them are only open in the summer.-you need to live in a location with plenty of schools and invaribly they are not the cheapest places to live.

İ now live and work abroad. i am in izmir Turkey and i love the lifestyle.--its a tough place to get estabilised but once you get contacts there are good opportunities for decent teachers.--i was fortunate because i had income from the uk while i estabilised myself and İ earnt next to nothing! i now own a thriving school which has 250 students.--we never see decent qualified teachers because everyone gets drawn to istanbul but i prefer İzmir. i have lived here 5 years and totally rebuilt my life. i live a good life and have a middle class income.

loops87

I used to teach English as a foreign language in an international college that was part of a major university. It was a good job with a good wage (£26/hour).

To qualify I did a month-long intensive CELTA course. That's the minimum qualification you'll need for most English language teaching jobs in the UK (some ask for a master's or a DELTA, which is the more advanced version of the one I did.)

The CELTA is a good course and well respected, but doesn't come cheap: mine was over a thousand pounds (and it might have gone up now, I don't know.) I am not sure how many jobs in EFL teaching in the UK there are around now. The better jobs at universities will probably go to more experienced teachers. There are lots of smaller schools around but some of them better than others: I once went for a job that was offering £10 an hour, not including time for planning and marking, and when I factored that in it wasn't paying much more than minimum wage.

Let me know if you want to ask me anything else, not that I'm a great expert

loops87

saintjammyswine wrote: »

There are 2 types of english courses.

EFL - English as a Foreign Language and

ESOL - English for Speakers of Other Languages.

Dont forget we are foreign. Just to other people!

What we were taught on the CELTA course was,

EFL = in other countries
ESL = in the UK for non-English speakers
ESOL = can be in the UK or abroad

abankerbutnotafatcat

Please don't panic about a second career in the your 30s. These days, even before the recent financial downturn and the employment turmoil that has caused, it is quite usual for career changes and employers are much more accepting of transferable skills - it's more about attitude and adaptability. You are still very young. Good luck

loops87

loops87 wrote: »

I used to teach English as a foreign language in an international college that was part of a major university.

I should have said, this was in the UK.

There are a lot of fairly useless TEFL courses around, online courses and such, that won't really qualify you for very much. CELTA or the Trinity Cert TESOL are your best bet.

saintjammyswine

BillTrac wrote: »

Maybe in Southampton, not in Portsmouth

we speak proper English (mush)...:rotfl:(But don't mind me I wasn't born here)

Seriously, though I thought it was taught/classed as a second language.

But if you know better, then I bow to your knowledge:T

Not from Saaaampton either innit mush! Just lived here for over 10 years!