So you want to teach English abroad?

It’s not unusual, in Australia at least, to find student teachers taking a 12 month break to go off and teach English in places like Japan. The number of ‘come and teach English in Japan’ ads in the employment section of the newspaper is a testament to this. There is a certain appeal that lies in dropping things for a year to teach abroad.

There are a number of acronyms used to describe teaching English to non English speakers. Some of the more common acronyms are ESL (English as a second language), ESOL (English for speakers of other languages) and EFL (English as a foreign language). There are also the teacher-centric terms, TESL (teaching English as a second language), TESOL (teaching English for speakers of other languages) and TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language).

If you are going to take the plunge and intend on teaching English abroad, as with most things in life, it’s best to be prepared. There are a number of books available that provide handy hints and tips, and can provide some great support and ideas.

If you are serious about pursuing an opportunity to teach English abroad then perhaps one of the many TEFL courses may be beneficial. If you do decide to take on a TEFL course, make sure that it is legitimate and you receive some sort of certification or endorsement at completion if possible.

There are some general concepts that may give you an indication of things you will need to consider if you intend to teach English abroad.

Vowels

When TEFL to Spanish, Japanese or Arabic speakers in particular, students may have some difficulties distinguishing vowels. This can be an issue in terms of pronunciation. Generally Spanish, Japanese or Arabic languages contain fewer vowels, and therefore English can present some new challenges.

Consonants

English does not have a greater number of individual consonant sounds than most other languages. It does however, have some that are not common in other languages. The sound that ‘th’ makes (in the context of words such as the, thing, this) is as common example used to demonstrate a consonant sound that present difficulties for some students. Other common sticking points are the distinction between “r” and “l” for Japanese and Chinese speakers, and “b” and “v” speakers of Spanish, Japanese and Korean.

Syllables

The English syllable structure can be difficult when TEFL. For example, if teaching English in Japan, students may attempt to force vowels in between the consonants (e.g., desks /desks/ becomes "desukusu"). This is said to stem from the way people learn to read. Perhaps it is human nature to assume that everything written down needs to be pronounced. With English this is not always the case, and can obviously take a bit of time to get used to.

Tenses

There are a relatively large number of tenses in the English language, along with the large number also come a large number of subtle variations. The difference between the simple past "I ate" and the present perfect "I have eaten" is a perfect example.

They are just a few of the common ‘basics’. Teaching English as a second language is not always as simple as it may first seem. Still, travelling abroad to teach English can provide teachers with an excellent opportunity to not only see other parts of the world, and live within different cultures, but it can also allow teachers to develop their teaching styles in a different environment.