TELF

If you have a passion for the English language, you may think that you will be good at teaching it. However, you should know which countries are focusing on students compulsorily learning English when you are applying for TEFL jobs. Slovakia has become the 14th country in the European Union (EU) to make English language instruction compulsory. This change happened after the parliament there overrode a presidential veto of the amendment in February 2011 and approved new rules which will come in effect from March 1 this year. Remember that you are likely to need a EU passport for teaching there, however.

Here are some more tips for teaching English as a foreign language-

1. When you help your students practice their conversational skills, be prepared. Choose a topic that will be of interest to them. Trigger a conversation using a newspaper article, for instance.

2. Besides teaching your students grammar, you should work on increasing their vocabulary. Other aspects which need attention are pronunciation, reading, and writing skills.

3. A certificate will be of help when you apply for TEFL jobs. Positions abroad are often competitive, so a certificate will demonstrate that you are serious about teaching.

4. If you know the language of the country you are planning to teach in, it can be an advantage. Your students can find it easy to explain any difficulties they are having in learning English.

5. Even if you are not a native English speaker, fluency in the language can ensure you are well regarded as a teacher. In fact, you may be more sensitive to the hurdles your students are facing while learning English.

6. Students should be able to understand the grammatical structures you teach, relate them to their existing knowledge of grammar, and apply these in contexts beyond the classroom.

7. Draw up a lesson plan outlining the skills you intent to impart, and communicate it to students. When they know the goal of the class, they will be more motivated.

8. Rather than focusing on making the students academically comfortable with the language, you may wish to teach them conversational skills first. These could prove more useful to them on an everyday basis.

TEFL jobs are available all over the world, as more and more people want to learn English. Monitor reputed job sites for postings regarding openings. One such specialist employment site is TEFLjobsoverseas.com. This is a partner site of the TESall group, which has provided the teaching community employment information and resources for a decade!