Teaching English overseas - problems

When you say you are considering doing the TEFL course, which course would that be exactly? There is no 'TEFL' course, there are many but the two most renowned ones are the Cambridge CELTA and the Trinity TESOL. Do you also have a bachelor degree?

Also, it's ok if you are not the most outgoing person in the world. I'm not but I did the CELTA anyway and I survived! It just depends on how shy you are...they will ask you to do a short presentation in the CELTA interview so they can see what your public speaking skills are like and so you could ask them for any feedback after the interview. They will know and tell you honestly if they think the course is right for you or not.

What a TEFL teacher would do in a lesson depends on the type of lesson and level of the speakers. It's now commonly accepted that lessons should be as student orientated as possible but classes for beginners will start off as very teacher orientated.

Finally, it's good that you want to work, travel and learn local languages but only do a TEFL course if you are genuinely interested in teaching. If you are not, it will be much more difficult to overcome your shyness and students deserve a teacher that really wants to be there for them.

Good luck!

Hey, thanks for the info :) I don't have any degrees or diplomas, just high school. A CELTA course in my city says you don't need to have teaching qualification/experience.

Which countries have you taught in, or want to? I'm interested in Eastern Europe (eg. Romania) and Brazil.

I can say that I'm interested in teaching. I understand; if I was paying for a course I would expect the tutor to be authentic and on to it. Used to live in a houseshare for a year, mixing with many Mandarin speaking housemates. Some days I'd give them help on their English homework and also teach them words and pronunciation. This doesn't mean I'd be effective, but it's a start at least.

Without a Degree you are going to limit the places you can teach. Many countries won't issue a work permit without one - despite the fact this is glossed over on many promotional websites for TEFL tuition. It's not the course that requires a degree - it's the country where you are going to teach.
I did a course a while ago with similar intentions and after refreshing my grammar knowledge did a couple of practical sessions and discovered that I wasn't at all comfortable with teaching as I am basically fairly reserved.

No problem! As ohwell said, the thing is you will be very limited as to where you can teach without a degree. You may be allowed to take the TEFL course without one as people will be more than happy to take your money, but finding a job that doesn't require one or a country is another thing.

I'm currently teaching in South Korea (it's my first TEFL job), and they won't grant a visa here to anyone that doesn't have a degree. I'm also interested in teaching in South America or Europe but from what I've seen of Brazil: http://brazilianlawblog.com/?p=493, you need a degree. I don't think you need one for Eastern Europe on the other hand.

Here is a list of countries where you can teach without a degree: http://www.theteflacademy.co.uk/without-degree.php

A good course (CELTA or Trinity CertTESOL) will cover a variety of lesson types and teach you what to do in them.

Most other points have been answered above...
Except that TEFL jobs rarely make you money, though you might be paid well by local standards and thus able to travel in the region you teaching.

Shyness; there are very different perceptions and levels of that. There are one-2-one classes, but mostly for experienced teachers, so you will need to get comfortable in front of a class, however long that takes, but before you get job.

Thanks for the input all. It would seem I should postpone my ideas until after I have been to uni and feel more assertive.

There are also various gap-year organisations that might give you ideas.

In my experience, I found that teaching EFL learners from the Far East was a less intimidating experience than teaching, say, Spanish or Italians students. The reason being that they are quieter and, to be honest, more respectful towards their teachers which might suit your reserved nature.

A group of southern European kids can be not only intimidating but quite off putting for someone who isn't assertive enough by nature to be able to deal with them appropriately. I'm not sure where Brazilians would fit in.

I live in Poland and most places would require their EFL teacher to have a university degree; I am not sure about other east European countries.

Is there a school near you, where you can try volunteering as a group tutor, to see if you feel comfortable and can be effective at it, before you commit to taking a TOEFL class? I think that it is sometimes helpful for teachers to pantomime actions so that students understand, which may make some people feel self-conscious. Maybe outgoing people are more willing to do this than shy people, but maybe not. It's kind of different than being shy in other settings, like parties. Also, would it be easier to teach kids or adults? One or one, or are groups okay?

Even if you decide you don't like teaching, there are other ways to see the world. Do you have translation skills, IT/website skills?