HOW GAINING MY TEFL QUALIFICATION CHANGED MY LIFE

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Quite a few years ago I was sitting at my desk, drinking a cup of coffee, and dreaming about being anywhere but in that stuffy office doing anything except the mind-numbing data-entry I was supposed to be doing. I did what I usually do when I felt that like and I checked my Facebook for anything interesting.

On my feed, I stumbled on a picture posted by an old schoolfriend who was relaxing in a hammock on a beach in Thailand. On a Thursday. The caption read “Chilling out after school”. I did some more digging and discovered she was a TEFL teacher working at a local school in Phuket, which meant that every day after work she could pop down to the beach for a walk or a swim or a cocktail: my kind of life.

And that was my life-changing moment. I had never heard of teaching English as a foreign language before, but that was the moment I knew I had to find out more about it. So, I did my research into the different internationally recognised TEFL courses, signed up for a 120-hour TEFL course and four weeks later was using my shiny new TEFL qualification to get interviews for TEFL jobs in a few countries that had always been on my bucket list.

Now, five years later, I’ve swapped the beaches of Thailand for the big city of Shanghai and to say that my TEFL qualification changed my life would be a severe understatement.

My TEFL qualification scratched my travel itch

First of all, being a TEFL teacher has allowed me to travel to loads of different places. I’ve volunteered to teach English in Nepal, taught English to children in Spain and taught on a summer camp in England. I can’t think of any other job that would let me travel and explore my new surroundings to such an extent as being a TEFL teacher has.

My TEFL qualification boosted my self-confidence

The one thing you learn quickly when you are teaching English abroad is that your students love you. As long as you are friendly and energetic, your students will love you no matter who you are or where you come from. Experiencing this has done wonders for my self-confidence and has allowed me to be brave enough to speak easily and naturally in front of a room full of people, which is something I could never do before without being a stuttering mess.

My TEFL qualification got me a job I enjoyed

I can honestly say that being a TEFL teacher is the first job I have thoroughly enjoyed. Each day I wake up and look forward to going to work because each day is different and each lesson is as fun and interesting as I make it. Plus, the holidays help make your working weeks go by really quickly!

These are just three ways how gaining a TEFL qualification changed my life. There are many more and I am sure every TEFL teacher you ask would give you different ones, just as I am sure there are many ways teaching English abroad will change yours.

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The TEFL Academy was the world’s first TEFL course provider to receive official recognition from government regulated awarding bodies in both the USA and UK. This means when you graduate you’ll hold a globally recognised Level 3 (120hr) Certificate or Level 5 (168hr) Diploma, meaning you can find work anywhere and apply for jobs immediately.

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