Taking a TEFL Online Course is a nice ticket to a new career traveling and teaching English to students abroad. TEFL stands for “Teaching English as a Foreign Language. There are various acronyms other for this such as TESL, TESOL and TEOFL but basically they all involve native English speakers teaching English as a second language to non-English speakers.

There is a huge market for TEFL teachers because English has become the language of commerce, and generally the supply of TEFL teachers is short of demand.

Generally, you will need a BS or BA degree or equivalent, plus some sort of TEFL certification. There are several levels of TEFL certification and quite a few online schools so this page should help simplify your research as to what you need.

Taking a TEFL online course that guarantees a job is not a bad bet, and I have personally considered taking Bridge-Linguatec’s online program, providing a 70-hour course and guaranteed placement in one of thirty countries of your choice! That’s pretty exciting. Click the link above for more info.

The Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA) is probably the most widely recognized and standardized TEFL certification. This requires 120 hours of in-class instruction plus a minimum of 6 hours of observed teaching instruction. Obviously, a CELTA is not available online and is significantly more expensive than an online TEFL.  If you want this highest credential, you can always get an online TEFL to get a job placement, and then get a CELTA on the job.

Generally, the Far East (S. Korea, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand) offers the best jobs for entry-level TEFL teachers outside the European Union (EU). The EU tends to favor TEFL teachers from the UK  and Ireland since they have EU passports and don’t need working papers; nevertheless, it is still possible for USA citizens to get jobs in Europe. The highest paying jobs are in the Middle East (Oman, Saudi Arabia, etc.) but typically they look for teachers with 2-3 years of experience in TEFL.

There are a variety of online schools that offer TEFL online course certifications, and I have included a few links below, having weeded out some of the less professional websites in my research.

Be forewarned, however, that TEFL certification is world-wide and somewhat unregulated by any one central accrediting body. I have not fully vetted the websites below and I make no specific recommendation. Hence, carefully check out your online school of choice, and beware of scams.

Good hunting and good teaching!