Do you want to teach English abroad but afraid you won’t be able to pass because you’re not a native speaker? Well, we give you the tried and true solution to improve your English language skills like a Native American. While some employers only accept applicants with English as their mother tongue, still there are some places abroad where non-native speakers can teach English as a foreign language. In this article, we give you some tips on how you can improve your English proficiency and be able to teach abroad.
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Where to Learn American English?
Aside from passing an English subject during your schooling, learning American English can be made possible through an online course, YouTube video or even simply watching an American show on a television. If you are eager to learn American English, from writing to speaking, try these two places.
1. Enroll in a TEFL course.
Sure, you have encountered this word “TEFL course” during your research for teaching job opportunities online. A TEFL course is taken by teachers/fresh graduates or anyone who wants to work as an ESL teacher abroad. While this course doesn’t necessarily teach you the American English from scratch, it may include lessons like grammar, pronunciation, and tenses of the verb that will help you learn the language and improve your proficiency.
Our recommended 120-hour online TEFL courses are ITTT TEFL and MYTEFL but you can also check i to i TEFL and Premier TEFL. It is important to understand that all courses are unique so make sure you find the right one that matches your needs. Employers require at least 120 hours or more when you apply for a teaching job abroad.
2. Online resources.
There are several FREE English learning tutorials available online in the form of video, eBook, podcast and blogs. You can exercise your listening skills using podcasts or audios from Ted Talks. Read eBook daily and take note of the new words you found in the content with its meaning and you can review these words weekly for a recap. Practice your writing by doing essays on different topics at least once a month and lastly, watch video tutorials on the correct pronunciation. Who knows? You can master the American accent in no time.
3. Offline resources.
You can read a newspaper every morning while taking a sip of your coffee or make reading books one of your hobbies. You can also start watching American shows or movies. Another option is talking to a native-speaker friend of yours.
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Podcasts to Learn American English
When it comes to learning American English, listening is the key that’s why considering the use of podcast can help largely in improving your conversational skills. Some of the podcasts you may want to check are ESL Pod, Culips ESL, The English We Speak, Better at English and EnglishClass101.
Where Can Non-native Speakers Teach English?
After passing the TEFL course and brushing up your English proficiency, you can apply for a teaching job overseas straight away without being a native speaker. You can teach to Asian countries like Japan, Thailand and Cambodia as long as you have a bachelor degree and a TEFL certificate. The same thing goes if you want to teach in Turkey, Mexico, Argentina, Costa Rica, Brazil, and Peru. Make sure you do your research in advance to prepare all the necessary documents needed.
Happy English learning and teaching!
