Teaching English as a Foreign Language

Top Tip: The quickest and most convenient route to TEFL certification is with an Online TEFL Course.

Some Definitions

It is easy to be baffled by the terminology associated with Teaching English especially as so many are simply used interchangeably. ELT, ESL, TEFL, TESL, TESOL and EFL are just some of the acronyms which you may have come across. The table below shows some of the more common acronyms associated with TEFL.

EFL	English as a foreign language
ESL	English as a second language
ESP	English for specific purposes
EAP	English for academic purposes
TESL	Teaching English as a second language
TEFL	Teaching English as a foreign language
TESOL	Teaching English to speakers of other languages
TOEFL	Test of English as a foreign language

Teaching English Abroad

Deciding which country to go to isn't as easy as you may think. Depending on you experience and TEFL qualifications some countries may be almost entirely ruled out. Certain regions such as the Middle East make it hard for teachers to get a position without a Bachelors degree and several years of TEFL experience - Other countries such as Thailand have far more lenient requirements.

The other thing to consider is the rate of pay you'll be comfortable with - if you're just teaching for a few months to fund your travels you may consider teaching in Korea or the Middle East. If your reasons for teaching English are more benevolent however you may be interested to teach in Latin American countries with a shortage of teachers such as Guatemala or Honduras.