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Destinations in Teaching English
Destinations in Teaching English
Popular destinations for paying English teaching jobs include
Eastern Europe
Asia, especially South Korea, China, Japan, Taiwan and Thailand
Middle East and North Africa
Latin America
Worldwide, ESL is a major industry. In any of the areas mentioned above, there are both ESL programs in public schools and universities and quite a few private schools. In some places it seems there is a language school on every block. Japan's eikaiwa ("conversation schools") range from small schools to major chains; both hire native speakers from abroad. South Korea's hagwon, China's buxiban, and schools in many other countries do the same. Demand for teachers in some areas is enormous. Dave's ESL Cafe breaks recruiting ads into three groups: Korea, China, and anywhere else. Checking on a random day (not in the peak hiring season which is around July for a September start) there were over 50 new ads in the previous week for China, over 100 for Korea, over 50 for the rest of the world. Some of those employers advertise more-or-less continuously, some have many jobs on offer, and Dave's is by no means the only site with jobs, so overall demand is very high.
There are a few places where it is difficult to go as an ESL teacher. Some countries, like North Korea or Myanmar, are almost completely closed, Your own government may forbid you to go to others; for example, an American cannot teach in Cuba. Jobs are occasionally advertised in war-torn countries like Afghanistan, but taking such a post would be too risky for most. It is also difficult to go to English-speaking countries. Australia does not need Americans to teach them English, and vice versa. There are ESL jobs in those countries ? mainly teaching immigrants or foreign students ? and some might be open to foreigners who meet the visa requirements (see Working abroad and country articles), but they do not recruit abroad or provide expatriate benefits as ESL jobs elsewhere do.
With those exceptions, there are ESL jobs almost anywhere. There are plenty of jobs in all the areas listed above and some in almost any non-English-speaking country. Areas like subsaharan Africa and the Pacific islands do not have huge numbers of jobs, but they do have some. Given reasonable qualifications (preferably a degree and TESL certification), the question is more "Where would I like to go?" than "Where can I find a job?".
There are many factors to consider in choosing a destination. Some prefer a destination not too wildly different from home, perhaps Western Europe; others want to go somewhere really exotic such as Mongolia. Some might want both, a basically European civilisation but still fascinatingly exotic: perhaps Peru or Prague? Any of these are possible. Some jobs are in major tourism centers such as Thailand or Rio, others in out-of-the-way but interesting places like the Maldives. Areas such as Japan and the Middle East often offer higher salaries, but in terms of buying power you might be better off with lower pay in a low-cost country such as Cambodia or Bolivia. The same applies within countries; major cities often have higher pay than rural areas, but higher expenses.
Language can be a major factor. If you already speak a foreign language, it will be relatively easy for you to live in a region where it is spoken. Some teachers choose a destination partly because of a desire to learn the language, or to improve their language skills. This often implies a preference for countries where an important language is spoken ? Russia rather than Finland, or China rather than Mongolia. Teaching in Latin America may appeal for many reasons, not least because Spanish or Portuguese are much easier for an English speaker than Arabic or Chinese. It is also somewhat easier for speakers of European languages to learn English than for speakers of unrelated languages; both students and teachers still have to work at it, though. See also university programs below and language tourism.
Places like Singapore, Malaysia or Hong Kong offer a nice combination. There are jobs for foreign ESL teachers, but many local people speak English well so these places can be much easier to live in than elsewhere.
In India there are few jobs for foreigners to teach English; plenty of Indians already speak excellent English and some of those are trained teachers. There is, however, one fairly large exception. India (especially Bangalore) has many call centers for Western companies outsourcing customer support work. Those centers routinely hire fairly large numbers of people ? mostly American/Canadian English speakers, but some for other accents or languages ? as accent and cultural coaches for their phone workers. They prefer to hire people with ESL training and/or experience. The money is very good for India, but these tend to be fairly high-pressure jobs like anything in a call center. Also, the hours are often rather odd; you need to be on duty at whatever the peak times are in the clients' time zones. If the clients start their day at 9 AM New York time, then yours must start at 7 PM in Bangalore.
In the European Union many employers prefer to hire teachers from Britain or Ireland because citizens of those countries do not need work visas. Some employers are reluctant to hire anyone who does need a visa.
For country-specific information, see the Work sections of country entries. For some destinations, see also Tips for travel in developing countries.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Teaching English
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Teaching English - updated May 2024
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Teaching English Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.