TEFL courses for living overseas?

Hello I'm a recent graduate of 22 I have my bachelor's degree in linguistics and my minor was in English.
I have absolutely no background in education and I'm not trying to make it my life's work.
The reason I am interested in teaching english is because I am desperately trying to get overseas (europe preferably)
I see a lot of adds about taking a TEFL course and then having a job lined up right away (depending on your grade) and living accomadations especially in Prague.
I'm wondering if this is all a scam or if I really will be able to find a job teaching english overseas with a TEFL certification even though I have no background in education.
Also any other advice would be greatly appreciated

Thank you

wanderingeye said:

Hello, I'm a recent graduate of 22. I have my bachelor's degree in Linguistics and my minor was in English.
I have absolutely no background in education and I'm not trying to make it my life's work.
The reason I am interested in teaching English is because I am desperately trying to get overseas (Europe preferably).
I see a lot of [strike]adds[/strike] ads about taking a TEFL course and then having a job lined up right away (depending on your grade) and living [strike]accomadations[/strike] accommodation, especially in Prague.
I'm wondering if this is all a scam or if I really will be able to find a job teaching English overseas with a TEFL certification even though I have no background in education.
Also any other advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

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Welcome to the forum.

You're not the first non-European to see teaching English as a way to get into Europe although, in my opinion, that's a little unfair on your prospective students. You do actually need to want to teach them. They (and the school) will spot it very fast if you're just going through the motions. You'll definitely need to show that your grasp of written English is at a higher standard than that shown in your post - no offence intended but we don't expect to have to make capitalisation, punctuation and spelling corrections to native speakers' posts.

So - the work. I wouldn't say that all the ads are scams but it's certainly true that there are some bogus ads out there. Getting your TEFL with a recognised, accredited training company will help. Most people who do the TEFL/CELTA qualification have no background in education.

Of course, you also have the problem of needing a visa to enter Europe so you would need to be accepted for work with a company which is recognised by the immigration authorities of whichever country you try to get to. There are programs in some European countries where a certain number of Americans are taken on to teach primary school children for a year. Your university might have details.

I used to work with a training establishment in Prague that guaranteed jobs to successful trainees. It was completely genuine. However, since the Czech Republic joined the European Union, it has become very difficult for non-EU citizens to find teaching jobs here, and effectively impossible for newly qualified teachers. I imagine the situation is similar in most EU countries.

If a training establishment guarantees you a job on successful completion of the course, ask them how they are able to guarantee a job to a non-EU citizen - and read the response with the help of a magnifying glass. Note that promises to help you with your visa and work permit applications mean little. I am prepared to help you - but it doesn't mean that you'll get permission to stay.

Prague is still a pleasant and relatively inexpensive place in which to train, and at least one school offers the CELTA and one the Trinity CertTESOL course (the two certificates recognised by the British Council). Quite a few people come to train here and then move on to work elsewhere.

With a degree and a teaching qualification, you should be able to find work. However, it is more difficult for Americans to find positions in the EU because British and Irish teachers can get work more easily, though Americans do work in the EU.

This site gives details of the program where North American citizens can get a year's work as a teaching or cultural assistant in Spain. I know about a dozen Americans who went to Spain under this program.