Is it possible to teach yourself a language from home?

Teaching english as a second language...?

• i'm a sixteen year old girl and a junior in high school. i love traveling, language, and culture so therefore i want a career that involves all three of those. i also love sharing my language and culture with others so teaching english as a second language is a career that, at the moment, i'd love to do. however, i have a few questions... 1) what do i need to do in order to teach english as a second language? what do i need to study in college? english or something else? do i even need to go to college? what about the "teaching english as a second language" institute in new york? however, that's only a few weeks long so i'm really looking towards college. 2) where is the best place to teach? i can speak english, obviously, and i also have a basic fluency in spanish. i'm also going to begin taking french classes soon. i'd love to be able to teach in europe but i've heard that asia is a great place to teach as well. what do YOU reccommend? 3) i can only speak english and spanish. i hope to learn french, german, italian, etc., in the future but as of right now, that's all i know. do i need to know chinese to teach in asia or arabic to teach in the middle east? 4) what are the pros/cons? benefits? i've heard that some countries will pay you to fly over and pay for your housing, transportation, and food as well as a salary of almost $50,000, sometimes more, sometimes less. to me, that sounds like a great deal. however, what do you believe are the pros/cons/benefits? 5) ONE PROBLEM... i want to get married young (before 30) and have kids in AMERICA. i want my kids to grow up and go to school in america. i don't want to spend my whole life abroad. if i teach abroad for, say, eight-ten years, what would i do when i come home? what career options would i have? THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL OF YOUR HELP! IT IS GREATLY APPRECIATED! *are there any colleges/institutes that specialize in teaching english as a second language?

• Answer:

  Hi Kelly, It's great you're interested in teaching English as a foreign language and it's good to start planning ahead! It's advisable to get a degree as this will open up more options to you with regard to the amount of countries you will be able to teach in and the ability to gain the relevant visa to do so. Many TEFL teachers have degrees in irrelevant subjects but if English or an English related degree is something you're interested in then that can be a good idea! There are many providers of TEFL courses so it's just a matter of deciding which is best for you. You may like to take a look at this e-book for a review of the different courses available: http://www.onlinetefl.com/contact-tefl-team/tefl-ebook.html?source=yahooanswerssocial It's also useful to chat to other TEFL teachers about their experiences. You may like to join the online community named Chalkboard; it's dedicated to everything TEFL and a way to get first hand tips and advice from people in the know. You can find it here: http://www.onlinetefl.com/tefl-chalkboard/?source=yahooanswerssocial There are certain TEFL 'hot-spots' where there are a high number of opportunities. These include countries such as China, Japan and South Korea but the guide ' Top 10 TEFL Destinations of 2012' is a brilliant source of inspiration and information! You can take a look here: http://www.onlinetefl.com/teach-abroad?source=yahooanswerssocial Hopefully this helps a little but the following pages may be of use to you: http://www.onlinetefl.com/contact-tefl-team/six-steps-guide-to-work.html?source=yahooanswerssocial http://www.onlinetefl.com/teach-english-abroad/?source=yahooanswerssocial