How Teaching English Abroad Can Spark a New Chapter in Your Life

So, you’ve decided you’re eager for something new — a fresh challenge or perhaps the joy of a different variety. Perhaps you want a short-term adventure for a year or two, something to shake up your current path. On the other hand, you might be attracted to the daily rhythm of another country or continent and consider a major lifestyle change.

While there are many ways to find these shifts, teaching English abroad is a special and memorable way to spark your next chapter. Each year, native English speakers move to a new country to teach students of all ages to listen, read, speak, and write in English.

The possibilities of starting a new chapter in your life while teaching English abroad are endless. Read on to discover how this move can inspire new changes and to understand the various paths you can take to find a teaching opportunity right for you.

Immersing Yourself in a Different Culture

As cliché as it sounds, when you move to another country (especially a country that does not speak English as a native language), diving into unfamiliar cultural norms and practices can feel like a shock of cold water (hence culture shock). Many aspects of this new culture might delight you – an abundance of new foods to try, perhaps a new relationship with work-life balance.

However, you may realize that behaviors and norms you thought were universal are, in fact, not. The way people linger around a table after a meal, how they wait for their turn at a post office or bank, and whether or not they eat breakfast on public transportation (or even take public transportation daily for the first time) can all draw you out of your comfort zone and into a new rhythm of life. You’ll see others relate to each other in ways that may surprise you. You’ll learn that a sense of humor can be heavily influenced by culture.

These discoveries offer you an excellent opportunity to reflect on your own beliefs, feelings, and behaviors in a positive way – what do you enjoy about these new cultural practices? What might you find uncomfortable at first, and why? Are you willing to try them to see if you like how they feel? What advantages can you see to this new way of life? How will you grow as a person through these new cultural practices?

New Environment, New Routines

Living in a different country gives you the opportunity to create new routines and/or habits. Maybe your new home is more walkable than your home country; you might live close to your school so that you can walk to class and feel more active during the day. You can enjoy the morning breeze on the walk over and then stop by a market on the way home for fresh ingredients for the evening meal. Perhaps you’d like to learn a new language; surrounding yourself in your target language is much easier when the news, entertainment, and music are all naturally in another language. Immersing yourself becomes a more powerful learning strategy when you don’t have to think about making the choice: you’ll hear the radio in Spanish just by walking into a café!

Our environment influences so much of our daily lives, and teaching English abroad is an opportunity to put yourself in situations that are already set up for you to meet or expand your goals.

Meeting New People

Many find that it is easy to make friends living abroad, as both expat networks are strong enough to support each other, and many locals will be eager to meet you. Locals might be looking for a language exchange partner, which can help you with your own language learning goals. They may also simply enjoy interacting with and learning from you if you are learning about their culture.

You will sometimes need to take the first step to engage with others. That said, you’ve already moved to another country, so walking into the language exchange is just one tiny step compared to the border crossing you’ve already done. You may find yourself meeting people you’ll remember for the rest of your life, like a romantic partner and/or lifelong friends.

The Teacher Becomes the Student

While we’ve discussed the benefits of simply living in another country thus far, the actual job of teaching English to students is also ripe with opportunities to start a new phase of life.

Your students will be so eager to teach you about their own lives. While communicating clearly and fluently in English will be the ultimate goal of class, students will learn best through engaging lessons that often allow students to learn more about themselves or the world.

They will use their English skills, nurtured by you, to talk and write about themselves and the world in English. They will want to tell you which foods are their favorite, what they do during their country’s major holidays, which television shows they watch and musicians they love to listen to, among countless other things. You will have insight into multiple human experiences while equipping them with communication skills that can change their lives, too.

You will also likely be expected to teach about your own culture and provide a window for them to learn about life in your home country. When you are responsible for being the expert about certain topics, say holidays in your own home country or monitoring a debate about hot topics in the NFL, you will dive more deeply into the world, too.

Learning from your students and becoming an expert in your own culture can both enrich your life in unexpected ways. You may develop or grow interests that you previously gave little attention to. Being a teacher is one of the most long-lasting ways of truly learning.

The Spark of a New Chapter

All of these experiences – new cultural norms, a different environment, new relationships, and deeper learning experiences – will impact your understanding of yourself and the world. They will open up new possibilities to you. If you allow it to, your perspective on life will shift.

You may decide you want to pursue living in another country for a longer period of time. You may appreciate your life in your home country in new or more refined ways. You might become more outgoing, now that you’ve stepped outside your comfort zone. You may feel accepting of yourself after meeting people from multiple walks of life you’ve never seen before. The possibilities for this new chapter of yours are truly endless.

So, how can I start teaching English abroad?

Multiple paths exist for you to teach English abroad. Whichever one you take will depend on your background and goals.

Some countries, like Japan, France, and Spain, offer programs to native English speakers to teach in local schools through their governments. Each country’s programs will have different requirements for applicants, but most usually require a bachelor’s degree.

Many countries hire native English speakers to teach in private academies or language schools for local students. These organizations generally look for native English speakers with certifications like TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language), which you can obtain through TEFL courses for teaching abroad. To get TEFL certified, you do not need to have a teaching license or a bachelor’s degree, although having one is typically required by academies and schools around the world. The length and location of TEFL certification vary, but it is commonly completed in 120 hours and can be taken with either online or in-person courses.

Many countries also have international schools, which serve as the primary location of education for students with a mix of local and international backgrounds. In these schools, some (if not all) of the instruction is in English, and the schools hire native speakers for full-time positions. In this case, having a teaching license in your home country is usually required.

No matter your professional background, there’s a path for you to teach English abroad and start a new chapter in your life.

The Joy Waiting for You

Every new chapter begins with a single word written on a page – or one step on the path of your dreams. Research a certification program you’re interested in, look into different options around the world, or start applying to teach at the school of your dreams. The experiences waiting for you in and out of the classroom will show you that joyful lives come in all shapes, sizes, and cultures.