My 10 Reasons
I never understand why people think TEFL isn’t a career, or even a “real job”. There are other jobs I’d prefer to do. Playing Premier League football, being a top Hollywood actor or a rock superstar would be three. However, when I was a little’un, I had two left feet, was painfully shy and had an atrocious voice. So I had to get a real job… in a bank. Was bored, so I got a degree (in accountancy) and an even more real job (as an accountant) and became even more bored. And then I found a real career – Teaching English as a Foreign/Second Language.
So in no particular order – why TEFL has been so great:
1. Cool people
I’ve met thousands of cool, weird, wonderful, interesting and brilliant people – students and teachers. I can’t imagine another career in which you work so closely with people from all over the world and learn so much about them and their cultures. TEFL teachers and students are pretty cool people in so many ways. The number of cool people I know has exploded since I joined Twitter. My PLN is the coolest online community ever.
2. Creativity
From the first few lessons I taught on my CTEFLA, I’ve loved making lessons. It has never been a chore. I’ve always loved making materials (the ones with coloured paper, scissors and glue) that get students talking. More recently, my creativity has included making materials with a computer and putting things online. There are few jobs where what you do at work spills over to a hobby at home.
3. Acting aspirations
Never quite making it to Hollywood, my thespian desires seem to have been fulfilled in the classroom. It is one place where my shyness goes into turbo-charged reverse. I love acting, being a clown and doing whatever ridiculous things I can think of to explain something or make someone laugh. It’s funny how often my students tell me I should have been an actor.
4. Confidence
When one of my best friends did his CTEFLA in the late 1980s, I envied him the chances he’d have to use it and travel, but thought I could never stand in front of a group of people and talk. I was terrified of public speaking. Events led me to travel and take over someone’s class for 10 weeks in Thailand and I loved it. I knew I could stand in front of students without fear. Six years later, I was invited to be a national teacher trainer for the school I worked at in Japan. Terrified at the thought, I did it. Never, ever been so nervous. I conducted 12 two-day workshops and really enjoyed it. Eleven years after that (in 2008) I did what I thought I would never, ever be able to do – present at an international conference. It went well and I’ve done a few more since. All this talking to EFL students and teachers has been amazing for my confidence.
5. I’ve learnt a lot of… good stuff
When I was an accountant, I don’t think I learnt a lot of… good stuff. My job consisted of drafting spreadsheets full of numbers all day, or spending hours at a company looking for invoices and receipts, or reading financial reports. The great thing about TEFL is that you have to learn a lot of… good stuff. The content you take into class is about everything and anything in the world. I now spend my days researching things on the Internet to make lessons for students and learning about… good stuff about the world, language, people, technology, and penguins.
6. July and August
Teaching in schools and colleges gives you eight weeks’ holiday in the summer. Nuff said.
7. My writing
I’ve noticed a considerable improvement in the quality of my writing since becoming a teacher. Studying for a Master’s really made me focus on being succinct, clear, persuasive and economical with words. Creating over 10,000 lessons for students has made me focus on keeping language simple. I’m happy I’m a better writer. This probably wouldn’t have happened had I not entered TEFL.
8. Travel and living in other countries
TEFL and travel go together. I discovered TEFL while I was travelling and decided it was a great way to travel forever. I have now spent over 20 years away from England, having lived in Japan for 13 years, the UAE for five and 40+ other countries for shorter durations. I’m happy I have a career that allows me the freedom to pick and choose the country in which I wish to live.
9. Money
OK, it’s not the most lucrative profession in the world, but I think I’ve been lucky job-wise in my TEFL career. I have always managed to get positions that paid well.
10. Technology
I love using technology in my job – either to create lessons or use it in the classroom. I never thought I would say this in 1996 when a student asked me if he could use the school’s new Apple computer, and I couldn’t turn it on for him. How was I to know the On button was on the keyboard?!?!? Or when, a few weeks later, I was paranoid my first nervously saved Word doc would be obliterated forever after my first attempt at “Save As”. Today, creating websites is my hobby; I give workshops to colleagues demonstrating online teaching tools. I think TEFL is a fantastic career to get to learn about, use and experiment with some of the coolest technology on the planet.
If you have time, perhaps you could share some of your reasons why this profession is great 
11. OK… I said 10 but then these came along:
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I’m astounded at both of these. Perhaps the second one might be a little more warranted 15 years from now after I’ve made another 20 websites
Sue also has a lovely blog (
