Let's begin here: You do not need a TEFL or TESL certification to teach English, ESL or EFL, overseas. A TEFL or TESL certification shows prospective employers that you have made the effort to enhance your knowledge of teaching English as a second or foreign language. Many employers will appreciate that fact, but for the most part, the English teacher needed job advertisements usually state no experience necessary because many of the private language institutes, schools, colleges, universities that may be hiring usually have their own teacher training programs.

What exactly is the content of a TEFL course and how long does a TELF course last? A TEFL course often combines textual based and classroom based experiential learning exercises. Depending on the quality of a particular TEFL course the new-to-be teacher might be provided coursework on classroom presentation, lesson plan development, methods for teaching English, pronunciation exercises, specific difficulties that foreign students have learning English, EFL-ESL games, quiz preparation, test preparation and how to overcome and help students with learning problems, handling difficult student behavior problems, actual opportunities teaching English in class, and classroom management strategies. TEFL courses last varying lengths of time between several weeks to several months or more, all of which depend on the individual course content.

As you can see, some TEFL courses can offer quite a bit. The benefits for a first time teacher are that he or she has a foundation through preparation and experiential teaching of English in a real time setting under the guidance and help of an experienced teacher. Feedback and recommendations are provided by the TEFL teacher to help fine tune the new teacher's abilities. A TEFL certificate almost always helps the new or experienced teacher acquire more pay per month from his or her employer.

Where can you get TEFL certification training? There are several excellent sources of TEFL training. One source is to go to the country where you want to teach English and take a TEFL course there. Another alternative is to take a TEFL course online via the Internet.

TELF courses aren't long and once you have your TEFL Cert in your hand more doors and opportunities will present themselves along with the opportunity to earn more money each month. Do a little research before going with one particular program. Some TEFL courses have more to offer than others. When you have a TEFL Cert, you may find that better paying teaching jobs are available teaching English in Thailand, teaching English in South Korea, and teaching English in Japan.

For information about my experiences teaching English in Thailand and South Korea you are welcome to visit my other web sites http://hubpages.com/hub/Teach-English-in-Thailand and about teaching in South Korea http://hubpages.com/hub/Teach-English-in-Korea

While continuing my world travel I am currently teaching English in Latin America.