TESL/TEFL Certificate - necessary training?
Increasing your marketability is not the only reason to get some training. The assumption that just because you can speak a language you can teach is simply false. There may be plenty of people who have a natural flair for teaching without any English Language Teaching (ELT) qualification. There are, however, many other people who, when faced with a class full of eager adolescents, would not have a clue where to begin.
Doing a TEFL/TESL course cannot fail to increase your confidence and provide you with a range of ideas on how to teach and (just as important) how not to teach.
Teacher qualifications around the globe
Even in some countries where it may be commonplace to work without a formal TEFL/TESL qualification (eg: Thailand or Japan), teachers who lack a specific grounding in TEFL/TESL will often be at a disadvantage, since the jobs they are likely to get will be with schools at the cowboy end of the market who may in turn be more likely to offer exploitative conditions.
in some countries (such as Turkey), a TEFL/TESL certificate is a pre-requisite for a work visa, which is yet another justification for doing some formal training before setting off.
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