Getting certified to teach English as a second language can be done in several different ways…even from the comfort of you own home! Below is a chart of typical requirements needed to become an ESL teacher, however having a university degree is not always necessary and many ESL teachers just have a TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) or TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages) certificate!

Career Requirements for ESL Teachers

Degree Level Bachelor’s degree; master’s often preferred
Degree Field(s) Education, adult education, and bilingual education
License/Certification Varies by state; cross-cultural language and academic development (CLAD) certificates; optional certification for those with non-education bachelor degrees
Experience Student teaching
Key Skills Creativity; instructional, communications, and computer software skills; cultural sensitivity
Median Annual Salary (2020) $44,483 (For ESL teachers)

This chart was taken from study.com which you can access here.

ESL teachers generally need to be native English speakers and have a firm grasp on the language and grammar etc. To  become certified to teach English as a second language, people must take a course either in person or online which ‘certifies’ them to teach English. There are several different companies/schools which offer these courses all over the world.

There are many companies which offer TEFL certification, I have listed some of the popular ones below…

The TEFL Academy also has an Instagram page, which you can find here.

The International TEFL Academy also has a Youtube channel as well as an Instagram page. They post several videos about teaching around the world in various different countries which I have found very inspiring and fun to watch!

There are so many companies to become certified with to teach English as a second language…it is important that each individual takes the time to research and investigate to find the best fit for them.