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Is English language teaching for you? A guide to a new career 

Marie Therese Swabey

June 14, 2021

Whether you’re just starting out or thinking of a career change, teaching English as a foreign language is one of the most rewarding professional journeys you can embark on.

In English language teaching, there is a lot of career potential. As you develop your skills and take on more responsibilities, you can enjoy a long-term career. Many professionals become senior teachers or teacher trainers, or move into management or materials writing.

Why become an English language teacher? 

There are lots of reasons you might want to become an English language teacher. For a start, you can make a real difference in people’s lives. According to a 2019 survey by Wall Street English, 18% of professionals who have learned English report that they feel happier at work; 12% say they feel happier in general; and half of English speakers earn 25% more because of their language skills.

Moreover, English language teaching is an immensely flexible profession. You can decide whether to take a public or private job, or offer lessons on your own. Your working conditions are flexible too. You might prefer to work in a local school or academy, but many English language teaching jobs also allow you to work online from home. And if you’re feeling adventurous, there are lots of opportunities to live and work abroad, in a new country and culture. If you do travel further afield, you might even learn a new language of your own.

English language teaching is a career that encourages creativity. You’ll become an expert at designing lessons and making learning materials to meet the needs of your students. Best of all ... it’s fun! You spend your day with interesting, engaging people who are keen to learn. What could be better than that?

What do English language teachers do every day? 

It probably goes without saying that language educators teach students English on a day-to-day basis. But there are plenty of other aspects to the job as well.

English language teachers assess their learners through quick tests and official exams. They use this information to define learning objectives, and then plan courses and classes that meet their students’ needs.

Language teachers use a range of coursebooks and English language teaching materials, including a variety of audio, visual and digital tools. At the same time, they find and create teaching and learning materials of their own.

In the process of developing learners’ reading, listening, speaking andwriting abilities, teachers also help students develop confidence in presenting and communicating ideas. Furthermore, language teachers encourage students to develop important 21st century skills, such as creativity, collaboration, leadership, autonomous learning and adaptability. These skills are transferable and will help learners in many areas throughout their lives.

What do you need to become an English language teacher? 

Being a good English teacher requires more than just being able to speak the language fluently. You’ll also need a comprehensive knowledge of English grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary, combined with excellent communication skills. Teachers of young learners will also need to have an understanding of how to teach engaging, effective classes to children.

It helps if you are comfortable speaking in front of other people, managing groups of learners, and able to plan and organise your time. And it’s important to have a friendly, sympathetic nature and a good degree of cultural sensitivity. After all, you’ll be working with people from all over the world and all walks of life.

Where can you teach? 

There are opportunities to teach the English language almost everywhere. For example, you can teach English in an Englishspeaking country such as the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand or Ireland. You’ll find many private and public programmes and classes for people who have come to work or study, and who need to improve their English.

Alternatively, you can teach English in schools and universities in countries where English is the official language – but not always how people communicate on a daily basis. Nigeria, Malta, India and Sierra Leone are examples. You might also prefer to teach in non-English-speaking countries, where you’ll have the opportunity to immerse yourself in the local culture and learn a new language too.

In terms of teaching environments, there are opportunities to teach in private academies, public schools, universities, offices, private homes and online. 

Who do you teach? 

There is an extensive list of people who want to learn to speak English. Many teachers start out with a variety of class types to find out which they like best. Your options include (but are not limited to):

• • adults in private groups or one-to-one classes
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• • adults in language schools, colleges or universities
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• • professionals such as business people, medical professionals, pilots, etc. who require English for a specific purpose
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• • students who are preparing for an official exam
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• • people who have moved to an English-speaking country and need to improve their English 
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• • young learners in one-to-one classes or groups, or online
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• • young learners in private language schools, or in secondary/ primary schools.

Adapted from: https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/blog/is-english-language-teachingfor-you. Accessed on May 2, 2024

 United Nations Environmental Programme. Dams and Development: Relevant Practices for Improved

Decision-making. Nairobi: The Secretariat of the Dams and Development Project, 2007. p. 10-1 (adapted).

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From Rockets to Ball Bearings, Pentagon Struggles to Feed War Machine: The flow of arms to Ukraine has exposed a worrisome lack of production capacity in the United States that has its roots in the end of the Cold War. By Eric Lipton

March 24, 2023,

Disponível em: www.nytimes.com

WASHINGTON — The Navy admiral had a blunt message for the military contractors building precision-guided missiles for his warships, submarines and planes at a moment when the United States is dispatching arms to Ukraine and preparing for the possibility of conflict with China. 

“Look at me. I am not forgiving the fact you’re not delivering the ordnance we need. OK?” Adm. Daryl Caudle, who is in charge of delivering weapons to most of the Navy’s East Coast-based fleet, warned contractors during an industry gathering in January. “We’re talking about warfighting, national security, and going against a competitor here and a potential adversary that is like nothing we’ve ever seen. And we can’t dillydally around with these deliveries.”

His open frustration reflects a problem that has become worryingly apparent as the Pentagon dispatches its own stocks of weapons to help Ukraine hold off Russia and Washington warily watches for signs that China might provoke a new conflict by invading Taiwan: The United States lacks the capacity to produce the arms that the nation and its allies need at a time of heightened superpower tensions.

 Industry consolidation, depleted manufacturing lines and supply chain issues have combined to constrain the production of basic ammunition like artillery shells while also prompting concern about building adequate reserves of more sophisticated weapons including missiles, air defense systems and counter-artillery radar.

The Pentagon, the White House, Congress and military contractors are all taking steps to address the issues.

Procurement budgets are growing. The military is offering suppliers multiyear contracts to encourage companies to invest more in their manufacturing capacity and is dispatching teams to help solve supply bottlenecks. More generally, the Pentagon is abandoning some of the costcutting changes embraced after the end of the Cold War, including corporate-style just-in-time delivery systems and a drive to shrink the industry.

Available at: https://www.synchronybank.com/blog/brief-history-of-money/. Retrieved on: Sept 10, 2022. Adapted.

The Amazon Forest

The Amazon is often called the lungs of the earth and produces 20% of the world’s oxygen. For this reason, many people are trying to stop deforestation in the rainforest. Brazil, for example, is working hard to help the rainforest survive.

A few years ago, the Brazilian government put forward a plan called ARPA (Amazon Region Protected Areas). It had the support of many international agencies, including the World Bank, and the German Development Bank, KfW. The main aim was to build new areas of protected rainforest, maintain areas of the rainforest that hadn’t yet been destroyed, and stop deforestation. Deforestation contributes greatly to global warming because carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere when trees get cut down and burned.

One of the first areas to be recognized as part of ARPA was the Tumucumaque Mountains National Park. It is 38,800 km² and is the same size as Switzerland, a small country in Central Europe. It’s the world’s largest protected tropical national park, and the second largest national park. It is home to certain species of jaguar, eagle, and lizard, which can only survive in the rainforest. Many of these species are under threat from climate change and deforestation.

In order to work in the park, conservationists need a reliable map. However, no map existed, and they didn’t have enough knowledge to make one on their own. They came up with the idea of involving local tribes to help them, combining modern and ancient methods to produce a map. The tribes learned to use global positioning system handsets (GPS), in conjunction with their local knowledge of the area, which included fishing and hunting grounds, and places of historical or mythical importance. Aerial photos were a 20useful aid in the process as well. This method of map-making is now the key to the future of rainforests, in Brazil and the rest of the world too.