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A passport to expat life

Courses & Workshops

23/04/2008A passport to expat life

Justine Whitcutt is one of an increasing number of expats who’ve discovered that teaching the English language is a way to make their globe-trotting financially viable. The only requirement is a recognised teaching qualification.

Justine's first step into the teaching world was to obtain the TEFL certificate (Teach English as a Foreign Language).

She studied for the Cambridge Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA) at the International Teaching & Training Centre (ITTC) in Bournemouth, on the south coast of England.

Justine moved to France five years ago and is now an English teacher at a local high school.

“The CELTA really showed that I was interested in teaching,” says Justine, “and proves useful in my high school teaching in choosing activities trying to change things a bit.”

The 27-year-old was a language assistant in Limoges when she travelled back to the UK to take the CELTA, which took four weeks.

“I think I was always meant to go into teaching or do something with people,” she says.

“In the UK, I was a modern languages student at Durham University, studying French and German. When I graduated I came straight over to France.

“I didn’t actually have the intention of staying here indefinitely when I moved here, but then I met my boyfriend and things got serious, and I love France anyway.”

CELTA is an internationally recognised and highly regarded teaching qualification that builds on your native language abilities and shows you how to help learners with their English.

“Our expats find it really convenient because they can pop over here via Bournemouth or Southampton on low cost airlines and combine their training with seeing family and friends at weekends,” says Richard Davies, head of training at ITTC.

“And there’s still nothing quite like coming ‘home’ to do their training in a familiar culture. It boosts their confidence and they learn far more as a result.

“We’ve had people from here going to France, Spain and Portugal but also much further afield.

“Roger – an ex-soldier now runs a business school in Germany, Sue has a kindergarten in France and Mike, who ran his own company locally, has now built his own school in Thailand.”

TEFL is also a great way of integrating into a new community if you don’t have the benefit of children, says Richard.

“CELTA is designed for people with little or no experience of teaching English, so it's ideal for people who want to start a career in teaching, or to go and work abroad for a few years,” says Nick Charge, examinations manager University of Cambridge ESOL.

“The people who take CELTA are all ages, from recent graduates to older people who are looking for a career change and even people who have recently retired.

CELTA students should have a standard of education equivalent to that required for entry into higher education, be aged 20 or over, and have a standard of English enabling them to teach a range of levels.

21 March 2008

[Copyright Expatica 2008]