I have been teaching abroad now for about 5 months maybe a little more. It has been an experience let me say. I have taught from small children to adults and everything in between. Here are somethings I learned and some advice that hopefully could be helpful to other foreign language teachers.
First, I would just like to say students are students no matter where you are. I mean yes there can be a language barrier but guess what they are still children who want to learn. In fact some days I often forget what country I am because I am still yelling at kids to stop dabbing and to stop flipping their water bottles(!!!!!). So here is some of my advice for people who are thinking about teaching abroad or first time teachers abroad.
Do not tell them this is your first course!
If you don’t want your students to attend your course or behave during the course, tell them this your first time teaching the material. Students do not want to hear this because it will come off as unprepared and they will think they can get away with anything. My favorite motto is, “fake it until you make it”, why because your students do not need to know it is your first time teaching the material. The only person who needs to know is you! You handle the material so figure out what works and what doesn’t work and make notes along the way because it will help you in the future. I recommend using Microsoft Notes, it is a life saver for me and you can have as many notes as you want and they automatically save. Trust me it is quick and you don’t have to worry about hitting that save button every minute.
Have a Voice!
I have two pieces of advice with this one. First, the literal one. Have a strong and confidant voice while teaching. You are teaching a second language so you need to be loud, enunciate and speak slowly. There is nothing quite discouraging as having your students stare at you after you had just given them instructions for an activity or exercise. So be loud and be clear it may feel strange at first and may take a couple of lessons to figure it out but trust me you get more back from your students when they can understand you and don’t have to ask for as much help. The other part to this is advice is the figurative one. I mean have thoughts and ideas about how you want your lessons to go and always stick to your guns! If you go into your lessons without a plan it makes it hard to be confident in your teaching style and it creates a bad classroom environment. Always believe in your style and trust yourself. Have that voice that makes your students listen and take it slow.
Learn the Language of where you are going
I am not saying become fluent but learning the language of where you will be teaching is honestly a life saver. If you are anything like me, you will probably teach students of varying levels of English. This means some days fluency is great and you sometimes forget you are the teacher and other days there is no fluency and you are questioning your job. I am not fluent in Italian but I have a basic understanding which has helped me greatly because I could not imagine teaching my classes without some understanding. For example, my students with low level English will only speak to me in Italian knowing very well I am a mother tongue English speaker but because I have practiced some Italian I am able to answer their questions in English or even repeat their asked questions in English to help them. Knowing the language also comes in handy with discipline. When your students are getting out of control or are trying to talk about you because they think you don’t understand, knowing a few key phrases to tell them to stop will definitely ensure that not happening again. My overall advice is to learn the language of where you are teaching but only use it when needed (i.e. specific words or discipline) and rarely. Your students will benefit more from you speaking only in English and your discipline will be viewed seriously.
Work for a school (if possible)
If this is your first time teaching English as a foreign language do not freelance! You are just getting your feet on the ground and guess what you need to start off? Material! It is very hard to find material if you are on your own. Not only that schools give you so many resources like computers, printers, books, tests, and so much more. Take advantage of what a school can offer until you have learned what you are good at and what you feel comfortable teaching. For me I work for one school but I am sent to other places to teach different things like test prep courses, business English and even conversation courses. Having this “home base” allows me to feel confidant and informed about these topics so that when I am asked for extra lessons I can tell people exactly what my teaching strengths are. Build your teaching resume first, take advantage of materials then take your time to build clientele.
Fake it Until You Make it
Finally, my favorite motto and one of the best pieces of advice that my smart mother gave me is fake it until you make it. Teaching a foreign language can be intimidating but like I said before make sure that you are the only one who knows you are scared, nervous or unsure. If you are teaching abroad as a mother tongue English teacher (meaning English is your native language) congrats you are now considered an expert in the English language. If you are anything like me that is definitely not the case (forever struggling with grammar) but embrace it. Answer any question about English with confidence and certainty even if the answer is I don’t know. It may be hard to do this at first because you as a teacher you always want to have the answers but sometimes it’s nice to have to work with your students to understand something. So all in all be the expert you are in the language that comes naturally to you and act like it!