Teaching English

Resources & Organizations

Certification for teaching English abroad:

I received my certification to teach English abroad with a company called Oxford Seminars.  It involved 60 hours of classroom learning, creating & giving sample lesson plans and tests, and 40 hours of online coursework.  The completed certification also provides you with career-placement “coaches” for anywhere in the world you are interested in seeking employment, “for life”- meaning you can re-use the service any time you want to change jobs, locations, or after a stretch of time not teaching abroad but wanting to return.  I had a great experience with this company, and would recommend it for anyone wanting to teach abroad for any amount of time.  Oxford Seminars:  TESOL, TESL, TEFL Certification ( = Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, Teaching English as a Second Language, Teaching English as a Foreign Language)

 

Volunteer Opportunities/Ways to Gain Experience Teaching in Boulder County, Colorado:

  • El Comite, Longmont, Colorado:  ESL classes, citizenship exam prep, community collaboration.  I volunteered at El Comite in order to gain experience in an ESL classroom.  I assisted the main teacher by working with small groups and helping individuals who needed more explanation or 1:1 practice.

 

  •  Intercambio, Boulder, Colorado:  Teaching English to adults with trained volunteers.  I volunteered in another classroom with this organization, which in my opinion is structured incredibly well and is amazing how much work they accomplish/people they reach with a bare bones team of staff and a huge team of volunteers.  They invest excellent training in their volunteers and then hold them to a unique standard of commitment, but it works quite well and really serves their students well.  I gained a lot of experience being a teaching assistant in evening adult classes, and there was also opportunity to teach 1:1 with any level of English-as-a-second-language speakers.  Intercambio, Boulder, Colorado:  Teaching English to adults with trained volunteers

 

Teaching English in Bogotá, Colombia:

Raisbeck was one of the smaller language schools I applied to and they provided less structure and materials than other schools but I ended up loving it.  It was a challenge at first to find enough teaching materials for the variety of levels I taught, but once I got the hang of it I loved the challenge of really tailoring each lesson to each student.  Most of my “classes” were 1:1, a few were 2-4 people big.  All my students were adults in a variety of international businesses.  I met some really interesting people, some who had very high positions in their companies.  It was an honor and a challenge to teach them English, and I truly learned a lot myself.

  • Raisbeck PES, Bogotá Colombia:  English Language School for business adults in Colombia
  • Profy.com: an online compilation of teachers of many languages based in Colombia; search and choose face-to-face teachers or online-class options.
  • Geko.com.co :  an online compilation of English teachers based in Bogotá, Colombia.  (Click here to see my video plug on the homepage!)

 

Volunteering in the Coffee Region of Colombia/Teaching English in Colombia:

I volunteered for and lived at the Minga House for one month over the Christmas season during my year in Colombia.  This is an excellent organization run by a Mexican-American who is married to a Colombian and they have a passion for building connections within their Colombian community (and country) and improving the environment and ways of life including language and health and many other topics.  There’s a large number of roles to fill and this organization is always open to new ideas or passions that you bring with you and want to venture out and try or add to what they already have going on.  One of the best parts is that you work alongside locals and really get to know the community because you are immersed in it daily, and live right next to the main square.  Whether you work with them for 1 week or 6 months, you’ll gain as much or more than you contribute.  It’s also a great resource for placing English teachers in various jobs in Colombia and sometimes there are opportunities to teach in other countries as well.

Minga House Foundation, Chinchiná Colombia:  Internship & volunteering opportunities for international travelers, as well as ESL teacher placement in the Coffee Region of Colombia