Teaching English Overseas: A Job Guide for Americans & Canadians [Paperback]

Jeff Mohamed (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2003

The new, revised edition of this comprehensive guide for people who want to find jobs teaching English abroad. It includes detailed practical advice on: teaching without training; choosing a TEFL training program; the current overseas job market; how to conduct a successful job search; legal, medical and other practical considerations; dealing with culture shock. It also contains contact details of 450 schools and other organizations which between them hire more than 10,000 teachers every year.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Since it first appeared in 2000, Jeff Mohamed's book has become the standard "how to" book for Americans and Canadians who want to teach English overseas. You can find customer reviews by going to the Amazon page for the book's first edition.

About the Author

Jeff Mohamed's 33-year career in TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) includes: teaching students of over 80 nationalities in 7 countries; teaching over 130 TEFL training courses in Spain, Egypt, England and the USA; giving TEFL lectures, workshops and short courses in 17 countries; directing EFL schools and training centers in 4 countries; and supervising the recruitment department of International House, which hires hundreds of teachers each year to work in the organization's 70+ affiliated schools.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: English International; 3rd Rev edition (June 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0967706262
• ISBN-13: 978-0967706269
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #251,204 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 30 Years Too Late!, March 17, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Teaching English Overseas - A Job Guide For Americans And Canadians (Paperback)

The book is brilliant, and my only regret is that it was not available thirty years ago when I entered the world of EFL! I have travelled and taught in many countries, and although I never actually met Jeff Mohamed I kept hearing his name. He is a legendary figure in English language teaching.

Written in a friendly and highly readable style, this book covers every single aspect of the overseas teaching experience. It shows you how to determine your suitability to be a teacher, how to select a training course, how to conduct the job search, and how to settle into a job teaching English overseas. And this guide is not afraid to tackle issues such as teaching illegally (without a work permit), health issues and those sensitive cross-cultural issues (including personal relationships). Increasingly Americans seem to be becoming wary, or even afraid, of working abroad. With its thoroughly grounded and practical approach to all the issues, this book dispels those fears. Jeff Mohamed's enthusiasm is highly contagious!

The listings of resources are current and incredibly comprehensive (I was pleased to see it included the school in Egypt, ILI Helopolis, where I spent many happy years!)

For those starting their careers as teachers this book is invaluable. For those more seasoned teachers, the lists of resources (almost 100 pages of them!) are invaluable. And I see from the introduction that if you do not like it, you can contact the publisher for a full refund. What have you got to lose?

57 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect, July 19, 2000

By 

"wfleming" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Teaching English Overseas - A Job Guide For Americans And Canadians (Paperback)

This is the best book to buy if you are an American or a Candian looking to teach English overseas. It covers everything from what to take with you to how the job markets currently look in differing parts of the world. Jeff Mohamed covers everything, there is even a section on how to avoid culture shock when you arrive in a foreign country.

This book is also packed with numerous contacts for everything you could possibly need, from organizations to send resumes to, places to get certified, and on and on.

This book will answer any questions you might have about teaching, for example he covers the pros and cons of the various certification programs, including the Cambridge/RSA TEFL certificate. And if you aren't happy with the book there is even an address in the beginning which you can send for a refund from the publisher.

If you are thinking about teaching English overseas (even if only for a year) this is the first book you should read.

Highly recommended

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect For Beginners, February 26, 2000

By 

Pete Dralling (New Jersey, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Teaching English Overseas - A Job Guide For Americans And Canadians (Paperback)

I think the book is really good for people who are just starting to look into teaching English to foreign students. The FAQs chapter and the one on the current overseas job market answered just about all of the questions that were running around in my head for the last few weeks. I feel that I now understand a lot about what TEFL is and what career prospects it offers. I'm also more aware of some of the problems and limitations. I'm trying to decide which TEFL certificate program to take and the book is helping me a lot with this. It lists the good and bad points of the different programs. Until I read it, I didn't know that there were so many programs and that some of them are much more popular than others with overseas schools. I haven't used any of the stuff on job searching yet but it all looks very clear and well organized. When I have my certificate and start looking for jobs all the addresses of employers should be really useful. I looked at a couple of other books but they didn't seem to be as detailed or as up to date. I don't think they even had email addresses for schools. This looks like the perfect book for someone like me. I'm going to lend it to my parents because they think I'm crazy to want to live abroad. I hope it will convince them that there are real job possibilities out there.