Customer Reviews

Teaching English Overseas - A Job Guide For Americans And Canadians

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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?

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

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.

I only got my copy last week and it's already helped me a lot with finding a teaching job in the Czech Republic.

As soon as I got the book, I wrote a resume using the directions which it gives. Then I emailed the resume and a covering letter to the Czech schools which are listed in one of the appendices. That was about 5 days ago. I've already received encouraging replies from 4 schools and tomorrow I'm having a phone interview with one of them - a school in Prague. I hope I'll soon get more replies and more interviews.

Now I'm using the book to prepare a list of questions to ask during my interview. I'm also reading the chapters on what documents I will need and what other preparations I should make - I didn't realize that there were so many things to think about and arrange before going to work abroad.

I think it's a great book and very practical. I totally recommend it to anyone who wants to get a job teaching English in a foreign country.

Thanks to this book and despite me having no teaching experience or certification, I found a job within a week. This book is concise and contains many links to websites I could not find on my own. The job I received is in Mexico and they are paying for my plane tickets and rent when I get there, along with a nice salary. I am very pleased. If you want a job then I would suggest you look here first.

I'm currently finishing up a master's degree in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages), and checked out "Teaching English Overseas" to aid me in my job quest. It is absolutely loaded with helpful information, from choosing a TEFL certificate/TESOL program, to how to market yourself overseas(including a step-by-step guide to creating an ESL resume), preparing for interviews, researching your potential employers, where to find jobs, and what to expect.

In addition, there are sections devoted to job outlooks by region (very few opportunities in EU countries for those without an EU passport, although thousands of North Americans teach illegally, limited jobs in parts of Africa and the Middle East). Your best bet is to try for former Eastern Bloc countries (Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Croatia, etc.) and Asia (Japan, China, Taiwan, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam). Mexico is also a good source for those looking for something closer to home.

"Teaching English Overseas" also includes sections devoted to legalities, practicalities, and health concerns, dealing with culture shock, your first weeks overseas, and a very thorough appendix that covers TEFL certificate programs in Canada, the USA, and abroad, along with TEFL books, lists of overseas employers (with email and addresses), TEFL job websites, international programs and employers, and a "test your knowledge of English" section to give you an idea of what grammar points employers expect you to be able to explain.

This is an absolute necessity for anyone considering teaching English abroad, whether you have no TEFL experience or you already have an advanced TESOL degree.

I've been teaching English as a Second Language in the US for three years and recently decided to go overseas. I bought Mr. Mohamed's book and have found it to be exactly what I needed: clear, informative and detailed. It has already helped me to obtain job offers in the areas where I most want to work, Thailand and China. I'm sure that the book's detailed advice on training, job searching and adapting to life abroad would be as useful to someone just entering TESL as it has been to me.

I've been teaching ESL for several years and people are always asking me for advice about how to get into the field. In the past I advised them to read Susan Griffith's "Teaching English Abroad" but in the future I'll recommend Jeff Mohammed's book. The Griffith book is good but this one is a lot more relevant for Americans and it isn't full of ads. It has more detailed advice on important practical issues such as writing resumes, contacting employers and making the necessary preparations for going abroad. Also it has more contact addresses for areas where Americans can find work, such as Latin America and Asia. I wish I had this book when I started TESL.

This book is helping me plan and assess every step involved in teaching English abroad, including selecting a TEFL certification program, selecting a target country, writing an appropriate resume, etc. It is helping me to be realistic about where I can go to teach. It also provides valuable information on what to look out for when signing teaching contracts.

It is very clearly written and laid out. It gives advice on all parts of job searching, from how to train through how to make a good impression when you start teaching. I particularly like the detailed checklists, like the one of questions to ask potential employers. There is also very good advice on how to prepare the right kind of resume for overseas jobs. The appendix has the biggest and best list of overseas schools of all the books I have looked at. I wanted a book to help me find a better teaching job than the one I have now and this book is just what I was looking for.