Written by S. Thompson | Posted in Education |

The requirements for teaching in private colleges in both Latin America and Europe are similar. Often, a TEFL degree by itself will not be enough. You may need to already have some other university degree as well or even be required to have a degree in English. Colleges and universities are generally stricter in these requirements, but on the other side they often offer the best paying jobs with the most benefits and sometimes even tenure.

Latin America
There are many famous universities and colleges throughout Latin America. There are universities in Mexico City, Santiago, Lima, Bogota and Rio de Janeiro. In addition to universities, Latin America is filled with a lot of private colleges that may or may not be traditionally religious centers. For example, there are many seminaries where they train priests across Latin America and these places are always looking for English teachers who are qualified and dedicated to teach the incumbent clergy English.

Teaching in Latin America can also be under the aegis of a private language school. These are very popular there and your class will more than likely be filled with young students from various schools in the area. You may even have to teach classes of different levels and ages.

Europe
The European situation is largely the same as the Latin American one when it comes to universities and colleges. There are several very old and famous universities such as the Sorbonne in Paris or KU Leuven in Belgium. It is possible to get a teaching position at these universities but you should generally have or be in the process of getting a PhD if you are applying. Teaching in Europe is also possible in smaller colleges that may not require you to have a PhD. Sometimes they accept people with Master’s degrees and maybe just an undergraduate degree. Having a specific TEFL certificate isn’t really important in this context unless you specifically want to work in an EFL Department or a government run school for immigrants.

When it comes to language schools they are very popular in Europe too. The clientele are mostly made up of young students as well, but often you will find that your classes also have business men and women in them, who are keen on improving their English either for personal or business reasons.

A very common setup in European countries if you teach in a private language school is that you will be responsible for a small group of 6-10 students. Courses will usually last 15 weeks and may take place on Saturdays, which is when businesspeople can attend.

In any case, the private teaching sphere in Europe is largely the same as Latin America.

Popularity: 1%