5 things to know if you want to teach English as a foreign language in 2021

Good riddance 2020. We’ve got high hopes this next year is going to be a better prospect for the TEFL world. That’s why we’ve gone away and had a long, deep think about all the important things to know if you want to teach English as a foreign language in 2021…

Those dreaded travel restrictions

Ever heard of a thing called COVID-19? Yep? Thought you might have. Well…it put a proverbial spanner in the works of the TEFL industry to put it lightly. Major border shutdowns halted travel for lots of people around the globe. For huge stretches, it was literally illegal to cross into Thailand or China or the EU. All that does show signs of easing right about now, but if there’s one thing we’ve learned about a pandemic, it’s to expect the unexpected. Our advice? Have some flexibility in your plans. Don’t set a date to hit Bangkok and start that teaching position. It might not happen. Be ready to move your departures and keep an open line of communication with your employers to update them on what’s happening and when.

Online English as a foreign language is BOOMING!

One other side effect of the whole world going into lockdown has been a major upsurge in the popularity of online teaching. It was something that was doing pretty darn well anyway, with growing cohorts of schools opening remote learning platforms for students. But it’s hard to overstate where we are now – there seems to be a new online school almost every week! It’s not all rosy, though. A whopping 80%+ of teachers are now wanting to teach online in some capacity, so there’s hefty competition. What’s more, the best employers have some steady requirements, often asking for a college degree and previous experience.

Vaccines might just be the key

With COVID-19 restrictions still in place in the vast majority of countries (at least at the time of writing – fingers crossed!), experiencing a place the way it really is will still be tricky. And that’s assuming you make it over the border in the first place (see above!). The key to unlocking that pandemic box looks likely to be the vaccine. There are now lots of jurisdictions that ask for proof that travelers have had the yellow fever vaccine or rabies injection on arrival, so there’s precedent here. Basically, be jabbed and you’re probably more likely to be able to go traveling sooner.

There could be a travel rush

Keep us avid globetrotters locked up for a year and what did ya’ think would happen when you opened the floodgates? We’ve been stewing with dreams of powdery Thai beaches and the rattling canyon railways of Mexico, with visions of jungled mountains in Taiwan and Vietnamese floating markets. As soon as travel opens there’s sure to be a rush to start checking off those lines from the bucket list. That has consequences. Namely, it means travel is likely to be a tad more expensive for a while, which is why we thought we’d play our part with 33% off all our TEFL courses.

There’s still time to get TEFL certified before the world starts working again

One of the strange upsides of the pandemic in 2020 is that a whole load of people found that they had a whole load more time on their hands. Breadmaking, weaving, gardening – all of sudden hobbies could be indulged and activities pursued. If you’re eager to become an English as a foreign language teacher somewhere exotic once borders reopen, our advice would be to use this time to spruce up your CV. The obvious place to begin is an accredited TEFL course. We’ve got two that we usually recommend: The 120-hour course (the industry standard all over the globe) and the 140-hour Master Course (especially designed for people wanting to teach online).

Can you think of any more things to know if you want to teach English as a foreign language in 2021? We’d love to hear from would-be grads and veteran teachers alike. Just drop your thoughts in the comments below.