TESOL stands for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. It’s one of the many names given to the English teaching profession, which has boomed in recent years as Anglophone First World countries faced job shortages and people started seeking employment overseas. TESOL is the base qualification in Europe, although other certificates—TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) and TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language)—are also well recognized.
A beginning teacher’s main question is often how to get your TESOL certification. Certification programs technically don’t require you to have a bachelor’s degree, but most employers do, so it’s pretty much an unspoken requirement. Specializing in English literature or something similar is a plus, but not necessary. Besides that, you need a good grasp of the English language (of course), and preferably some teaching experience, whether in English or some other field.
The TESOL certification course may be given by a college or university, or by an independent institution. The courses may be taken in person or online. Each institution has its own set of courses, so it’s best to look at each one’s offerings and see which one will be most useful to you. The most common approach to second language teaching is called “principled eclecticism,” which means that no single method is said to be correct—teachers are encouraged to explore all methods and pick those that suit their needs.
Since most people seeking TESOL certification are already in full-time jobs, online TESOL courses are very popular. In most cases they will get you the qualification needed to teach abroad, especially in countries with high demand such as China and Japan. Some centers, such as Cambridge and the Oxford Seminars, are better known for their classroom courses. They offer intensive training in both language and teaching, and graduates often have no trouble finding work afterwards.
The certificate itself isn’t very hard to get; you can get it in as little as one month or as long as four years, depending on how much you already know and what kind of career you want (teaching abroad, teaching in public schools, etc.). But there is something to be said about doing well and getting some real learning. The program is not just meant to give you the papers, but also to help you become a good teacher. The more effort you put into it, the more prepared you will be to enter the job market.
Posted in 
