Our first TEFL course of 2025 graduated, and before they departed for the last time, we asked them what advice they would give to the next course.
Here’s some of what they said:
- Be kind to yourself. It is an intense course but the people around you truly want to see you succeed.
- A perfect teacher doesn’t exist! You are human, remind yourself of that even during feedback, you still have good qualities already within you to become the best version of yourself.
- You are there for the students, so correct them, make jokes to make them laugh, ask questions to make them talk, bring new thingsto make them excited!
- Breathe, it’s going to be fine I promise. It’s going to be hard and stressful and there are going to be nights that you want to throw your laptop out the window. But I promise you, have faith in yourself, remember why you love teaching, and breathe.
- Take the negative feedback and run with it.
- Be ready to work hard, receive feedback constructively and most of all, have fun.
- Don’t keep the things you need to write to the last minute; it can get overwhelming.
- Finally, don’t feel bad when your lesson did not go well, it does get better after the next one. We are still learning how to do things.
- Lean into your style. Teaching is about the students, but it’s about the way you teach the students. You are never going to be able to perfectly follow your instructors, and it’s a fool’s errand to try. Take the framework, but make it personal. Always remember that it’s your lesson.
- I would advise future students to breathe, remember they weren’t born a teacher, and to absorb as much as they can.
- Be the teacher you wanted yourself to have, but be kind to yourself because it will take time to get there, and it’s completely fine.
- Not to be scared to make mistakes, it’s a learning curve.
- CCQ’s and ICQ’s are awkward to ask, but everyone in the class is doing it so don’t feel awkward about it.
- Don’t worry about the grades, teaching takes practice and no one can understand how it works immediately and everyone’s teaching style is different.
- Be open to feedback, at times it may not feel good but the trainers are not tearing you down they are simply reconstructing.
- Ask any and all questions they may have for the trainers. Every single trainer truly wants to see you succeed, they will help as much as they can.
In just 4 weeks you can be teaching English abroad. TEFL Worldwide was awarded as the Top TEFL Certification Course of 2018 and 2019! Courses offered monthly.
