Top tips for Travellers

For those of you who are about to jet off to your new TEFL jobs, we've drawn up some quick shortcuts to help you and your possessions get there in one piece.


Luggage

Make sure your luggage is easily distinguishable on the baggage carousel with distinctive straps or labels. There is nothing more annoying when you are travel weary than lugging numerous cases off the conveyor belt only to find they aren't yours.



Destination
Don't rely on a luggage tag to get your precious cargo to its destination. They can easily become detached. Placing an A4 sheet of paper inside your bag with the address of your destination and your mobile phone number could prove helpful if you and your possessions become separated. It could mean the difference between spending a matter of hours rather than days without your luggage.

Documents

It is worth photocopying important documents such as the photo page of your passport, medical information or any visas you might need to show at the airport. This will help you immensely should you break the number one rule of travel and lose your passport...

Passport

Check the expiry date on your passport as it must be valid to travel out and back. In fact, most countries require six months validity in order to travel.



Hand Luggage
Pack your hand luggage as if your hold luggage will not arrive. That means that if there's nothing waiting for you at the other end, at least you will have a change of underwear, fresh clothing and toiletries.



Mobile Phone
Add important numbers such as your embassy, travel insurance company and save them to your phone rather than your SIM so that they will still be around when you change your SIM for roaming.



Currency
Carry your currency in a variety of places and if your wallet gets stolen you don't have your trip ruined by losing all your money.



Shoes

When packing footwear in your luggage protect your clothing by using a disposable shower cap to cover the soles of your shoes.

First Aid Kit
Carry a basic first aid kit with you. It's bad enough being ill abroad without having to find the local pharmacy and go through the rigmarole of getting the right remedy when you don't even speak the language!

Bon Voyage!

What does it all mean?

If you are thinking about teaching English as a foreign language, but are still in the research stage, then you might be a bit confused by all of the jargon you keep reading. The world of English teaching is awash with acronyms - EFL, TEFL, TESOL, CELTA, DELTA - the list is endless. Here we will help you sift through them and make sense of the mumbo jumbo...

If you've made it far enough to read this blog then you probably know what TEFL stands for - Teaching English as a Foreign Language. In essence this means that you are teaching English to people who don't speak it as a first language. It is a generic 'catch-all' term used in the industry and if you want to get yourself a job doing this then your first port of call would be to get a TEFL certificate. Using your powers of deduction you can probably figure out from there that EFL is just English as a Foreign Language, which simply refers to the study of English by non-native speakers. EAL (English as an Additional Language) is another term that is used in this way. All fairly straight forward so far.

When people hear TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) that's when the bemusement usually starts. It is often used interchangeably with TEFL and broadly they do mean the same thing - that is teaching people for whom English is not their mother tongue. However TESOL is usually used in the context of teaching in an English speaking country, for example to economic migrants who have come to settle there, whereas TEFL will refer to teaching English abroad. To add to the confusion, like TEFL, TESOL can be used to refer to a certificate as well as just the act of teaching.

The Trinity Cert TESOL is a high level English teaching qualification. It is very intensive
and is taken by people who have already taught overseas and plan on committing themselves to a life-long career in English teaching. For example, the trainers on UK-TEFL courses will possess this qualification or a CELTA (Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, previously known as Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults) which is an equivalent certificate. It should be remembered that the CELTA and Trinity Cert TESOL courses can be very challenging for students with little or no experience in the field. Furthermore it is a large outlay of time and money if you are unsure that you will be suited to the work. Should you wish to progress further then you may eventually move on to taking a DELTA (Diploma in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) but that's probably not something you should be thinking about just yet...

To summarise, if you have never done any teaching before, but are thinking about doing it, then your first step is to get a TEFL certificate under your belt. Once you have this then you can worry about all the other acronyms later!