Many of you may be wondering where taking a TEFL course will lead you. Well for some people it might just be something short term, others will end up spending the rest of their career in teaching and a select few might just go on to become household names! You may be surprised to hear that a number of famous people have tried their hand at EFL teaching. Here we take a look at five people who have taught English overseas and gained fame or fortune for a variety of reasons.
1. Ranald MacDonald (1824-1894)
Not to be confused with the fast food clown, with whom he shares a spookily similar name, Ranald was a true pioneer and one of the very first EFL teachers. Ever since he was a boy he had the urge to travel and in true adventurer spirit he quit his job at a bank and set sail for Japan, despite knowing that any foreigner who set foot on Japanese soil faced imprisonment or execution. He came ashore on Rishiri Island where he was caught and eventually sent to Nagasaki to teach English to Samurai warriors. These men would go on to become diplomatic interpreters who would help cool East-West tensions and bring a halt to Japan's isolationist policy. Although he received little recognition during his lifetime, there is now a memorial to Ranald in his Oregon birthplace, as well as two in his adopted homeland of Japan.
2. Anna Leonowens (1831-1915)
When she accepted an offer from the King of Siam (now known as Thailand) to be governess to his children, Anna Leonowens probably had no idea that she was about to embark on a journey that would be committed to print, stage and screen. In 1859 her life had been thrown into turmoil when her husband Thomas died of a haemorrhage while working at a hotel in Penang, Malaysia. She sent her daughter back to England to be educated and travelled to Singapore with her son where she received an invitation to work in the royal household of Siam. King Mongut wanted Anna to give his many wives and children a Western education, although they frequently clashed over what should and shouldn't be taught . She spent more than five years in Siam which were immortalised in the novel Anna and the King of Siam and the hit Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I, which was later turned into a Hollywood film starring Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr.
3. Wilfred Owen (1893-1918)
Dulce et Decorum Est is a poem that you will often hear recited on Remembrance Day or in tribute to any fallen servicemen. It was written by poet Wilfred Owen in 1917 as a way of expressing his anger at the cruelty of war. Owen had seen the horrors of the battlefield first hand while serving on the Western Front during World War One. Before fighting broke out however, he had been working in Bordeaux as a tutor at the Berlitz School of Languages. Owen died in battle at the age of just 25 but his poems live on as a reminder of the sacrifice made by those who lost their life to war.
4. J.K. Rowling (1965-)
J.K. Rowling is one of the world's best-known authors. She is responsible for creating the Harry Potter series, which has sold more than 400 million books, spawned a series of hit films and turned Rowling into a multi-millionaire. Before she got the inspiration for the boy wizard however, she taught English in Portugal. Working in the city of Porto, she taught in the evenings while writing in the day. It was here that she met her husband, the Portuguese journalist Jorges Arantes, although they later divorced.
5. Ed Norton (1969-)
You will no doubt recognise the award-winning actor from his star turns in Fight Club, The Incredible Hulk and American History X. But what you may not know is that after graduating from Yale University he worked for his grandfather's company, Enterprise Community Partners, in Osaka, Japan. While there he appeared in an EFL textbook, Only in America, which was used by Nova English language school. He also gained one of his first acting credits by appearing in the company's hilarious instructional videos, an image from which can be seen below.
1. Ranald MacDonald (1824-1894)
Not to be confused with the fast food clown, with whom he shares a spookily similar name, Ranald was a true pioneer and one of the very first EFL teachers. Ever since he was a boy he had the urge to travel and in true adventurer spirit he quit his job at a bank and set sail for Japan, despite knowing that any foreigner who set foot on Japanese soil faced imprisonment or execution. He came ashore on Rishiri Island where he was caught and eventually sent to Nagasaki to teach English to Samurai warriors. These men would go on to become diplomatic interpreters who would help cool East-West tensions and bring a halt to Japan's isolationist policy. Although he received little recognition during his lifetime, there is now a memorial to Ranald in his Oregon birthplace, as well as two in his adopted homeland of Japan.
2. Anna Leonowens (1831-1915)
3. Wilfred Owen (1893-1918)
Dulce et Decorum Est is a poem that you will often hear recited on Remembrance Day or in tribute to any fallen servicemen. It was written by poet Wilfred Owen in 1917 as a way of expressing his anger at the cruelty of war. Owen had seen the horrors of the battlefield first hand while serving on the Western Front during World War One. Before fighting broke out however, he had been working in Bordeaux as a tutor at the Berlitz School of Languages. Owen died in battle at the age of just 25 but his poems live on as a reminder of the sacrifice made by those who lost their life to war.
4. J.K. Rowling (1965-)
J.K. Rowling is one of the world's best-known authors. She is responsible for creating the Harry Potter series, which has sold more than 400 million books, spawned a series of hit films and turned Rowling into a multi-millionaire. Before she got the inspiration for the boy wizard however, she taught English in Portugal. Working in the city of Porto, she taught in the evenings while writing in the day. It was here that she met her husband, the Portuguese journalist Jorges Arantes, although they later divorced.
5. Ed Norton (1969-)
You will no doubt recognise the award-winning actor from his star turns in Fight Club, The Incredible Hulk and American History X. But what you may not know is that after graduating from Yale University he worked for his grandfather's company, Enterprise Community Partners, in Osaka, Japan. While there he appeared in an EFL textbook, Only in America, which was used by Nova English language school. He also gained one of his first acting credits by appearing in the company's hilarious instructional videos, an image from which can be seen below.
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