Making friends in an unknown place is not a cup of tea for everyone, especially if you’re an introverted person. You’ll meet people in a new country where you might not have the exact idea of their cultures, norms, festivals, etc., thoroughly. Books and Google can help you to some extent but needless to say, hearing real-life experiences count more.
If you’re passionate about teaching abroad with an EFL/ESL teaching profession, you must have some sort of communication with the people of the country you’re planning to move on. You need an online TEFL course certification to meet one of the eligibility criteria to teach in the language institutions abroad. But that does not end the game at all.
Teaching English as a foreign language to non-English speaking people is a fascinating job. You can travel to exotic locations and earn hefty as an English teacher. You can opt for teaching young learners or teaching Business English to adult learners according to your preferences. You can also choose to teach English online along with teaching in the classroom session for an extra source of income.
An international TEFL certification course can help you fetch glamorous teaching jobs across the globe. But have you ever wondered if you’re traveling for the first time how to make friends abroad? It might be a bit more problematic for you if you have prior teaching experience.
Don’t sweat it for we have plenty of tips for you on how to make friends abroad while you’re traveling with a job of teaching English to speakers of other languages.
Social Media: We must be grateful to Mark Zukerberg for connecting the whole world with just one click! There are amazing local communities on Facebook where they share a lot of information about their cultures, rituals, festivals, food habits, locality, etc., so that when people will travel they don’t need much time to get along with the new society.
These Facebook groups play a fabulous role by providing information about various accommodations at places where TEFL jobs are mainly prevalent. Along with the availability, they provide the rent structure, amenities, rules and regulations, and so on. The past part is that these groups remain active most of the time and the rate of response is quite swift.
Language Exchange: Once you land in a new country, the language barrier can be a basic problem if you do not know their language at a very level. You might be teaching there as a full-time TEFL teacher but learning a new language for the sake of your benefit and upskilling does no harm. There are numerous cost-effective online courses available where you can learn a new language at a beginner level.
Along with teaching English, you will be able to learn a new language. This in turn will help you to get along with your students more conveniently. You’ll be able to understand them emotionally to some extent, and a connection will develop naturally.
Teach English online: Covid-19 has made the entire world run digitally at a smooth pace. This is another factor why we are suggesting you go for teaching English online first traveling abroad. Let’s say, you’re teaching a bunch of students online who stay in Spain. You can get a basic idea of Spanish culture. If you’re planning to travel to Spain in the due course of time, you can definitely utilize this experience.
Also, having communication with some of your Spanish students can also help you to settle down in Spain when you’ll be traveling there for the first time.
Community forum: Just like social media, e-community forums like Quora, LinkedIn, Reddit, etc., can help to gain a lot of information about your destination. There are many groups on these platforms where regular discussion sessions keep flowing and you can participate accordingly.
You’ll get enough information about new locations.
Thus, following these steps will help you make good friends abroad who can help you in your emergency. A TEFL certification can fetch you awesome ESL jobs abroad but you might need some help there owing to any scenario. Therefore, it is always good to have some friends there! To know more about teaching abroad with a TEFL certificate, call 1800-212-6400.
Written By : Rutuja Badade
