The demand for both is great but come with a different set of rules & requirements. Universal English Academy teaches TEFL with the primary aim being to find employment as a teacher overseas.

At the University level here in America you will need a Master's or Doctorate in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) to be considered for employment. Public school systems require both degrees, teaching credentials and certain testing. As a private school teacher or teacher's aid many people can teach if they have a 4 year University degree and TEFL certification. With the proper know how you can teach privately in your community and find students through Criagslist or other forms of advertising.

In the second scenario demand for Native English Speaking Teachers (NEST) in foreign countries (China, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Dubai, Middle East, Eastern Europe, Europe etc) is great and the the fact that you are a native speaker puts you in a position to really help your students improve. Yet just being a native speaker doesn't qualify you to be a NEST.

Until about the mid 1990's most overseas English schools did not require TEFL certification as they would train you once you arrived. As long as you had a 4 year University degree in any subject you could qualify for a Specialist Visa and could legally teach in their country. This resulted in a lot of travellers, long-vacationers, and non-teachers seeking employment with no real desire to learn how to teach. The teachers showed up to class but their hearts weren't in their work. This resulted in an ever increasing desire on the part of English Schools around the world to have some measure of a teacher's basic knowledge and skill level.

Gradually TESOL professors developed a set of standards and systems that they could impart to non-teachers so that they knew from day one what they were doing and assure that students were actually following some semblance of a structured program. It also protected new teachers from being taken advantage of by unscrupulous schools by educating them in what they should expect, and what questions to ask before they signed a contract. This eventually blossomed into the TEFL Certification boom which has become in most cases a prerequisite to find serious employment as an English Teacher overseas.

When you present your TEFL Certificate to a prospective school you are saying three important things:

1. You have a basic understanding of How to Teach English.

2. You were serious enough about wanting to teach to get training.

3. You are not ignorant of international practices in TEFL and so

unscrupulous schools will avoid you.

In summary, TEFL Certification will prepare you to teach English anywhere in the world. It will put your resume above all others without certification, and will demonstrate your serious desire to enter the English teaching world. It will also protect you from ending up in a difficult situation you could have easily avoided.

TEFL Certification is not the end all however as most schools have their own system they will train you in and each teacher will over time develop their own unique style and approach. Each culture and location will present many challenges which can not possibly be covered in a single TEFL course. In the end those challenges are what make living overseas the experience of a lifetime.

There is no internationally recognized governing agency that accredits TEFL programs, although many organizations are the self proclaimed leaders in the industry. There are a few Universities (U of Cambridge) that have excellent reputations for setting the standard in the industry but the fact is, most schools will accept TEFL certification based on the curriculum. (See below why our program is Universally accepted) They will ask you a few questions about where and how you learnt and will examine what you studied. In most situations they will be overjoyed with the training you received at UEA and put you at the top of their hire list.

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