Whether teaching English is a career path that you want to follow, or you just want an excuse to live the good life in another country for a while, a TEFL certificate will get you off on the right foot because, the days when being a native speaker of English was enough to get you a teaching job are now long gone. Nowadays you almost always need to be trained and qualified accordingly - just because you know how to drive a car, doesn't mean you are qualified to teach someone else how to do it (particularly if you're a bad driver!) and the same goes for English...you may be a native English speaker but it doesn't mean you are automatically qualified to teach it.

The next step is finding a TEFL course that will give you the best opportunities once you have gained your certificate. Most respected TEFL schools/companies give their graduates lifelong access to their job placement services worldwide and the OxbridgeTEFL course does just that.

Whilst pursuing your TEFL course you will come across a variety of terms that may seem confusing: ESL, EFL, TESL, TESOL and CELTA being the most common. Essentially, they all mean the same thing - TEFL. The name changes depending on their country of origin. I have listed below a detailed explanation of each term:

ESL - English as a second language. This refers to English language programs in countries where English is the official language. Examples of ESL students would be immigrants or visa students studying English in an English speaking country (e.g. United States).

EFL - English as a foreign language refers to English language programs in countries where English is not the official language (e.g. Japan).

TEFL - Teaching English as a Foreign Language. A term that refers to teacher training programs of EFL.

TESL - Teaching English as a Second Language. This is a general term that refers to many things. For example, a TESL program refers to a program where students learn how to teach English as a second language, a TESL organization refers to a professional organization that represents teachers of English as a second language and TESL may also refer to the teaching English as second language field in general (e.g. "I work in TESL.").

TESOL - Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. This term is used in the USA and refers to the professional organization that represents teachers of English as a second language.

CELTA - Certificate in Language Teaching to Adults. This is simply a trade name of the TEFL certificate courses developed in the UK by the University of Cambridge. The program trains people to teach English as a second language. It is a popular misconception that this course is what you should be taking in order to be fully qualified to teach English as a foreign language as it is no better or worse than any other TEFL course of 120+ hours. DELTA is the advanced Diploma course.

So, now that you're armed with enough information in order to make a decision about which course you want to do, if Spain is one of the countries you have thought about visiting, why not take the plunge and book an interview with OxbridgeTEFL course? The interview doesn't obligate you to doing the course, it won't cost you anything and it can be conducted by Skype. Click HERE for further information and to arrange your interview. You never know, this time next month you could be living your dream.