TEFL Experiences: Teaching English in the UK and Finland

2 August 2012

We love to hear from our students to see where their TEFL certificate has taken them. Get some inspiration from Emma, a TEFL Org graduate, who is using her TEFL qualification to teach English in the UK and Finland. Here's her story…

Last year I decided to take a The TEFL Org course , at the time I was studying for my degree and working in Starbucks; I hated every minute of my job. Before university I had travelled around Australia for a year and had definitely been bitten by the travel bug. I had heard TEFL was a great way to travel the world but everything sounded a little bit too good to be true. I enquired about the course and decided to take the plunge simply because I was desperate to never work a 9-5 job again.

In June 2011 I finished my TEFL course (which was excellent) and three days later I had acquired my first teaching job. It really was as easy as that.I taught one-to-one for three months during the summer in the UK, I visited host family homes and taught in the comfort of people's living rooms.

The best part: I left Starbucks and my six pounds an hour job and I taught for three hours a day for twenty pounds an hour. I couldn't quite believe it.

When the summer ended, unfortunately so did my job, and I went back to university to complete my final year. I graduated in June and two weeks later I flew to Finland to begin my new career.

I have been teaching at a Finnish summer camp now for two weeks and I am half through my experience. I cannot begin to explain how much I love this job: I live right by a huge lake, I can go rowing, swimming, and cycling (all for free) whenever I like. My days start at 8.45am and finish at 1.30pm.

My office is a jetty and I plan my lessons with the other English teachers down at the lake, watching the sunset. It doesn't get dark here very much so at first it was hard to adjust, but now, I already feel like this is a home away from home and I will be sad to leave.

This is the only job I have ever truly loved! I was extremely nervous when I first arrived here as the idea of standing in front of a group of children terrified me. It has only been two weeks but now I cannot wait to get back into the classroom each day.

If you're thinking of doing TEFL but are a little apprehensive about the whole process, don't be! It will be the best thing you have ever done. I am now confident that I can fulfill my ambition to travel the world and it is all because of TEFL. I am looking for my next TEFL adventure and I am hoping to secure a longer term contract so as that I can really get some good experience.

I also hope to start learning Spanish so I think South America will be my main focus.

Watch this space!

Our TEFL jobs centre advertises positions in the UK and in Finland!  Check them out if you feel inspired.

You'll need to take one of our accredited TEFL courses to apply for the positions in our Jobs Centre.  Check out our course options.