The best of The TEFL Org blog in 2024

Life moves quickly here at The TEFL Org. It feels like just yesterday that we were singing ‘Auld Lang Syne’ to see off a successful 2023, and now we’re looking down the barrel of another year. At The TEFL Org, we’ve never been the kind of people to dwell too much on the past. However, we’re also loath to rush through good times without some grateful reflection, and what better time to do that than now?

It’s been a successful year, after all. The TEFL Org is now a B Corp organisation, which is a massive recognition of our values and practices. We’re officially a Great Place to Work, and we also won a highly-coveted Benromach Award for Excellence in International Business at the Highlands and Islands Business Excellence Awards 2024. Pretty, pretty good!

Each and every week, throughout what’s been another landmark year for us, we’ve been updating our blog with what we hope can be described as sage wisdom, fun ideas, interesting takes and even some cultural advice you can use. We’re very kind like that. It’s in that spirit of benevolence that, as 2024 comes to a close, we’re going to pick out some blog highlights, so you can catch up on some biggies that you might’ve missed.

All the very best for 2025, and until then, enjoy some evergreen, righteous content.

5 things employers love (that aren’t on a CV/Resumé)

One of several job-focused blog posts from 2024, ‘5 Things Employers Love…’ covers the “soft skills” you need to stand out in the TEFL employment marketplace. Though, we’ll say this - “soft skills” is a total misnomer. Attributes like organisation, creativity and compassion (amongst others!) are valuable, and there’s nothing “soft” about them!

Yes, a CV and a cover letter can - ahem - cover a lot of what you bring to the table as a TEFL teacher. However, they can’t tell the whole story, and they’re the best at illustrating the many skills you have that go beyond what your academic qualifications can give you.

What you need to know before you TEFL

In 2024, we got really into comprehensive guides. We knew you were looking for a big whack of important information, and we did our best to provide it. ‘What you really need to know before you TEFL’ certainly fits the bill when it comes to detailed blog posts, and we’d recommend anyone starting out in teaching English as a foreign language to bookmark and come back to it.

Covering TEFL certification, visas, motivations, salaries, going solo v training programmes and more, there’s a wealth of information that - if you don’t mind us saying so - is crucial for all TEFL newcomers.

Thailand's new Destination Visa for digital nomads

For digital nomads , there’s always something exciting happening. More exciting locations are opening their doors to digital nomads, and why not? It’s a mutually beneficial relationship, with countries earning a decent chunk of change from taxes and nomads being able to travel as they make a living.

Thailand, a perpetually popular country to visit, has got in on the act. Fine, it’s not an official “digital nomad visa”, but in essence, the Destination Visa is perfect for digital nomads. How? You’ll have to read our blog post to find out.

The TEFL job application guide

Another comprehensive guide? Call us charitable if you must, but we felt you could use another long read about applying for TEFL jobs. After all, we know what we’re talking about. We have The TEFL Org Jobs Centre , a tonne of other resources about jobs, guides to CVs, Cover Letters… you name it. So, putting some of that expertise into one handy guide just makes sense, doesn’t it?

We’ve identified where you can find jobs, how you can navigate visa issues, how to avoid job scams, what to put on your CVs and Cover Letters, how to do a demo lesson, how to respond to a job offer and… whew, it’s breathless stuff. Add it to your bookmarks, have a read, take some notes and thank us when you’ve got your ideal teaching job!

How to spot fake TEFL reviews

Finding the right TEFL course provider can be tricky, with so many options for different courses and so many deals being thrown your way. It definitely doesn’t help, then, when unscrupulous scam course providers turn up with bogus reviews, trying to lure you into paying your hard-earned money for a meaningless, unaccredited “qualification”, does it?

We’ll help you out here: the answer is “no”. How do you spot fake TEFL reviews, though? What are the telltale signs for when a course provider isn’t legitimate? Have a read and find out. You can even spend a minute getting annoyed at scam artists trying to rip off aspiring TEFL teachers. Then, you can browse the web freely, safe in the knowledge that you’re wiser to this kind of thing than you were yesterday.

The TEFL Org is a B Corp Company!

One of our big wins in 2024 was being listed as a B Corp company. If you aren’t sure what this means, the blog post explains it all, but here’s your Cliff Notes version: B Labs, a body that “evaluates a company's performance across various categories, including governance, workers, community, environment, and customers,” awards B Corp status to exceptional organisations. In essence, you need to be a company running to high ethical standards, making the world a little better, and treating your employees and customers extremely well.

Turns out, we do that. We’re utterly delighted to have joined the ranks of some fantastic B Corp names. 

American English vs British English

Ding ding! Lights out, round 1! In the blue corner, we have jolly old blighty, old-fashioned phone boxes, apples and pears (stairs), William Shakespeare, cups of tea, bland food and other hackneyed stereotypes - it’s British English!

In the red corner, it’s Rocky Balboa, a screeching bald eagle, Bruce Springsteen in very snug denim, Fourth of July, cooking large quantities of meat outside stadiums and refusing to spell “colour” with a U: American English, come on down!

At least, that’s what this blog could’ve been. If you’re looking for very lazy “what are we like? What are they like?!” comparisons between American English and British English, and some kind of judgement over what’s better, you can find that elsewhere. For some thoughtful reflections on advice on how to differentiate between the two in a TEFL context, try out our blog post. 

TEFL and Mental Health

Unquestionably the most important blog post from 2024, we took a deep dive into how TEFL teaching and your mental health can co-exist. While the stigma around mental illness has - mercifully - reduced in some countries over recent years, that isn’t to say it doesn’t exist. For TEFL teachers, sadly, there’s a chance that you could end up teaching in a country where mental illness is a taboo subject and one that isn’t addressed sufficiently by medical practitioners.

It’s a weighty topic, for sure. In this blog post, we wanted to discuss the most common mental illnesses, signpost teachers to important resources, and bring up some talking points to consider. Soon, we’ll be taking a longer and deeper look at neurodivergence and other access issues within The TEFL industry, but there’ll be more on that in 2025.

In the meantime, we hope this resource is useful. Please feel free to get in touch if you feel we’ve missed anything crucial. Or, send us a message if you or somebody you know is involved with a group, club or organisation that’s relevant to teaching and mental health awareness.

It’s all happening in 2025!

There are some of the things we’re most proud of from the blog in 2024. It’s been a really fun year, and we hope you’ve had enormous success starting your TEFL qualification, taking your first TEFL job, or continuing your fruitful journey through this sometimes crazy, often challenging, but always brilliant vocation.

What do YOU want to see more of from our blog next year? Get in touch if there’s a country you want to know more about, a cause you want us to shine a light on, or something else from the TEFL world that you reckon needs a bit more attention.

2025 is going to be amazing. We can feel it. Can’t you?

Can’t wait to begin your journey into English teaching? You don’t have to. Start a highly-accredited, industry-leading TEFL course with us today!