New to TEFL, not to teaching

[MandynGuy]

My girlfriend and I want to relocate abroad somewhere (probably Europe) to teach English for a while so we can support ourselves with good employment while being immersed in a foreign language culture.

Mandy is a high school Spanish teacher in the US with a Bachelor's degree in Spanish education and three years teaching experience. She also taught EFL for the Wall Street Institute when she lived in Mexico.

I have my US Bachelor's degree in English with an emphasis on linguistics and have done course work in Second Language Acquisition and French (I am not fluent in French). I also have several years experience as a substitute teacher.

We both prefer to teach teenagers and young adults, but are open to whatever good work is available.

We've been researching the TEFL world and see the merit of having meaningful credentials, and it seems clear that the Cambridge CELTA and Trinity CertTESOL qualifications are the most universally recognized. But as we've investigated the CELTA and CertTESOL certificate courses, we've noticed that they are designed for people with little or no teaching experience or knowledge of language. That leaves us to wonder if they are really right for us, especially Mandy.

So, we've got some questions:

1) For our goals, does CELTA or Trinity have any important advantages over the other?
Are there other qualifications we should be looking at instead?

2) Might Mandy's bilinguism and experience teaching Spanish open more possibilities that we should look into? (She is certainly as open to teaching Spanish as English.)

3) How much of an obstacle will traveling together be in finding work?

[mishmish]

This is just my two cents worth, as I am quite new to teaching (actually, I havent started yet!).

I know many of my friends who have graduated with either education degrees, or degrees majoring in English, and they have found jobs everywhere in Europe!

Of course, having the extra qualification may get you even further! But I guess, that will have to be answered by another...sorry!

[gfell]

If you already have experience and knowledge in teaching, then undertaking a CELTA / TESOL course wont be a waste of time, but may leave you somewhat bored. Both these qualifications are designed for people new to teaching. Better to utilise your time elsewhere.

Have you looked at ICELT (In-service Certificate in English Language Teaching)? This course is designed for those already teaching and wanting to improve on their skills.

There is also:

DELTA (Diploma in English Language Teaching to Adults)
IDLTM (International Diploma in Language Teaching Management)

If I were in your shoes, I would go straight to the DELTA course or even the IDLTM course if you plan on going into management someday.

Cambridge have you covered when it comes to teacher training.

If travelling together to find work, shouldn't be an issue. Would only be difficult if you are both expecting to work in the same school.

[ICAL_Pete]

A diploma like DELTA sounds like a good idea. It is meant for people who have substantial teaching experience and are looking to further their teaching career. You could also look at specializing in CALL
(Computer Assisted Language Learning). Alternatively you could go straight on to a MA TESOL program, though that is definitely going to be more involved than CALL or DELTA.

Just a word of warning though. Not all employers will equate Mandy’s experience in teaching Spanish at high school with teaching English to non native English speakers so a TESL/TEFL Cert or Celta might still come in handy