Why are we in the TEFL education / TEFL training space?
Well here’s the story . . .
Way back in 1989, Ted Tucker, the founder of TEFL Educator / TEFL Boot Camp joined the US Peace Corps as a volunteer and journeyed off to Botswana for two years. He found that experience so invigorating and exciting that when he went back to the USA, talked to a couple of friends and they all headed out to South Korea to teach English.
Teaching English in South Korea
Back in those days it was pretty hard to find information about teaching English around the world, but we finally found a recruiter and we each paid US$500 for our jobs in South Korea. And 500 dollars was a lot of money in those days! No one would do that these days, but back then the connection was everything and well worth it to make things happen.
We had a mixed experience with problematic hagwons and over the period of a few years we all ended up teaching at university level with nice long paid vacations and saving some serious money. Universities don’t pay more than hogwans really, but the deal in Korea still makes it possible to save $1000 a month without trying too hard (stay out of the nightclubs!). Things worked out pretty good and after about three years two of us headed off to Taiwan, one stayed in Korea (married a local lady) and our lives overseas had really taken off. A couple of us went on to Taiwan, as mentioned earlier, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and more.
There is more to the story than that, of course, but here’s the thing: none of us planned to stay overseas for a long time, at first it was just for fun, but then it became a lifestyle of discovery, travel, cultural experiences and so much so that we each spent more than twenty years outside our home country. We all made comfortable and enjoyable lives overseas that we would never have dreamed of before we actually went.
So . . . back to WHY TEFL Educator / TEFL Boot Camp.
You can easily see the impact that initial contact had on our lives and teaching English was what made it all possible. Along the way all of us at one time or another ended up teaching teachers how to teach English. We all worked to further educate ourselves and increase our opportunities in TEFL.
TEFL Educator was the result of the writings and work of that group of people who headed off to Korea. We’ve all had a pretty varied experience teaching English in various counties, but really loved just about every minute of it and we want to share that kind of opportunity with you. That is why TEFL Educator is here.
BUT . . . TEFL Educator is different and here’s how
You’ll notice that TEFL Educator takes a more serious and professional approach to TEFL training. You’ll notice our website is not all about hanging at the beach and whitewater rafting through Pakistan or wherever.
No doubt TEFL can offer that to you! But we feel that we have an obligation to the students in your class. We want you know that TEFL is a real job, at a real school, with real students who really need and want and appreciate your help. So we like to be a bit more serious in how we do things, because we want you to do a great job teaching your students. We want you to go home at night feeling like you really made a difference. And you can and you will – with TEFL Educator.
Our goal is your success. Know that everyone who makes a real effort passes our courses. Yes, we have examinations, quizzes, lesson plan projects, critiqued observed teaching sessions and more. You might think that is difficult, but really, TEFL is not rocket science. And anything you have trouble with, we take as a personal challenge in helping you solve it and get it on track.
Why? Because so many people helped us along that way. We just want to give it back.
Our original primary group has over 70 person-years experience working overseas in different countries.
Take advantage of that!
Learn about our Online TEFL Courses and our In-Country Training Programs with guaranteed jobs.
Why TEFL Educator?
US Peace Corps Volunteer Program