How to Get a Job Teaching English in Italy
While most jobs teaching English are in Asia, there are opportunities available around the world, including teaching English to some of the 60 million people in Italy. According to TEFLCourses.com, "20,000 TEFL and TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) jobs are posted on the Internet every month." Teaching English in Italy allows you to explore this amazing country, its history and architecture, while gaining valuable teaching experience.
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Instructions
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Earn your TEFL/TESL certificate first. Earn a TEFL/TESL, or CELTA (Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults) certificate. There are several ways to earn a certificate to teach English overseas. Some programs and schools in other countries only want native English-speaking teachers who are certified to teach English. Yet, others require a bachelor's degree. Check with the program for which you want to teach and find out the specific requirements before you invest in a certification program. You can earn your certificate online at a training conference, or at a college or university. You can also earn a master's degree in teaching English as a second or foreign language.
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Check ESL job boards and forums for job leads in Italy. Search for TEFL/TESL jobs in Italy. Look first at online ESL job boards. Employers post jobs regularly. You can also look at forums on these sites to ask about other teachers' experiences in Italy, or even find out about the reputation of a certain school or program you are considering. Some training programs offer job placement assistance and advice.
Kevin Revolinksi, a former ESL teacher in Italy, says that Italians head to the coast during the summer and that the best time to apply for jobs in Italy is between February and March. English language programs usually start in September/October and run through May/June, though there are summer language camps. Revolinski goes on to explain that, "British Institutes might be a two-birds-with-one-stone solution. They sometimes offer a program that consists of two months of distance learning (buying a few books and completing readings and assignments) and then two weeks of intensive training in Italy. Upon successful completion of the course, you are guaranteed a teaching job in one of their Italian schools for at least nine months starting in October."
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Look in Italian city phone books for English language schools. Search for and contact individual language schools or English language programs in Italy. Some small schools may just be listed in the Yellow Pages, and some may not advertise on large ESL job boards. These schools may just look for teachers who have their information and resumes posted on ESL job websites.
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Tips & Warnings
Acquire the necessary travel documents to travel to Italy and make other travel preparations. Well before your start date, make a list of all of the things you need to accomplish before you leave the country.
Chat with other ESL teachers in online job forums and learn about the logistics of traveling to and living in Italy. Revolinski says that some language schools or programs will "set you up for one year in a sort of student capacity" if it doesn't seem likely that you'll get a work permit.
Learn some Italian. You're likely to spend at least a year teaching and living in Italy, so you should be able to speak enough Italian to get by. Take a couple of Italian courses at your local community college, check out some Italian language CDs from the library or hire an Italian tutor to get started.
Read your contract carefully and make sure you are provided a copy in English.
Costs of living are lower in the southern part of Italy, but some teachers do not recommend living there as the culture is different than that north of Rome.
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