Q&A: Best Major for Teaching English Abroad

I receive many questions through both my YouTube channel and Red Dragon Diaries blog. I get a bit of everything, but some of the important questions regarding teaching English abroad center around college majors and TESOL certifications.

Both of these things can impact your options when looking to secure a teaching job abroad. Much of it depends on the country or even school that you’re interested in applying to.

See the accompanying Q&A dealing with what teaching certifications are best?

What Major is best?

For many of the opportunities throughout East Asia (i.e. China, Korea, and Japan), having a bachelor’s degree in any discipline is sufficient. When I say most opportunities, I mean the EPIK program and hagwons in Korea, JET program in Japan, and many of the English academies throughout China.

When you begin to look at more other public school programs, universities, and other countries altogether, the emphasis on major changes. Some of the universities in Korea (maybe more than some), require a degree in an English-related field of study.  That means English, English Literature, TESOL, etc.  Also, having a degree in Linguistics will be favorable.  Whether the school wants a Master’s degree depends on the school itself.

Other specific degrees you may come across in job requirements are those in Teaching itself, or Education, as well as subject-specific degrees such as math, science, history, etc.  I see many opportunities throughout China and the Middle East looking for applicants who can teach a specific subject area in English. Therefore, they require you to have studied that subject in college.  In some cases be a certified teacher in your home country in that subject area.

In some cases, like the Middle East, many employers want degrees to be done in class.  No distance or online learning.  Not all, but I would say the majority. The whole online versus in-class topic comes into play with certifications as well.

The post Q&A: Best Major for Teaching English Abroad appeared first on The Red Dragon Diaries.

the Red Dragon Diaries

ESL, Travel, and Judo!