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TEFL ITALY / TESOL ITALY
TEFL jobs Italy and a guide to teaching English in Italy
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| At a Glance - teaching English in Italy |
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Italy is a great destination for you and even if there are not as many language schools as in Spain, it certainly is another popular location for Global English graduates. The culture, history and cuisine have long made Italy desirable, while earning a reasonable living teaching English.
However, it’s competitive here. Firstly, the destination itself is glamorous – Venice, Pisa, Florence, Milan and Rome are cities where it is all too easy to fall in love with ‘la dolce vita’ (the sweet life). So you won’t be the only EFL teacher on the block. Secondly, the economic situation does fluctuate. In uncertain financial times, language learning is seen as luxury and not a necessity. It is also highly expensive for schools to employ a full time contract teacher, so sometimes full time long-term contracts can be difficult to secure. Meaning that ‘the sweet life’ can leave a bitter aftertaste if you can’t pay the bills.
But Italian students of English are generally friendly (you’ll find this welcoming attitude consistent with other many Latin European students) and the warmth of the welcome has been testified to by many. Don’t be surprised if all your students don’t make progress in leaps and bounds. They are generally ready to speak but sometimes can be less willing to knuckle down to hard study. This is particularly true of some of the English Clubs which exist in many towns, where many students see it more as a social gathering rather than serious study.
But if the delights of Italy are as good as many EFL teachers say, then you might become one of the increasing number that go to Italy and settle down to the wonderful way of life.
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Demand for English in Italy is high as many students seek to supplement less than adequate English teaching in their state schools, so you can expect many of your students to be young adults or children, although business students requesting one to one tuition are also becoming more prevalent.
If you are adventurous and happy to travel to the country first, then there are excellent opportunities for securing teaching hours at various schools in order to make up a full timetable. From this flexible beginning you should be able to develop the contacts necessary to make a successful teaching career, if that is what you are looking for. But even before you go, it is advisable to arm yourself with the right information. The Italian Yellow Pages will have details of language schools in various regions of Italy. The website you’ll need is www.paginegialle.it and then search under ‘Scuole di Lingue’ by region. (Also look out for the English version of the website if you are still struggling with your Italian!)
Most of the teaching follows the academic school year. If you are looking for work on the spot then the best time is in September or January. Work opportunities are more limited in July and August. However, one thing you might try in July/August is the popular beach resorts on the Adriatic, for example or Sardegna, where there are "holiday clubs" which employ English teachers for the summer. A lot of the work here is likely to be with children or young adults, but there may also be some opportunities with adults. Teaching experience will be needed here though.
A Global English Level 2 TESOL with business may well enhance your job prospects, as will a degree and any business experience/qualifications. Business English is definitely growing in importance in Italy. See the staffroom page on Finding Work Overseas for more information on how to get started.
Due to the increasing popularity of Italy, it is far easier to obtain work on the spot than, say, by applying for work from outside the country. Initially, you would expect to make up a full timetable (22 hours +) by working part time at a variety of schools or institutes. Lessons are likely to be spread out across the day in common with timetables across Europe. This could mean teaching a businessperson in his factory before work at 8am, having the afternoon off and starting lessons again at 5pm, working through until 9pm. But once you are established and have proved yourself it will be easier to gain a full time contract with one school. By then you should have gained enough contacts to freelance, which is more financially lucrative.
For EU nationals it is relatively easy to obtain the necessary paperwork to live and work here, but it can take time and again some Italian will be helpful to speed the process along. After arrival, you’ll need to apply for a residence permit, for which you will require a letter from your employer. But that is only the start of the process, and Italy is one of the countries where speed and bureaucracy are not often found in the same sentence. The trick is to be patient, take important documents (passport, birth certificate, certificates and diplomas) with you and get them authenticated or notarised by the Italian Embassy before you go (see useful numbers below).
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Damon Cureton writes:
I studied your Level two TESOL course and passed with an A in Sept 2007.
I wanted to pass on my experience since then. After finishing the course I left my details with Tefl job search site, they notified me of jobs available. Within two weeks I had been offered a job and I started in Southern Italy at the begining of October.
I was straight in at the deep end, shown my class, given my timetable and told my first class was on the following Monday. The schools books hadn't arrived so I spent the first month using my initiative and the knowledge in lesson preparation learned with you proved invaluable. I was confident, felt I had enough knowledge and sure enough the lessons went well. Now, after nearly nine months and my first teaching experience coming to a close I only want to improve my teaching technique and build on the lesson plans.
Thankyou for the guidance during the course and I'll be in touch again! Ciao. Damon.
Global English graduate Pamela Prentice writes:
I am here in Italia getting ready to start taking Italian language lessons next week. The teaching job that was offered to me is too far for me to go from where I am living. I'm living in a small town in the south and the job was in Napoli so I didn't take it, but I have been offered two since. One is a private teaching job for a family here that I will be starting next week and doing after school.
Italy is very nice. The people are very friendly as well. Finding a job here is very easy to be honest with you. There are many schools here that will hire Americans as well as British.
Global English graduates Venice Allen and Darren Howat write:
They’re qualification-obsessed in Italy and it’s pretty impossible to find a job in a school without a TEFL or something similar. We had an Interview with a director of one of the chain of British Schools (there are over 80 around the country) and he was very keen for us to work for him. There isn’t much competition for teaching work in this area as there are so few foreigners, and demand to learn is very high. He found out about the Global English Internet course and said that if we worked on it over the summer we could start full time at the beginning of the school year in September.
The money teaching in the private language schools isn’t great, but as we are a couple and both working full time we can actually save some money each month, which is great because one day we would very much like to buy an old crumbly Italian farmhouse. Right now we are renting a huge flat in a village two kilometres from the town where we teach. The locals think we’re weird because we don’t have much furniture and we haven’t brought our parents with us.
The jewel in Salento’s crown is Lecce, the main city of the area. With several private language schools and a university, there is no shortage of work for mother-tongue English teachers.
The life we live here is ‘tranquilo’, certainly not the ideal destination if you are looking for bright lights and modern culture. But for those searching the simple pleasures - hot sun, good food, friendly people - this little undiscovered corner of southern Europe could be paradise.
Have you taught in Italy? Could you share your experiences with others on this webpage? If so, please email us at info@global-english.com.
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British Council http://www.britishcouncil.org/
British Council in Italy: http://www.britishcouncil.org/it/italy.htm
Italian Embassy UK: http://italy.embassyhomepage.com/
Italian Embassy USA: http://www.italyemb.org/
Italian National Tourist Office: http://www.italiantourism.com/
Need more info? Go here: Teaching English Abroad
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DISCLAIMER
These pages are for general information only and whilst every effort has been made to ensure information is correct, it is up to the individual to thoroughly investigate the conditions of entry to countries and the legal working regulations. If offered a job, please carefully vet all terms and conditions. Inclusion of potential employment opportunities does not in any way represent a guarantee of employment.
When travelling overseas, please refer to your government’s own advice on current conditions in each country. The British Foreign Office website is a good resource for travel advice. Please follow the link: http://www.fco.gov.uk/
If you find a broken link or if you have an experience you would like to share with others about working in a particular country, please email us.
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