I'm considering assembling some white shirts/ties and checking into working in Thailand, possibly teaching English. Yeah. I taught Russian and Serbo-Croatian (in Italy), and have studied a number of languages, including Japanese and now Thai. I've got a lot of experience as a translator. I'm not sure how that will translate into ability to be a competent English teacher or ability to be hired, but I can certainly empathize with those poor students! If there's anyone out there from a similar background, I'd love to hear your experiences...

Question: I have a BA (Russian) and exactly one half a MA (ESOL/Bilingualism, theoretically prepares students to teach English to Speakers of Other Languages) from four years ago. Never finished the MA; I have fifteen credits, or five graduate courses completed.

With these limited qualifications and a genuine desire to be a skillful/competent English teacher, would you recommend getting that TEFL certificate? Some here say it's not really needed or even useful. I'd really appreciate input on this! Thanks much.

With these limited qualifications and a genuine desire to be a skillful/competent English teacher, would you recommend getting that TEFL certificate?

With these limited qualifications? That's a laugh. A lot of English teachers in Thailand have no qualifications. I'd say you already have a good leg up. Whether or not you are a native speaker might be an issue finding work at some places, but you will find lots of work. Whether or not you want to continue working long hours for not too much pay is another thing altogether.