Travel & Teach - Italy

Overview

Italy is a great TEFL destination for you with an increasing number of language schools and 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. On a traditional contract with a language school you can expect to get by quite well, but don't expect to live lavishly.

The compensation is that Italian students of English are generally friendly and the warmth of the welcome has been testified to by many. It's the way of life that attracts rather than the pay.

EU nationals can work in Italy relatively easily. For those outside of the EU, it may be possible to work on a student visa when enrolled a few hours at a recognised institution. Check with the consulate. For those under the age of 35, options exist for English teaching on various summer camps.

Otherwise, the best time to look for work is early September. Contracts tend to run October to June.

Tips for teaching English in Italy: 

* get all your paperwork in order - Italians employers like qualifications
* be prepared to work split shifts, mornings, afternoons and evenings with breaks in between

As Italy is so popular destination with GE grads, we have gathered some useful info and suggest the best courses for you will be:

• the TESOL Advanced Course 150 hours for Europe
• the 30-hour Business TESOL for Italy, as Business English is really important here
• add the 30-hour Teaching English to Young Learners course for work in language schools

For some great advice on living and teaching English in Italy, read in-depth interviews from two TEFL trained experienced teachers living in Milan and Florence here.