Greece - TEFL in Greece

Greece has traditionally been a popular destination for first time teachers. Although some years ago there were thousands of British and Irish teachers in the country (plus a few other nationalities) due to the recession and declining birthrate the number of teachers needed has slowly declined.

However, there are still jobs to be found. The pay is not fantastic, but it is an amazing country to live and work in. Long, hot summers, a relaxed attitude to life and very lively nightlife are just a few of the benefits of living and teaching English in Greece.

Contents 1 Schools 2 Qualifications 3 Examining Students 4 See Also 5 External Links

Schools

Teaching English is mainly done through private schools called Frontisteria. These are often small affairs with anything from 10 to 1,000 students and there are many throughout the country; every small town will have two or three though not all will have a native English speaker working there.

You'll be teaching from books with classes of about 15 or so students. They are lively, inquisitive and talkative (perhaps too talkative!) and often very keen learners. Greeks tend to be good linguists and teaching English is not onerous with well-behaved classes and teachers offered more respect than in the UK, for example.

The working week is often about 20 hours classroom time (plus preparation). There is often the option of extra hours during exam time (i.e. when the older students take the Cambridge FCE or CPE exams). Schools will often help finding accommodation and sorting out the paperwork.

Qualifications

To teach English in Greece you'll need a degree plus a TEFL Certificate such as the ICAL TEFL Certificate.

There is also a requirement to have a proficient command of Greek and pass an exam to prove this. However, this is illegal according to EU legislation and therefore technically not required. Many schools will ignore this requirement.

Examining Students

The Cambridge exams are big business here but recently the British Council has lost its monopoly on examining students and two or three other groups are planning on doing so. This means there will be a need for new examiners and this can be quite lucrative and worth investigating if you're qualified.

See Also

Teaching in Greece - a quick guide.

External Links

For first hand info on what to expect once in Greece check Greece is Home - an ex-pat site dedicated to living & working in Greece.