ESL in Italy

Italy is a country that needs no introduction. It has been, over its long and turbulent history, a center of art, learning, music and cuisine. It has produced great sportspeople and great sports-cars, and it boasts some of Europe’s most fetchingly idyllic scenery. Rather less impressively, it cannot boast of brilliant English teaching in its mainstream schools, and thus has a great many students who wish to improve. In short, a pretty ideal destination for the discerning ESL teacher.

There are many opportunities for TEFL work in Italy. Some of the most common options are private and International Schools, wherein you can expect to work with young children; business or corporate run classes, where you would teach business-focused English on-site at companies; one-to-one tutoring, which would usually involve home visits and apart from that is as variable as the length of a piece of string!

If you’re an EU citizen, you don’t need any sort of work permit. Teachers from outside Europe may find it difficult to get a working visa, so many work under the table on tourist visas. As with much in Italian life, this is largely tolerated/ignored. For those who are between 18-30, a working holiday visa is an option, which allows the holder to work, travel and live in Italy for 12 months. All teachers should look to get at least 120 hours worth of certification before they arrive.

If you’d like to work as a teacher in Italy, probably the best thing you can do is to go there. School owners still very much prefer doing business with candidates face-to-face, and your presence will give you a better shot than the most finely-honed cover letter in the world. So go! What are you waiting for?