Short-term TEFL jobs and summer TEFL jobs [updated for 2023]

Many jobs teaching English abroad require a year-long contract, or sometimes longer. Most of the time, if you are going to move to another country, schools will want to stay for at least a year because of the costs of processing your work permit and/or visa. However, we’ve all been in those situations where we want or need temporary work – just a short-term job teaching English abroad. There are many different options for this, from one semester university jobs with Westgate, Japan, to summer camps in Thailand and teaching English summer jobs in Malta. Here are some suggestions on short-term TEFL jobs.

Short-term TEFL jobs

Teaching English for Westgate Japan

Westgate Japan provide teachers to various schools and universities all over Japan for one semester, either Spring or Summer. You need to apply for one of the programs, either university or elementary school and then you are placed somewhere in Japan. If you teach English for Westgate Japan, they pay you a salary and provide you with accommodation, which they deduct the price of from your monthly pay. They look after everything including visas and flights and give you training when you arrive.

Westgate Japan require you to have an undergraduate degree and a TEFL certificate or teaching qualification, although if you have significant teaching experience, it seems that they will waive this.

Find out more about TEFL certification in our post: Teaching English Qualifications: which one should you do?

We know a few people who have taught English on the Westgate Japan programs and liked it, but until we get one of them to blog about it for us, This Open Road and Gone Seoul Searching have written lots of blogs about it.

Teaching English for one semester in Thailand

Although schools might prefer to employ a teacher for a full academic year, there are plenty of short-term TEFL jobs available in Thailand – for one semester. In Thailand, the school semester runs from April to October, and October to March, so they are around five months each.

Particularly before the second semester schools look for teachers for one semester because teachers have left. This can be a warning sign – they left because they didn’t like the job, but there can be a variety of reasons why a teacher leaves mid-year.

In Thailand, you can find jobs in kindergartens, and primary and secondary schools, both private and government. Look for jobs on Ajarn.com. Schools do prefer that you are in the country before they will reply to your application, though, as they are usually working to a short deadline to find a teacher. If you want to do this from abroad, Mediakids Academy is one agency that recruits teachers just for one semester.

Related post: Read about other Types of English teaching jobs abroad.

Because of the demand for teachers at schools all over Thailand, programs exist like the one we trained on. They put you through a four-week course in how to teach English, and then place you in a school for one semester. This can be a great opportunity to get your TEFL certificate and see if you like teaching English and teaching English in Thailand.

Be aware, though, that some of these positions are empty for a reason, and such programs are sometimes used to fill vacancies that others don’t want. There are stories of participants being sent to remote areas of Thailand when they expected to be in Bangkok or Chiang Mai.

Read more about How to get a teaching job in Bangkok in our post and find out about our Bangkok Cost of Living.

Language Assistant Schemes in Europe – September/October to June

If you only want to teach English for an academic year, there are opportunities to work as language assistant schemes in Europe for 7-9 months (depending on the country). An advantages of these is that you do not need to have an EU passport to take part. There are schemes for teachers from various countries around the world.

There are many different language assistant programs in Spain, which usually run for about 9 months. Find out more in this blog: Teach English in Spain as a Language Assistant

TAPIF places Americans in schools in France for 7 months, while the British Council has a program for UK citizens and students studying in the UK. There are similar opportunities for teachers from various English speaking countries like India, Kenya, Ireland, Jamaica and Belize. Google ‘Amba France + your nationality’ for more information on this.

For all the language assistant schemes, you need to apply quite far in advance as places fill up quickly. Positions for September 2023 are already full for some programs.

Read our post for more options to teach in Europe if you don’t have an EU passport.

Short-term TEFL jobs in Europe – January – June

As with Thailand, schools in Europe sometimes need to fill vacancies mid-year. Teachers go home or change their jobs for whatever reason at Christmas, and so in January there are a lot of jobs available. Many of these will accept a teacher until the summer, so that would be a 5-6 month contract.

We did this in Madrid back in 2008, after we finished our contract in Thailand. Madrid is a city that seems to be always in need of teachers. My school, Cambridge House, had one teacher leave at Christmas and they needed someone to take over her classes.

If you have an EU passport, you don’t need a work permit, so there is no problem with visas either. You can get work without a degree too. Check out TEFL.com for vacancies all over Europe during the academic year.

1-8 week short-term positions teaching English in Europe

English in Action offers intensive programs in schools around Europe where teachers go and run week-long sessions of English lessons and activities. They employ teachers with an EU or UK passport and a CELTA/Trinity certTESOL/PGCE for sessions in various European countries including Austria, Italy, Germany and Croatia. Salaries include accommodation.

Short-term TEFL jobs in Colombia – 6 months

If you are a UK citizen or a student in the UK, you can apply for the fellowship with Gotogo, which includes flights and a $400 a month stipend to cover your expenses. The advantage of this is that if you quality, you can get a fully funded Trinity certTESOL course, which will set you up to get future TEFL roles worldwide.

Read this post to find out more about long term English teaching jobs in Colombia

Short-term TEFL positions in Mexico – 4 months

Institute Heslington in Tehuacán, Mexico, has job opportunities from June-August, August to December and January to April. You get accommodation and a stipend to pay for your living expenses to teach 25 hours a week.

Both of the above are more like volunteer roles than paid jobs, because although you get a stipend, it isn’t high. However, for an interesting short term experience and to get some teaching experience, they are good.

Short-term English teaching jobs in Hong Kong

Although they don’t seem to advertise this on their website, Monkey Tree language schools in Hong Kong offer 4 month contracts for teachers, so it’s worth contacting them to find out if you can’t commit to a full year. They offer English classes to young learners and contracts include shared accommodation and training.

English teaching Summer Jobs

Teaching English at UK and Ireland TEFL summer schools

If you hold a UK or EU passport there is a lot of work at TEFL summer schools in the UK and Ireland. Students from all over the world come to the UK to improve their English during their holidays. Many language schools in the UK and Ireland increase their temporary staff then, and many other companies set up short-term schools all around the country.

While a lot of these English teaching summer jobs are with kids and teenagers, you can also work with adults.

Most of these schools run from around June to August, some for a month and some for two. Most are residential, so you get accommodation provided. You are often also responsible for other activities, like organising sports or games and taking students on day trips. You may even have to supervise bedtimes. It depends on the school.

Jobs at summer schools are advertised on TEFL.com from January onwards. You can still find work in May and even later. The British Council accredits summer schools in the UK and inspects them to check on conditions. If you want to check out your summer school, the list of accredited schools is here. You might want to start by applying to the top-ranked schools, which you can usually find a list of through ELT Gazette.

To teach on a British Council accredited summer school, you will need a teaching certificate, preferably a CELTA or Trinity certTESOL. Other schools will accept other certificates, and you can get a job without one I’d imagine (I did after I graduated, although that was a loooong time ago now!).

Some UK summer schools that people we know have worked on include Embassy, Oxford International and Elac. Both Oxford International and Elac also run Easter camps.

If you don’t have a teaching certificate, you can get a job as an activity manager, organising all the sports and craft activities as well as trips for the students.

Teaching English on a UK pre-sessional course

I would think that if you are qualified to teach on a pre-sessional course, that you already know of them, but this is for people who might want to do this in the future. International students are big business for universities in many western countries. The students need to attain a specific level of English before they start to study. Many of them will get the required IELTS or TOEFL grade before they arrive. However, for those that don’t, there are pre-sessional courses. These run for the summer before the September start and work on improving students’ academic English level.

The influx of students for pre-sessional courses means that universities employ more teachers to work on them. To get a job teaching pre-sessional, you will need a recognised teaching certificate, if not a Diploma or MA. You’ll also need significant experience, usually of academic English.

Pre-sessional jobs are advertised on Jobs.ac.uk, the portal for university jobs in the UK, as well as on the BALEAP website (the association for teaching of English for Academic Purposes).TEFL Summer School jobs in the USA

Teaching English on a summer school in the USA

Language schools in the USA also run summer schools for young learners and have roles for teachers, academic managers and activities assistants. For the teaching roles, you generally need a CELTA, Trinity certTESOL or PGCE, although other courses may also be accepted. They usually provide accommodation and a decent weekly salary.

Some we have heard of include Kings (who also have summer schools in the UK) and Your English School. For both of these, you need to be a US citizen or have the right to work there.

TEFL Summer Camp Jobs in Europe

As well as the UK, there are summer camps in Europe in various countries, especially those with long school breaks in the summer. During July and August, the heat sends people out of the cities. Summer camps in Spain usually take place in the mountains, where it’s a bit cooler. They are residential, so you spend the whole time with the students. This might include playing sports and organising activities, supervising them at night, eating with them and taking them on trips.

TECS employs TEFL summer camp teachers for July and August to teach English in Spain and do activities with groups of teenagers. These are residential positions where you live and eat with the campers, as well as teaching them. Requirements are a full 100+ hour TEFL certificate and experience of working with children. You need an EU passport or right to work in Spain and a C2 level of English. Salaries include accommodation and food for the duration of the camps.

Another option for summer camps in Europe are summer camps in Italy. These take place all over Italy, including Lake Garda, in the mountains and by the beach. Sometimes teachers stay with host families and in others they stay at a camp with the students. Some popular summer camps in Italy that employ English teachers are ACLE and Lingue Senza Frontiere.

The English Experience runs TEFL summer camps in Italy as well as in Slovenia and Germany. You need to be a UK or EU citizen and have a C2 level of English. Salaries include accommodation and food.

Euroclub runs summer camps for kids in beach resorts in Croatia and gives teachers full board and accomodation as well as a weekly salary.

English teaching Summer Jobs in Malta

Don’t fancy a TEFL summer camp job in Italy or Spain? How about a summer job in Malta? TEFL.com is full of vacancies for the summer, and there are more chances for those without an EU passport in Malta.

English speaking Malta is a popular destination for students wanting to learn English. As you can imagine, the summer is the busiest time as European students spend their summer studying in the sun. This means that there are many summer jobs in Malta teaching English. Unlike summer camps in Italy or Spain, you can expect mixed nationality groups of adults as well as young learners and teenagers.

Sprachcaffe is one option for a summer job in Malta. They take on English teachers for the summer period to teach on their beautiful campus set around a swimming pool. If you have a CELTA, or a TEFL and an A’ Level English, it looks like a cool option. Classes are Monday to Friday so there are weekends off for exploring and relaxing.

American Village TEFL summer camp jobs in France

If you have an EU passport or the right to work in France, American Village employs camp counsellors for their summer camps. Roles include doing crafts, sports, drama and singing as well as English lessons and taking the kids on trips. You don’t need a degree or a TEFL certificate to do this, although the latter is preferred.

Other TEFL summer camp jobs in Europe are advertised on TEFL.com from around January onwards, so have a look and sign up for their weekly summer jobs newsletter.

TEFL Summer Camps in Asia

English Teaching Summer Camps in Thailand

English teaching summer camps in Thailand are not during the northern hemisphere summer of June – September. Instead, Thai schools have a long break in February/March, and a shorter one in September. During these breaks, companies run English summer camps in Thailand where students come and stay for a week and take part in English activities and games. Summer camps in Thailand usually pay teachers a weekly salary of a couple of thousand baht, and include accommodation and food.

You can find adverts for teachers for summer camps in Thailand on https://www.ajarn.com/Ajarn.com and on Teaching in Thailand Facebook groups.

Summer Camps in China

Gotoco offers a summer camp program in China for UK citizens, students studying in the UK and anyone else with the right to live and work in the UK. While it is not paid, it is fully funded with flights, accommodation, food etc. provided and you can also get sponsorship for the Trinity certTESOL course, which you can use to get other jobs teaching in the UK and abroad.

English Teaching Summer jobs in Dubai

8 week jobs are offered by language centres in Dubai teaching learners from A1-B1 level. ES Dubai is one school that offers this to native level English speakers with CELTA or Trinity certTESOL and two years’ experience. In return you get free accommodation and a monthly salary.

Short-term TEFL jobs for volunteers in Europe

If money isn’t a big issue for you, then you could volunteer. While you might not get paid, volunteer positions teaching English short term usually cover accommodation and food in return for meeting people from all over the world and chatting.

Angloville has 1-3 week programs where English language learners stay in a hotel in Europe and take part in 1-1 conversations as well as English games and activities. They have adult, teenage and kids programs. They also have an option to get a cheap TEFL certificate if you take part in their program.

Pueblo Ingles is a similar program to Angloville. Fluent English speakers from all over the world stay in ‘English villages’ for a week and get free accommodation and food in return for chatting to Spanish and German language learners. There are programs working with adults and young learners, as well as for university students to work with other university students.

For more advice on teaching English abroad including country guides and interviews with experienced teachers on how they started out, check out our Teaching English page.

Do you know of other places you do short term jobs teaching English abroad. Let us know so we can add it to the post. 

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