Old Chap Needs Help! - TEFL for older teachers

[Jerry Owen]

Let me start with the “age”. I am seventy (70). Is this going to make it difficult for me to engage in a TESL program? I have extensive business experience and own my own company. In addition, for the last four (4) years I have been a library reader to pre-school children. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and we have an eclectic population. I am wondering if teaching is a viable option for me. I think there is a need for both children and adults. Unfortunately, I have been unable to gather any information the following:
[1] Teaching in the US [2] Are US companies engaged in in-house TESL training of employees [3] are there TESL schools for children. I shall be forever grateful if you can help me with any information.

[paul1125]

Hi, Jerry -

I wish I had a direct answer to all three of your questions, but I don't. However, focusing on your question about corporate TESL for employees, although I don't know of any companies that do that (there may be some), I do know that there are companies that hire people to come in and teach business writing classes, and I'm talking about very basic stuff -- grammar, punctuation, etc. This work is usually done on a consulting basis, and although there's competition out there from companies like Fred Pryor, National Seminars and the like, I believe companies would appreciate getting the training from a specialist in the field. It's worth looking into.

Your age shouldn't be an issue (and you shouldn't make it one when approaching prospective customers / employers).

[Susan]

You could take a look at this answer in the TEFL helpdesk forum:


http://www.tefl.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=113

Best,

Susan