Trojans travel abroad to teach English 

Through the International Teaching English as a Foreign Language  Academy, some USC students are taking the initiative to move beyond campus and gain real-world international experience.  

The International TEFL Academy is a leader in TEFL certification and a resource for those interested in gaining experience abroad as English teachers, an opportunity that enables people of any background to better access the global economy. John Bentley, co-founder of ITA , explained that this opportunity was one that the organization specifically hoped to encourage other people to pursue when it opened in 2010. 

“It means that for those of us who are native English speakers, there are literally hundreds of thousands of opportunities to go work abroad as an English teacher,” Bentley said. 

After growing up in Cairo, Egypt, and spending time writing travel content, Bentley said he understands the importance of cultural exchange. Bentley and the ITA work to give people those same opportunities, offering a variety of classes both virtually and in person designed to complement the schedules of those with full-time jobs or course loads. 

Patrick Dowd, a 2022 Rossier School of Education graduate, had always wanted to spend time abroad like his siblings and, on a whim, stopped by the ITA building on his way home from work one day. He found himself enrolled in the virtual course and soon after that he headed to Southeast Asia.  

“It was the best experience of my life,” he said. “I went with my TEFL certification, but I didn’t go with a job lined up. And so I traveled for six to seven weeks beforehand all throughout Southeast Asia to kind of see where I wanted to live and to see what made the most sense. I found Chiang Mai, [Thailand], it was the last place that I went to, and I fell in love with it and then I went from there.”  

Dowd’s time abroad challenged his independence, encouraged perseverance, and ultimately provided a sense of euphoria, qualities which are exactly what Bentley champions. Dowd credits his time abroad as a stepping stone toward his master’s degree here at USC.  

“I was applying to grad schools while I was there and I had been accepted to USC in January 2020, so like right before the pandemic, and I really feel as though if it wasn’t for that experience, like; that really gave me the confidence to even be able to apply to USC,” Dowd said.  

Beyond instilling personal confidence, the ITA gives its alumni confidence in their instructing abilities. They prepare their students to be adaptable — enabling them to excel whether instructing children or adults. 

“A TEFL certification course is going to provide you with the skills to be able to walk into a classroom in let’s say, Madrid, or Tokyo or Istanbul and be able to provide a quality [educational] experience to people who want to learn English,” Bentley said. 

Since its founding in 2010, the ITA has certified more than 40,000 English teachers. 

Gerardo Pesqueira, a freshman majoring in human biology, is already set on spending time abroad. He discovered the program through a friend and his interest was piqued after more research. As a first-generation Mexican American, Pesqueira is no stranger to language learning, and as a previous after-school program volunteer, teaching is something he has enjoyed.

“I’ve been bilingual my whole life and I’ve seen firsthand how much power it has to be able to speak two languages and communicate with people from different countries,” Pesqueira said.  

He, like other Trojans before him, is hoping to take advantage of ITA and other programs to spend time abroad. As many have learned, teaching English abroad is an experience that provides a unique sense of freedom.

“There just is such a freeing experience with doing something like that,” Dowd said. “You’re doing it for yourself and, your mom or your dad or your brothers — no one’s really with you doing that and to me, nobody could ever take that away from you.”