ESL or French Outside of Taiwan

Making the Move Abroad
People come to the decision to teach English abroad from both directions - a desire to live abroad and choosing teaching as a method to achieve that, or wanting to teach English and needing to move abroad to do so. But whatever the reason is, making the move abroad is a difficult and expensive process, full of frustrating tasks and unforeseen obstacles. But every year, thousands of people from all over the English speaking world get on a plane and fly off to locations around the world in search of their adventure - and I'm sure you would be hard pressed to find a significant number of those who didn't enjoy it. So what are some potential pitfalls that you may encounter as you prepare for and execute your trip?

Health Insurance
Determine whether or not your existing (if it exists) health insurance will cover you as you live abroad. Frequently, these plans do not apply internationally without the purchase of additional coverage. If you have benefits provided by your government, these typically have restrictions as well. Having all of this information accessible and making sure your bases are covered could potentially save you thousands of dollars if something should happen to you. If you are heading to somewhere where there would not be adequate medical facilities even if you do have insurance, you should definitely look into Air Evac insurance.

Visas
Before you even buy your plane or train ticket you should now the process for obtaining a visa in your destination country. Many countries do not require any sort of application process for basic tourist visas, but if you are planning on applying for a work or student visa, be prepared to go through the application process and potentially pay a fee. This may depend on your employment status as well. If you are lucky enough to have a teaching job lined up before you go, see if they sponsor you for a work visa (most of the time they should). If you need to enter the country on a tourist visa and look for work while you are there (almost universally illegal, but typically unenforceable), then the company that hires you should sponsor your for a visa at that point. This is especially common in Asia. Not having at least a temporary plan in place could result in you being sent back home- at your expense, of course.

Language
If you are headed to a language where English is not typically spoken, it could be to your benefit to work on learning the language before you leave. If you are headed to rural Africa you should probably look into what they speak where you are going, but at the same time you can probably get away with not needing to learn French in Switzerland (many speak German and/or Italian). Being certain of how you are going to communicate will save you loads of heartburn and, potentially, a lot of money, as you will be less susceptible to scams and you won't accidentally buy something unnecessarily. It should be said though that living abroad does present a unique opportunity to immerse yourself in a language even if it isn't required for survival. So even if you are headed to teach English in some French schools, France (or Belgium and Luxembourg) provides some great ways to turn the tables and become a student yourself. Good Luck on your adventure!