Learn to Teach English Abroad

Teaching English is one of the most popular, if not one of the most lucrative, employment opportunities for those who yearn to spend considerable time overseas. If you are a native speaker of English, it is often possible to pick up work in a non-English speaking country.
You may think that just knowing English well gives you the ability to teach it, but think again. Facing a group of students can be pretty tough when you have no idea how to teach a language, and the minutes can seem like hours. (I know this from experience.)
Getting training in teaching English is essential if you are to be a good teacher and enjoy the experience. There are all kinds of training programs out there, but most good jobs require at least a course of 120 hours of classroom training such as the CELTA or TEFL. These courses are very intensive and not cheap--usually running over $2,000 for a four-week course.
If you have to travel to take a course, why not try to take it in the country where you want to teach? The teacher training courses are available in many different countries. A site that has list of locations where the CELTA is offered is www.teaching-esl-to-adults.com, and the list is extensive, stretching from Austria and Belarus to Japan and the United Arab Emirates.
Taking the course where you want to settle gives you a chance to check out the location and perhaps make some useful contacts.
Once you have your certificate, check out sites like www.daveseslcafe.com for interesting job listings. (There are also some jobs, especially volunteer, that do not require a certificate or degree.)
English teaching is a good job for just about anybody who enjoys languages and people, but unfortunately there is considerable age discrimination in the field, especially abroad, so be prepared for this if you are over 50.