 T.E.F.L. Tezal Guide to Teaching English Abroad Part 4. Preparing to go. Leaving your family, friends and home country behind in moving to a new location can be a very exciting but nerve-wracking experience and it is recommended that you prepare as much as possible for the move. Below are a number of suggestions to help you make this transition a little bit easier. 1. Gaining extra experience. A teacher can never have too much classroom experience and if you have a reasonable amount of time available before taking up a full-time teaching position it might be a good idea to try and gain some extra teaching experience. This can be achieved by offering your services to any local language schools that provide English language tuition or offering private lessons to non-native English speakers resident in your area. In some countries there are also summer camps or summer schools that offer short, intensive language tuition programs and require hundreds of English language teachers for the summer months. These summer programs usually provide accommodation for teachers and reasonably good salaries compared to the cost of living. 2. Research. In order to reduce culture shock as much as possible when moving to a new country it is important to do as much research as possible on the country city where you will be living, the school where you will be working and the students that you will be teaching. The amount of information available on the internet makes it easier than ever to find out details about life in a different country. There are expert chat forums, country information websites, tourist information sites as well as websites dedicated to providing information about teaching abroad. You may also wish to speak to some of the teachers currently working for your employer to find out about living and working in that location. It is a good idea to get as much information as you can about where you will be living, transport options in that area where you can go to meet other teachers English speakers living there, popular bars restaurants, location of supermarkets etc. This information will hopefully prevent you feeling a bit lost when you first arrive. In addition to the internet there are many excellent books such as the culture shock series which provide a wealth of information about the country, the people and the culture as well as giving advice on how to avoid some of the negative aspects of life there. It is also useful to conduct some research on problems that people from that country typically have with the English language as this can help you know what to expect in your first classes.