While traveling overseas for a short a period of time can provide you with a brief glimpse in another society's way of life, living abroad can intimately acquaint you with the finer points of culture, dining and social conventions of a different country. Becoming a teacher of English to speakers of other languages, commonly known as TESOL, allows you to stay in another country for an extended period of time and make a living while you're there.

Complete your bachelor's degree, if you have not already done so. Most countries consider college graduates qualified to teach and require you to provide proof of graduation with copies of your diploma and transcripts before issuing you a work visa.

Obtain a TESOL certification. You can earn your TESOL certification at your college, if such a certification is offered. You can also search the TESOL certificate program listings at TESOL.org, the professional association for such teachers, for a program that meets your location and financial needs.

Although a university TESOL certification could qualify you for better paying English teaching jobs, such as those available at universities abroad, not all English language schools require a university TESOL certification. You can earn a TEFL certificate, sometimes called a TESL certificate, online. As of 2011, online TEFL certificate programs cost between $190 and $450 dollars.

Prepare your resume and cover letter to highlight your teaching experience. Include any experience you have working with children or adults whose first language isn't English. Although teaching experience is helpful, some schools don't require education experience to teach English. If you don't have any teaching experience, use your cover letter to state specifically why your job experience qualifies you to teach English to speakers of other languages.

Apply for TESOL jobs in your country of interest. TESOL job boards, such as Dave's ESL Cafe, Linguistic Funland and Tesall, post English teaching jobs, which include employer contact information. Contact employers for whom you wish to work and submit your resume and cover letter per instructions.

Interview for TESOL jobs. Your potential employer decides whether to interview you by phone or video chat. Submit copies of your degree, TESOL certification and anything else the representative requests when the school informs you that your interview has been successful.

Read your employment contract carefully before you sign it. Verify that compensation, work hours, job location and duties match exactly what your interviewer told you. The majority of TESOL contracts last for one year. Although you won't face a serious punishment if you break your contract, you could be required to pay a penalty fee or forfeit a bonus.

Apply for your work visa. Specific documents vary based on country, however, your future employer sends you a list of documents you must furnish along with documents the employer must furnish to help you get the visa. Submit the documents to the embassy of the country where you plan to teach by mail or in person, depending on the embassy's requirements.

Purchase your flight ticket. Although some TESOL employers provide one free round-trip air ticket per year, they expect you to purchase your ticket beforehand and reimburse you later during your stay. Confirm your school's airline ticket policy before making a purchase.