Education and Training
Bilingual / ESL / Foreign Language Teacher
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
Teaches foreign languages to students in elementary to secondary schools. This includes English as a second language. Common foreign languages which are taught are Spanish, French, Japanese, Korean, German, Dutch, Russian, Mandarin, and Arabic.
Job Outlook
There were 1270 Bilingual / ESL / Foreign Language Teacher job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 23405 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Bilingual / ESL / Foreign Language Teacher industry, which includes the Bilingual / ESL / Foreign Language Teacher career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2012:
Salary
Many new Bilingual / ESL / Foreign Language Teacher jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.
National
The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $47,821.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $43,271.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Bilingual / ESL / Foreign Language Teacher postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $41,754.
Education and Experience
Posted Bilingual / ESL / Foreign Language Teacher jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.
| Education Level | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Associate's Degree | 6% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 65% |
| Master's Degree | 27% |
| Doctoral Degree | 0% |
| Other | 1% |
Posted Bilingual / ESL / Foreign Language Teacher jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Years of Experience | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 0 to 2 years | 74% |
| 3 to 5 years | 22% |
| 6 to 8 years | 3% |
| 9+ years | 2% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Bilingual / ESL / Foreign Language Teacher positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.
Baseline Skills
A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.
- Spanish (50%)
- English (34%)
- Communication Skills (31%)
- Bilingual (29%)
- English as a Second Language (27%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Teaching (94%)
- Teaching Speakers of Other Languages (26%)
- Lesson Planning (25%)
- Special Education (9%)
- Learning Styles (8%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Progress Reports (8%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- Tutoring (5%)
- Group Instruction (4%)
- Adult Education (3%)
Salary Boosting Skills
A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed along with the marginal value: the average salary difference between postings that request that skill and those that do not.
- Sign Language (1%) – marginal value $9,371
- Student Learning Outcomes (1%) – marginal value $5,916
- Arabic (1%) – marginal value $5,313
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Bilingual / ESL / Foreign Language Teacher skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Spanish Teacher
- Esl Teacher
- High School Spanish Teacher
- Esl Instructor
- French Teacher
Similar Occupations
If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.
- English / Language Arts Teacher
- History / Social Studies Teacher
- Reading Teacher
- Middle / High School Teacher
- Math Teacher
- Elementary School Teacher
- Science Teacher
- Physical Education Teacher
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Bilingual / ESL / Foreign Language Teacher jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- Boston Public Schools (396)
- Chicago Public Schools (255)
- Appen (214)
- Fusion Academy (208)
- Irving Independent School District (203)
North Carolina
- Threat Tec (69)
- Winston Salem County Schools (45)
- Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (37)
- Durham Public Schools (34)
- Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools (30)
NC State Programs Relevant to this Career
If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!
All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from EMSI Burning Glass (now Lightcast). For more information about how they gather data and what it represents, see Emsi Burning Glass Data Basic Overview.