I'm not quite sure what I want to do yet...possibly be an interpreter or an ESL teacher. I'm majoring in French and Latin American Studies (which includes Spanish)...do I need to be an English major to teach ESL? Is my foreign language major a bad idea? :/ What did you all major in to become ESL teachers?

Some good questions. It all depends on what kind of ESL teacher you want to be. If you want to teach ESL at the K-12 level in the U.S., you can probably get a certificate and be able to teach, although an M.A. in ESL would be helpful. If you want to teach at language schools overseas, you only need a bachelor's degree in anything. If you ultimately want to be a professor, you need a Ph.D.

I don't think your foreign language major is a bad idea at all, especially if you plan to teach EFL in a country where one of the languages you studied is spoken.

I got a M.A. in Foreign Language Education about 10 years ago. My B.A. is in Asian Studies, and I studied Mandarin Chinese, which is very useful where I teach (China).

Click the links below to get more information about teaching ESL:

ESL is based on techniques - not so much a foreign language.
Remember - the ESL classroom will have many languages in it - so techniques are the key.
You need to hook-up with a district that has sheltered class openings.

major in anything..get your teaching credential..major in education...LAUSD will hire you lol

If you want to teach ESL, why are you majoring in French and Latin American Studies? If you want to teach languages, why not teach French and /or Spanish, since those are your majors? French and Spanish might help you understand English grammar and structure a little better, and that means you might help you teach it. You'll need teacher training and a credential to teach, but that depends on where you wish to teach. Perhaps you should check out those requirements.

I majored in English Literature at university for a degree in Education to teach English (native language) at the high school level, but I took a lot of linguistics courses for ESL. Currently, I teach ESL at the high school level, but I have classes of near-native or bilingual students. My Lit component helps a lot since the classes I teach are very close to those for English, first language.