6 Ways TEFL Certificate Courses Try to Rip You Off – Part 1
The first of hopefully a new batch of guest author pieces, this one sent to me by “TEFLista”
“No doubt, there are a lot of dodgy TEFL certificate courses out there, but have you ever stopped for a minute to ponder the question why? By definition, a TEFL cert course is an entry-level qualification and a person is not supposed to know anything about TEFL before taking one, and therein sits the root of the problem. And as the saying goes, a fool and her money are soon parted. This article points out some of more common ways that the TEFL sharks try to pull the wool over your eyes and get you to sign-up for their courses.
1. Haystack Without a Needle, Bait and Switch
Let’s face it – the idea of going overseas to take a course is cool, but many people are too quick to pick a course based mostly on an exotic location. TEFL companies cash in on this by designing their websites with wonderful pictures of beaches, palm trees, swimming pools and shopping malls. The company website may have pages and pages and pages of general tourist information, testimonials, say that they have been in business for ten years and that they are the greatest thing since sliced bread. After spending 20 minutes reading their website you still have a few questions and then notice that they have a toll free number, so you give them a call. The person on the other end confirms everything that you ever wanted to hear and then some. They’ve now sold you on their course and you’ve agreed to give them a deposit. After it’s all over you get your certificate, but a lot of what they told you over the phone was never delivered and you thought that the quality of the course was quite poor.
Suggestion:
Don’t get sucked into reading entire websites. The first thing to look for other than the name of the location is qualifications of the trainers at the specific training center where you want to take the course. Go straight to this information ASAP. If detailed information about their qualifications isn’t available on the website, then there’s no point of looking any further. All of this should take you no more than five minutes.
2. Throw a Linguistics Dictionary at You
The idea here is to use as many terms related to course quality as possible to build up their sense of credibility with you. Some of the more common terms, include: moderation, moderator, validation, external validation, validator, visiting validator, evaluator, board of directors, and accredited. While all of the above mentioned do have specific meanings with the field of education, the meanings may vary depending on the course provider and the country that they are in, and it would take a lot of probing by an experienced trainer or teacher in order to catch them out on any of this. Being that you are new to TEFL you’ve basically got no chance whatsoever, but the bottom line on all of it is quite simple: there is no one single international agency that certifies the quality of all TEFL certificate courses, and as such, course providers are free to makeup their own. This means that virtually any course can claim to be monitored in some way by an outside or ‘external’ agency.
Suggestion:
Know the industry standards for certificate courses. They include:
At least 100 hours in length
6 hours of supervised teaching with real students
6 hours of guided observation with live classes
A trainer to participant ratio of 1:6
There are many courses out there, but you may wish to consider taking one of the three best known and most widely accepted qualifications:
CELTA (Cambridge ESOL)
CertTESOL (Trinity College London)
SIT TESOL Certificate (School for International Training)”
Some interesting points there for thought and debate, I reckon. Any comments or questions for “TEFLista”?
Part Two of this great series is here, and Part Three is just up here.
Tags: guest writers, Professionalism
December 17th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Best thing to do if you decide that a TEFL course is for you is to visit a doctor – better still, a psychiatrist. You could be suffering from depression, mania, or just delusions of grandeur.
I mean, just why would you want to part with shed-loads of cash just to be able to stand in front of a bunch of kids and say “My name is Joanne. What’s your name ?” (pointing to sniffy little oik in front rwo)? You don’t need a certificate to do that – you need a lobotomy!
Or am I being a little too pessimistic here…?
December 22nd, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Man, if that is what you consider to be your entire job as a teacher, you should never set foot in a classroom….
December 22nd, 2008 at 5:04 pm
I know Bruce, I know … man. Perhaps you could give me job selling your courses – I’m quite good at fibbing!
December 22nd, 2008 at 11:35 pm
If anyone’s thinking about doing the CELTA, can I recommend this brief summary:
http://kateandtheo.blogspot.com/2008/12/kates-celta-blog.html
January 24th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
The tefl course at Chiangmai University advertised a class size of only 6 students.
But i am told that the actual size of at least 2 classes, mostly taught by one trainer, varied in size from between 16 and 36 students before some people dropped out.
Are they regulated by anyone, by the University ? Or can they change the size of the classroom at will ?
February 6th, 2009 at 8:51 am
Nitto asks about the training at CMU. My thoughts on that training center are expressed in the Bruce V interview series — see parts two and three. The second half of part 3 pretty much sums it all up:
http://www.tefl.net/alexcase/teaching/bruce-veldhuisen-interview-3/
March 23rd, 2009 at 11:39 am
According to the Alex case blog, there could appear reason to believe that something is lurking in the woodwork of a certain Chiang Mai course, even if the certificates are signed by a president (see my comments on Thailand in another TEFLista article).
What I *do* know is that one of the directors of such a course, can be a most unsavoury, unpleasant, and threatening character when asked if he has any connections with a university in Australia, or with other course providers based in Thailand. The man also speaks with the educational level of a garbage collector, and the vernacular of a trooper – not exactly prerequisites for an educator.
The course itself might be pretty good.
March 25th, 2009 at 8:56 am
Nitto (and others) have asked what can be done after the fact, so I’ve written another guest piece that addresses this issue:
What to Do If You’ve Been Had by Your TEFL Course
http://www.tefl.net/alexcase/teaching/teaching-abroad/what-to-do-if-youve-been-had-by-your-tefl-course/
March 25th, 2009 at 9:04 am
P.S. Advertising only 6 students on a course and then having 16 or more is a classic bait and switch. This often happens in Thailand during the HIGH season (October – March).
June 25th, 2009 at 12:18 am
Taking a more positive slant – you might want to take a look at:
http://www.TEFLprogram.com which shows you how to EVALUATE a TEFL Certification program – with five check lists to help you find the BEST TEFL course for you. Not just the negative stuff – but the positive stuff that you need to be successful for your time abroad.
I agree with the poster above who said – get the best teacher trainer you can. Most don’t have any REAL education in teaching – MOST don’t have much real experience. BUT some do! There are some great teacher trainers out there (I am an example – but I am retired)
I’ve been teaching overseas since 1992 and it has been a GREAT career!
June 25th, 2009 at 8:52 am
Thanks, Ted.
I was planning to end this series, after I get to part three, with exactly that. I like what you’ve put together and it’s very nice to see more out there in the way of consumer education. Kudos. My only comment about your list is that you may want to specify post-qualification experience. I’ve seen people out there claiming five years of teaching experience, when it’s all highly questionable. In my book, teaching unqualified for three years (maybe even one-on-one in coffee shops), getting a proper qualification and then teaching for two more years, is equal to TWO years of teaching experience. In the past, I’ve seen some ‘trainers’ try to gloss over this on their bios by stating something like “trainer X has many years of teaching experience and has taught in countries X, Y and Z…”
October 2nd, 2009 at 10:17 pm
With so much information out there about tefl scams I can’t seem to find anything positive or reaffirming. I live in Houston, Texas. Where should I go to aquire my tefl or tesol?
October 3rd, 2009 at 5:08 pm
Hi.
I’m not familiar with Houston, but here’s one possibility worth looking into:
http://celta.nhceducatesu.com/
Best
T.
July 26th, 2010 at 3:43 am
Hey its been greayt reading all the blogs, I have printed them off and highlighted some usefull points. I must say I am really confused now, I was just about to pay my deposit to “teachabroad thailand” but thought I should do some more research first. The course is in Pattaya and costs 13,00 pounds but I do have a voucher for 500. Is anyone aware of this company or have any more info about them. Please help!!! many thanks
July 26th, 2010 at 5:22 am
The whole vouchers thing always strikes me as far too heavy-selling techniques for an educational organisation- you won’t see Cambridge giving sale prices etc!
August 4th, 2010 at 9:50 am
thanks yeah i thought the same, still confused tho its driving me nuts, being researching as much as i can but still cant decide, what about ecc thailand celta course????
August 4th, 2010 at 10:22 am
ECC don’t have a good reputation as a school to work for, but that isn’t connected to their training, which will be carefully checked by Cambridge, so why not?
August 5th, 2010 at 7:17 am
SIT TESOL (Bangkok and Chiang Mai) or the CELTA at International House (Bangkok and Chiang Mai) are two possibilities. I agree with Alex’s comment above, too.
August 5th, 2010 at 8:30 am
teflista you’re back!! ha ha!! so whats International House and also bit confused as to what you mean TESOL in bkk and Chiang Mai? I thought TESOL was the name of the certificate? as apposed to a company to get it from? I do appreciate these comments so thanks very much, I thought I had it all sorted until now. Any links to actaul reccomended companies would be amazing, thanks again!!!!
August 5th, 2010 at 8:31 am
just realised its called SIT TESOL right?
August 5th, 2010 at 8:51 am
The SIT TESOL Certificate is offered at the AUA Language Center in Bangkok and in Chiang Mai.
August 5th, 2010 at 9:26 am
and international house? is that ecc? how do I go about dooing the SIT TESOL?
August 5th, 2010 at 10:21 am
If you are headed to S.E. Asia to do a TEFL Cert, then there are a number of places that you could go. I do not want to get into endorsing specific courses. That said, here are a few places (and there are certainly others) that I believe are worthy of consideration at this particular point in time:
SIT TESOL Cert – at the AUA Langauge Centers in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, Thailand
CELTA – International House, Bangkok, Thailand
CELTA – ILA, Vietnam
Trinity Cert TESOL – IALF, Bali, Indonesia
As with any course, you should do some homework to see if they offer what you a looking for. And Google them for more information.
August 5th, 2010 at 10:48 am
thanks very much again, homework is exactly what i have been doing thats why i am so confused, all i want to do is experience teaching young kids or teenagers english as a change from my chosen career, i have been to thailand many times and would love to do it bkk, i have no previous experience in teaching but my career as a head chef for the last 16 years has involved a lot of training of staff and i am also veryn dedicated in everything i do, i also do have a higher english
September 26th, 2010 at 1:36 pm
You know what, i am also very confused with this whole TEFL opportunity. I wish there was just one reliable source to find the information and recommended training bodies. I need a change in life, and i fancy working abroad in Asia why not i am 28 been puching paperwork for 7 years now since graduating…. can someone please tell me the best place to start in one sentence??? Thanks. Ben
September 26th, 2010 at 9:38 pm
I can do it in two words: Cambridge CELTA
http://cambridgeesol-centres.org/centres/teaching/index.do
September 28th, 2010 at 12:19 pm
Thanks Alex Case. Its funny you should say that. I went to my local pub and got chatting to an old aquaintance, by sheer coincidence, who i have not seen since school (10 years no less!) She had been teaching in Polan for two years and i told her about a TEFT course i was thinking of going on for two days. She said one thong to me, ignore everything and if you are serious pay the money approx £1000 and do it the right way and apply for CELTA.
Many thanks,
I hope this has benefitted other viewer also.
I will let everybody know my progress once i have delved into the CELTA route.
Ben
December 20th, 2010 at 4:29 pm
ben, how are you getting on? sophie
January 6th, 2011 at 2:05 pm
Hi,
With regards to which course to choose I was planning on heading to Granada to take on the 4 week TEFL International Course which offers more than the minimum requirements stipulated by the British Council in terms of teaching practice, hours taught etc. however I’m increasingly thinking that opting for a CELTA course in Barcelona or Madrid would be the better option due to the brand recognition?
I’m intending on moving to Granada at some point so I feel that perhaps attending that college would help me to find work a lot quicker but I’m unsure of the weight the course would carry with prospective employers in the future.
Can anyone advise?
Thanks.
January 6th, 2011 at 9:36 pm
Especially in Europe, the CELTA will give you much better job prospects.
January 7th, 2011 at 7:00 am
Be very careful of ‘meets the requirements’ in adverts, as that doesn’t mean that the certificate will actually be ACCEPTED by the British Council. It’s all slippery language used to mislead people.
The BC requirements are:
1) that the course is 100 hours or more in length
2) that the course has six hours of observed teaching practice
3) that the course is externally validated by a RECOGNIZED examination body or university
That’s it. All quite simple and very vague. Lots of loopholes in there, too. For example, the people doing the training could be unqualified. (And one of several reasons as to why a certificate may not be accepted).
BTW, TEFL International does not meet requirement No. 3.
January 7th, 2011 at 8:05 am
You may also want see Alex’s more recent post regarding TEFL International:
TEFLlife.com – Doubts, contradictions and downright lies
http://tinyurl.com/24zjrc5
January 9th, 2011 at 5:52 am
Great post–it really is hard to believe some of the BS that some of these sites shovel. Also, TESOL certificates run through real universities (not just on the sites of!) in the US usually match these specifications, and are fine for Asia. CELTA is impractical for a lot of people based in the US. (Just beware the tendency of all of these programs to overstate the usefulness of such certificates for teaching *in* the US.)
January 13th, 2011 at 7:04 am
This has been most informative! I really appreciate all the sharing of tips and warnings. I live and teach English in Honduras, but have no certificate. I am thinking about taking the CELTA course in Costa Rica. Can it be said that EVERY location offering CELTA certification is high-quality? And what about Clarissa’s comments? Do CELTA programs have less recognition in North America?
Thanks to all again for the timely insights.
January 13th, 2011 at 7:24 am
Well, you’re unlikely to get a teaching job in America with just a four week certificate, even a CELTA, anyway. The problem is that you will probably have to travel to take one as there are only (presently) eight courses in the US. And if you’re going to travel, why not take the course for less money in Prague or Bangkok, rather than Boston?
January 13th, 2011 at 7:57 am
Traveling is very expensive. That is why I am considering San Jose, Costa Rica. Its close to home and way cheaper than the CELTA courses offered in the states. I saw an ad for a teacher in Arizona that accepted the certificate with experience.
http://www.esljobsworld.com/esl-jobs/north-america/tesol-tefl-trainer-instructor.html
Do you have an opinion of the San Jose course?
http://www.institutobritanico.co.cr/esp/IhIb_FechaPreFoProCELTA.html
Thanks for your immediate response!
March 4th, 2011 at 3:44 am
I’m wanting to do a four week program with TEFL Institute (from Chicago) in Paris, but reading all of these articles makes me feel odd about going with them. Mainly because the counselor I chatted with was really pushing me to get my deposit in early because spots were filling up. Also, I can’t find an address for the Paris location on their website, which really bothers me. I’m really kind of set on doing my TEFL certification this summer in Europe, preferably in Paris. Which programs in France are the best? I’ve googled for hours on end and I need advice!
Thanks!
March 4th, 2011 at 8:36 am
One possibility might include taking the CELTA at the International Language Centre in Paris:
http://www.ilcfrance.com/
I don’t know anything about that course provider, so you will still need to do some homework and check them out. As for a complete list of training centers for France and other countries world-wide, see these:
CELTA
http://cambridgeesol-centres.org/centres/teaching/index.do
SIT TESOL
http://www.sit.edu/graduate/tesol_schedule.cfm
Trinity
http://www.trinitycollege.co.uk/locator/course_flash.php
March 5th, 2011 at 12:26 pm
Hi there,
Would like to seek your advice if TEFL PLus is a recommended centre for TESOL/TEFL course? Thanks so much!!!
March 10th, 2011 at 5:05 am
The website for TEFL Plus in Phuket, Thailand doesn’t provide enough information for someone to make an informed decision about their course. Looks to me like they they are intentionally leaving out important information, so I would avoid them.
May 26th, 2011 at 6:49 am
Part Five now up:
http://www.tefl.net/alexcase/tefl/t-training/qualifications/slippery-accreditation-multiple-websites/
November 10th, 2011 at 3:25 pm
Can anyone give advice on possible on-line courses which are reputable and provide a good level of learning. Negative experiences are also appreciated.
November 10th, 2011 at 10:02 pm
I’ve been experimenting and working with some online TEFL providers this year. I don’t have many kind things to say. Old curriculum, handouts, just copy and paste, etc….
I’ll stop there. Recommend always, face to face and a trainer that actually is involved and with more than 10 years of in classroom (non teacher training) experience.
I recently started an online TEFL course just as an experiment. It was quite revealing. In 2 days, over 300 teachers signed up for the free course. Had to put a 9.95 fee because I was overwhelmed (costs me / student). But I’m working on a free model of the course. We have 30 + grads in a few weeks. You can demo at http://schooloftefl.com
I say this because with the advent of technology, these courses can be offered at a low fee and reasonable quality. This course isn’t anything special but it is all video, it also is a good prep course and several schools signed up teachers just for that reason – to use it as professional development and talking points for their staff workshops.
But the price is going to keep dropping and the quality is going to keep rising. Thank god.
David
January 5th, 2012 at 3:07 am
Not sure if this is the right place to ask this question…..but I am currently an ESL tutor in the US, and I love it! I was hired with an education degree and teaching certification, but no actual ESL/EFL training. I have sort of “figured it out” as I went along for the last 4 years, but I’d love to get some actual training. The problem is, the programs that I can find in the US that look at all reputable are master’s level university degrees that take several years and about $60,000! I see that taking a course in the UK looks like what I want (about 4 weeks intensive for a certificate), but will I be able to use that training in the US?
Thanks for your help.
February 23rd, 2012 at 3:48 pm
Don’t do your CELTA with ECC, if at all.
For a start, the equipment is below par. All of the computers are set up with Thai as the default language that you have to switch every time you open a seperate programme, All of the computers are set up with different programmes that don’t work in different ways (different versions of windows, different default programmes for images etc), the internet doesn’t work properly sometimes, and they blame it on it being a “developing country” even though they’re the only c*nts on the f*cking block with a toilet that accepts toilet paper, just so they can wipe their privileged English assh*les. Each room has separate air conditioning, but the fat, sarcastic, condescending tutors still blame it on the “fact” that its a “developing” country. Eat sh*t and die.
Most people who fail just call the course “harsh,” and nothing more. There’s quite a bit more to it.
Everyone who passes is just happy to have the CELTA certificate, and had to kiss a lot of ass and bite their tongue and work very hard. What you gain is all of the reasonably positive things that you can gain from someone who is a c*nt with a lot of teaching experience and knowledge being really negative toward you after judging you from a lot of lessons. If this sounds like something you could benefit from, do it, but its a load of bullsh*t.
The tutors are totally idealistic and incoherent. I got failed on a lesson that had “speaking” as a secondary aim. I provided 15 minutes of speaking exercise in partners, all of which involved the second partner to be listening to the speaker and making value judgments about what they’re saying. (a guessing game). These people are so idealistic that a “listening exercise” is exactly as they teach, and intermediate Thais spending 15 minutes speaking to one another doesn’t involve any “listening.”
My tutors looked at the draft of my lesson plan before a lesson that I gave, and approved the plan, and then in feedback told me that I shouldn’t have done the plan that I did. I failed my final teaching practise where the second tutor, who had looked at my draft two times and given it the O.K., on the day decided to fail me because I didn’t do an ENTIRE SECTION THAT WAS REQUIRED. EVEN THOUGH HE APPROVED OF 2 LESSON PLAN DRAFTS THE DAY BEFORE, AND THE DAY BEFORE THE DAY BEFORE, BOTH OF WHICH DIDN’T HAVE THE SECTION.
All of the students who get failed are a suprise to the other students.
The first tutor failed me similarly on a teaching practise. The difference here was that he actually invented and dictated to me my lesson plan.
All of the students who go through the course have to kiss ass. The tutors are not negotiable and frequently sarcastic and personal, and take advantage of the fact that you’ve paid a lot of money and need the CELTA. “I don’t have to please you” kind of attitude prevailed, although the tutors were admittedly quite nice for the rest of the time.
Quite a lot of the content was similarly abstract and incoherent. We spent an hour learning the difference between an “Exercise” and an “Activity” and the tutors assign real value to these differences . Problem is, the tutors have random interpretations themselves and contradicted one another, which the tutor was pulled up on, and he laughed it off.
The reason why so many people say not to argue with them isn’t because they know a lot and are constantly correcting people, but because they aren’t sensible people. All of their value judgements are based simply on whatever random negativity they feel like spewing up, and is usually incoherent in some way.
I had quite a few negative comments on my lesson plan that were addressed a few lines down in the plan, and he didn’t cross any of the comments out.
All people who do the CELTA give you the advice “don’t argue with them” for a reason. You will want to argue with them, because their arguments aren’t sound and usually condescending, personal and reasonably ignorant. They got their degrees from being uptight and anal, not from being useful, and are riding off the name of “cambridge.”
It’s not possible for students to always be wrong. You should really doubt the integrity of a teacher who is teaching something that isn’t set in stone that has no clear answer, where its common that people give you advice “don’t argue with them,” because its quite clear that a lot of people want to argue with them, and usually have a very valid point.
The first thing that struck me about the ECC CELTA was the general quality of the candidates who went into the course. Really smart, hardworking people, some with experience. All of whom were arguing over points with the tutors.
What this boils down to is that the tutors aren’t problem solvers. They thrive on problems, and everything they have a problem with is a really random, emotional gripe that doesn’t have much of a bearing on the situation.