Tefl.NET Forums

I would highly recommend taking a course in the country or at least the location where you are interested in teaching. Even if you take a TEFL course back home, the provider will probably only have a few school contacts in Poland to share with you. You won't get any visa assistance, housing assistan...

I believe, and I might be completely wrong, but I think that Cactus TEFL is just a recruitment agency. I think a quick Google search for CELTA in the area you want to go will send you to the schools directly. Try that

My mistake then. I was saying anything bad about you guys only that its worth looking into. If you have the results to back up the course, then you must be doing a lot of things right.

It can take a year or a few days. It all depends on the organization you are working with.

This seems like a pretty easy thing to do. Train him. Get a one of your pros in there and really do some direct observations. Whenever he starts talking too much, hold a red flag. I've worked with some of the least talented teachers (maybe in the world) If you are aggressive with your training metho...

Sorry Pete, but without actual teaching practice in front of real students, online courses fall flat. If you do decide to take an online course, it has to have a component of actual teaching practice. You wouldn't go to an online swimming class. Teaching is the same.

Both are important. I think the most important skill to push with speaking is getting students to feel comfortable actually doing it. It's great if a student can speak accurately, but if they do not have the practice or self confidence to actually speak, then their ability is useless.

The site is actually pretty credible. The people that run it do their best to look at both sides of the story. If a school has been mentioned on it, it's wise to research them further

Dear Bob,

This is actually a really easy question to answer. Start researching where you would like to teach. Once you have a few locations down, start looking for courses in that area.

Dear Liza, It is possible to do this, but understand that it will be hard for you to get hired from abroad. Your best bet is to start contacting schools in Costa Rica and see what they say. Mention that you will be taking an onsite TEFL course and that afterwards you want to come there. Also, any go...

Dear Glenji, I would take a look at our course The Language House Prague. You'd be surprised at how much more we offer than the Trinity or CELTA. We screen people as well and conduct phone interviews. The difference is we don't charge people for them. 60 Euro is a lot for a phone interview. This is ...

Hi Ali, I just saw this message here, so I thought I'd add something. I'm the creator and director of The Language House in Prague. CELTA and Trinity are both good courses. There is no doubt about that. However, they are not the only courses out there. There are a lot of poor TEFL courses out there ...

Warn them no more than twice and then start sacking them.

Every lesson should have a plan- that's a no brainer. If your teachers decide to just 'show up' and wing it without any kind of focus or lesson objectives - Fire them ASAP

However, I agree completely with sometimes doing a spur of the moment thing. A loose plan is what usually works for me

Dear Nigel,


You could try IATEFL and The College of Teachers. Also try local organizations in Spain. Don't worry about Cambridge, there are plenty of organizations out there. Just worry about the quality of instruction you provide.

There's a lot of work in China, just be careful of shady recruiters.

I can't honestly say I've heard anything about them. I only know of Via Lingua there. Regarding Prague TEFL courses, I would take everything you hear with a grain of salt. There are over 12 TEFL courses operating in the city now. Out of the 1000 + teachers that are certified here each year, having a...

I have to go with onsite training here. Before I begin why, I will say that I run a TEFL Course in Prague so I am obviously a bit biased with this. However, I firmly believe that if you want to do TEFL, take a real course that involves teaching practice. That's the only way you'll get better. Teachi...

I doubt it. You do not need a degree to enter into any of those courses. The thing is, in many countries (all of asia) you do for the most part. If you do not have degree, you won't get a job. Now if you work hard, you'll be fine, but don't blame your course provider if you have a hard time finding ...

One thing that I want to say is that I have a lot of experience with new teachers since I run a TEFL course in Prague. I've probably been in contact with about 300 or more. The ones that don't have any savings, don't last. Stay in your own country, get a job and save for a few months. Then go