training+employment in thailand/china

[timmy]

Hi

I'm pretty new to the thought of teaching English as a great way to earn a living, let alone in a foreign country :X

to be frank I'm very much daunted by all these trainings and institutions and stuff and I wanted to ask a few of you folks about a thing or two.

I've researched a bit and most of these are pricey, for a someone like me who is just about to graduate and all that, online course look good but I see that TEFL International has a program in Thailand and China where they would train you for like 500USD and have a job for you for four months. The China program looks good to me as I have been wanting to go there too.

Does anyone have any experience with these guys at TEFL International? lurked a bit on other forums and I got to their website (?) that had all the feedbacks from people who took the course and I see that almost everyone likes their course...


-tim

[ICAL_Pete]

TEFL Intl. has received its fair share of bad press over the years and has been often blacklisted on various sites (the TEFL Blacklist, TEFLWatch, etc.). They have recently changed some of the people at top of the organization so you never know, things might improve.

Bear in mind that regardless of which TEFL Cert one holds, all teachers in Thailand now need a bachelor’s degree in order to be legally employed.

[timmy]

there's a guy who answered on another thread that said blacklist have included pretty much everybody and it's pretty much gossip and... spreading crap .
Anyone here who actually did a course with TEFL International?
Not that I'm demeaning you Pete but I'd like to from someone who experienced this first hand...

edit:
here it is...

ICAL_Pete, I wouldn't give too much weight to the blacklist. It looks like they've included pretty much everybody in EFL in their recycled reports of gossip and hearsay. They're anonymous, unaccountable and totally lacking in credibility.

http://www.tefl.net/forums/viewtopic.ph ... 753bf1555b

[Regina]

wow! signed up for this program, the thailand one, and have been looking for people who took the course as well.

you say you've read some feedbacks for TEFL International, where?

I'm not saying ICAL_Pete isn't someone to be trusted, but I clicked on his sig and he seems to be working for another course provider, and exactly not an unbiased person...

[timmy]

Hello Regina

It's http://alumni.teflintl.com/, though I can't seem to find the posts for the thailand project.

and yeah... clicked on Pete's sig too.
kinda stains his impartiality, but he does have a point. He says that people have been shuffled at the top of the organization so I have hopes for this.

another thing, yes I did graduate from college.

[ICAL_Pete]

Hi guys,

Just to set the record straight. My details are purposefully posted in the profile so that there could be no doubt about where I stand. I could have made up a name and posted anonymously but it is not my intention to deceive anyone.

I have been contributing to this forum for almost a year now and I believe I've done it fairly. I try to stick to the point, I back my claims with verifiable facts and avoid any blatant advertising. The information I share with all posters on this forum comes from over 10 years experience working for a quality online provider and it is thanks to this experience that I can speak knowledgeably on various issues regarding training.

And finally, with regards to the issue at hand the information I passed on was found on an independent site. I did not concoct it myself. I simply used it to answer the question and make the poster aware of what some people say about the course provider in question. Make of it what you will.

[Alex Case]

I'd say that someone being on TEFLblacklist means that a fair few people have complained about them. Whether their complaints are justified or out of date, due to unrealistic expectations etc. is not very much examined there, but anyone does of course have a right of reply in the comments box. Reading about things I have personal experience of, I find the first half of each post is usually a bit melodramatic but the details are mainly correct- so I would add up the details they mention with the positive points on the company website that are not debunked there and add up for yourself what your conclusions should be. Easier said than done, of course...

[Alex Case]

PS

I agree with Pete about him being careful in his comments, but I also think he could start or end comments with "I work for..." a bit more often. However, if people who went on forums for a bit of free publicity of one sort or another were banned rather than restricted the forums would all go pretty quite I can tell you. I, for one, wouldn't mind too much if some people clicked on the link to my blog...

[timmy]

I've read up as much as possible on both sides of the blacklist thing (till I dozed off, literally, because they go on forever )
I've gone back as much as possible on the feedbacks for the course and overall I see very positive opinions about.

I'm beginning to think it's somewhat of a thankless job. The company does some weird crap before and bells and whistles are around. Now that they've cleaned up (or maybe even then they were clean) No good stuff is being written them.
I dunno...

If what I posted fails to connect, forgive me as I've had no sleep yet. I'll edit it when I wake up.

EDIT:
I'm not saying you made the stuff up Pete.
I'm just saying that since you're from a different company, you stand to gain something from what you said.
Man I really sound like I'm sniping at Pete, I'm not.
Need sleep....
Also... Just a few more days till you reach 1 year old in this forum, yet only 30 posts?
If you really lurk here to help people like me, shouldn't you at least be like (does rough calculations in head) 500 posts over the course of the year?