No pressure but........

[raenbow]

Hello I have been looking into moving into teaching English as I moved to Portugal 2 years ago, and am a fully qualified UK Primary Teacher with 12 years experience. The director of a local school recommended I take the IHCYL course at the nearest TT centre to me.( which he also is director for)
My question- is this the best route for me to take bearing in mind my previous experience or will the shorter course (than Celta or Tesol) mean I will find it difficult to break into the market elsewhere or even state school teaching?
I had been researching this at a leisurely pace, but theyve just had someone drop out of their next course(March) and want to know if I'm interested- Thanks

[ICAL_Pete]

CELTA is a fairly intensive certificate program in terms of finance, workload and commitment. Given that you already have considerable teaching experience you could opt of an online TEFL course.

TEFL Certificates obtained through quality online training organizations are also widely accepted.

Training online is a good option particularly if you have a limited budget to further your studies or if you have other work and/or family commitments that restrict the amount of time you have available to study.

There are many good schools around the world that will happily accept TEFL Certificates issued by reputable organizations other than Cambridge, so you can shop around. See our courses to start with!

With regards to employers’ requirements these vary greatly according to where and at what level you wish to teach. It might be useful to contact a few other schools where you’ like to work and ask them for their specific requirements.

[systematic]

If you are a state qualified teacher, with a degree in either education or a linguistics related subject, and experience, the addition of a TEFL certification is often not required.

[raenbow]

Most of the local schools here do require some further qualification but have just had an email back from them stating:
"The IHCYL was originally for post CELTA candidates within IH, however it has been recognized be the Portuguese Ministry of Education as a valid qualification to teach English in 1º Ciclo (Primary 4-8 years) in the state school system, providing the candidate already has the mandatory degree (4 yrs at a Portuguese University). I do know of some teachers who have managed to get into the system without, I can say that a lot of institutes in the area recognize this as a qualification and many of the ex-trainees, even those with no previous experience) have gone on to work in language schools, institutes, private nurseries."

So that seems hopeful, I do have 4 years - normal degree plus 1 year post- grad done in the UK - so will find out if that is ok. Thanks for your help, hopefully I shall soon be on my way!!

[systematic]

If it's a PGCE that you have, nobody can argue much about it.

[raenbow]

It is. Thanks for the advice I am now in the process of filling in my application form
( groan!!)

[systematic]

PGCE - that's what I guessed. As a qualified primary sch. teacher you will have touched on teaching English more than adequately to satisfy the recruiters for any TEFL jobs. Converting your knowledge to teaching it to non-native speakers can easily be done by reading either:
The Practice of English Language Teaching, J. Harmer, Longmann, ISBN 0-582-40385-5
or
A Course in Language Teaching, Penny Ur, CUP, ISBN 0-521-44994-4,

and arming yourself with the TEFFLer's grammar bible:
Essential Grammar in Use, R. Murphy, CUP, ISBN 0-521-55928-6

best of luck with your application