TEFL Greece/Crete

[tommyg3]

Hi, i'm looking to travel to Greece or Crete and teach English for an extended period.
I have a basic weekend TEFL Cert and a Degree in Business Studies. Does anyone have advice on finding work there? I have read some sites which offer 4 week training courses and then almost guarantee work. Are these trustworthy? Any info would be greatly received.

[Eltheza]

Hi tommy3g! I taught in Athens for 18 years - came back last August for family reasons. It's not well-paid but I loved it and it was a wonderful experience.

In Greece, you need a degree to teach - any degree will do as long as the Greek Min. of Ed. recognises it. You'll be ok with your degree.

Look at Cactustefl.com for courses in Greece. The prices seem to be at the top end of the scale. There are courses in Crete. Anglo-Hellenic offer courses in Corinth (not CELTA or Trinity Cert. TESOL) but I've heard negative things about the care they offer their graduates and the job placements they get you (see "The Tefl Blacklist" site on the internet).

The Athens News is a good source of job ads if you're in Greece - you may be able to find a website. Homer Language Association is a very reputable organisation with 140 schools throughout Greece - it's a franchise system. Their headquarters are in Athens, Stounari Street.

There's a new law (2007) that says that foreign teachers must have an "Ellinomatheia" certificate (Knowledge of the Greek Language). Level A, the lowest, is fine but that still requires a good grip of the language. However, some schools may take no notice of this new law - it's the Greek way! Perhaps make contact with a school and find out what their requirements are.

I loved it there! Good Luck! Hope this is of some help, Eltheza.

[tommyg3]

OK, thanks for your help!
I'm still a little wary of handing over €1500 for a 4 week course and not getting a proper certificate or no employment assistance. Is there Internationally recognised certificates, eg. CELTA?

[Eltheza]

Hi again! You can do CELTA in Athens - July or August - £1473. The courses in Crete and Corinth appear to be "4-week TEFL equivalents". Have a look at cactustefl.com - they list all courses all over the world. They also handle all applications, rather like UCCA for British universities. The Athens course also offers some free Greek lessons as an extra!

[kenjob]

Hi,

I think im in a similar position as yourself - ie basic weekend TEFl cert, 40 hr online cert, a degree from UK university and currently looking for work in greece. I've sent emails to a number of 'frontistirio' (language schools) in athens stating my interest in working for them but without any experience and so far I have secured two interviews in august for the Sept 09 - June '10 school year.

From what I can see there is no need whatsoever to pay out the 1500 euros for the 4-week course. It will be great experience and most definately your CV will be the better for doing it but you can find work as a native english speaker with a basic TEFL cert and a degree.

Ken

[Alex Case]

"there is no need whatsoever to pay out the 1500 euros for the 4-week course"

apart from the need to actually teach your students properly of course...

[kenjob]

Alex, thats a bit unfair.

I did say that "it will be great experience" and look good on a CV...but in terms of simply 'finding employment' there is no need to complete some course at a cost of 1500 euros. And I stand by that.

Ive heard bad things about these courses.

[edana]

I just searched for the tefl blacklist after stumbling upon this forum - a very interesting blacklist indeed! It does seem to be a minefield out there for anyone like me, seeking a qualification

[Elissa]

I did a 4 week TEFL at the Anglo-Hellenic centre in Corinth 4 years ago and I can tell you now it was invaluable!

You get classroom experience, with observed feedback; I taught 3 classes a week from week 2 of the course, totalling 18 hours of observed classroom practice. On top of that there is a comprehensive classroom aspect that gives you all the basic tools needed to teach ESL including classroom management, material sources, lesson planning training, course writing and error correction. Peter Beech (the DoS) may seem a little unconventional, but he is a very a good teacher. His wife Angeliki is lovely and very supportive. My only criticism would be that the job guidance as not as proactive as it could be, but then it's not that difficult to find a job on your own and let's face it, you know what you're looking for better than people who have known you for a couple of weeks!

As an experienced teacher I can tell you the difference between having a TEFL and not having a TEFL is huge when you are starting out teaching. I recommend the Anglo-Hellenic course whole-heartedly over online courses.

That said, if you already have a basic certification, there's really no need to get another one!

I have been teaching in China for a few years in order to gather enough experience to settle in Europe; I'll be moving to Italy in 6 weeks to start at a school there. For months I've been keeping an eye on job postings in Europe and Greece doesn't seem to come up very often at all, I think the only thing you can really do is keep plugging away on recruitment sites until you find something, with the Greek economy how it is, I'm not sure ESL teaching is a big priority for them at the moment