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Looking for a good TEFL course

Posted: 06 Jul 2014, 01:23
by dreichelt
Hi my name is David and this is my first post here. I am interested in taking TEFL training but there are many options online to choose from and I really can't discern the difference in quality. I was hoping someone could answer some questions I have.

Just a quick bio, I have no formal teaching experience. However, while I served as a combat medic in the U.S. Army, I did teach classes to other soldiers having to do with CPR, IV's, and combat related injuries. I also have three years public speaking experience from being in Toastmasters International. I also have performed as a close up magician for eight years, and I have my BA in Theatre. I mention all of that because these skills have made me very comfortable around all types of people and crowds which I think will be of great benefit to me in this area. Anyway, that's enough of my background. Here are my questions:

1. What accreditation should I be looking for in regards to training?
2. It's my understanding that most schools around the world require 6-20 hours of live practicum. How do online courses deal with this?
3. Where in the world will I be able to teach with certain certificates gained from a given program?
4. Is it true that one can get the best jobs if trained by TESL Canada, CELTA, Trinity CertTESOL or equivalent certification programs?

Thanks a lot!

Re: Looking for a good TEFL course

Posted: 24 Jul 2014, 01:53
by RoseWoo
Hi David

I am looking for ESL teacher who are native speaker .
The work location is Beijing of China .

Working here you could also get a tefl certificate.

Contact me if you want to discuss for further . :D

Cheers,
Rose


roseoden@163.com

Re: Looking for a good TEFL course

Posted: 13 Nov 2014, 09:47
by Richardavie
You guys should check out http://www.teflcoursereview.com or even just google the name of the provider you have in mind and you should be able to find plenty of reviews from people who have done the course previously.

Re: Looking for a good TEFL course

Posted: 15 Jan 2015, 22:32
by DRKelly
I had a great time with brilliant instructors in Bogota, Colombia at International House. It was a CELTA course. I chose a CELTA because the classroom component qualified me to work in many countries that an online/self-study TEFL would not.

International House was great.

Re: Looking for a good TEFL course

Posted: 25 Mar 2015, 11:26
by Lip25
If you are still looking for a course, I would definitely recommend the course I did. TtMadrid in Madrid, very intense 4 week course but so useful and you definitely get your money's worth!
The school and the trainers are really good, plus the chances you are gonna get a job after it are like 100%, as we are all currently working, we pretty much all got jobs in the 2 weeks after the course!
Check it out: http://www.ttmadrid.com

Re: Looking for a good TEFL course

Posted: 17 Jun 2015, 15:35
by charlie103
In my experience most schools require you to have the Cambridge CELTA or the Trinity certTESOL before they will even consider offering you a job.
These are both 'TEFL' qualifications but they are the only 2 international recognized and accredited certificates.
All other 'TEFL' qualifications are generally perceived to be a waste of time in the industry. If you are looking for a CELTA or certTESOL then Cactus TEFL offers the best choice with courses all over the world and online.

Re: Looking for a good TEFL course

Posted: 09 Mar 2016, 01:09
by jyau95
Is a 120 hour just online good enough?

Re: Looking for a good TEFL course

Posted: 09 Mar 2016, 09:49
by Briona
Hi there,

Generally speaking, 100-120hrs is considered the industry standard, so taking a course of at least that length is recommended. Anything less that that wouldn't be worth the paper it's written on.

Duration is not the only consideration though. Whether an online course is good enough or not depends very much on where you want to work and whom you want to work for. If an employer accepts online courses, it will be fine. However, an increasing number of employers around the world refuse to accept them. Furthermore, online qualifications are not accepted anywhere in the Middle East or in native English-speaking countries, such as the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, NZ, etc.

My advice, as always, is to do your research BEFORE investing in a course. A cheap course may end up being a poor investment.

Briona

Re: Looking for a good TEFL course

Posted: 04 Apr 2016, 08:24
by graemecr
As others have said only CELTA or Trinity TESOL are any good as courses - the online ones will not get you in to most language schools.

Re: Looking for a good TEFL course

Posted: 18 Apr 2016, 13:58
by Sportycb
From my experience it really depends where you want to teach. For example places such as China are not at all fussy! While most schools in Europe and the Middle East want a CELTA (or an equivillent). I could go on for a while but I am sure everyone would be bored. So I hope nobody minds me posting this but I wrote a blog post to help people like yourself as I know it can be really confusing!

https://thenewcarly.wordpress.com/2016/ ... eview=true