Looking for a good TEFL course

Discussion about courses, qualifications etc

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dreichelt
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Posts: 1
Joined: 06 Jul 2014, 01:22
Status: Prospective Teacher

Looking for a good TEFL course

Unread post 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!
RoseWoo
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Posts: 2
Joined: 10 Dec 2013, 08:14
Status: Other

Re: Looking for a good TEFL course

Unread post 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
Richardavie
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Posts: 15
Joined: 27 Feb 2012, 12:06
Status: Teacher Trainer

Re: Looking for a good TEFL course

Unread post 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.
DRKelly
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Posts: 1
Joined: 14 Jan 2015, 20:57
Status: Teacher Trainer

Re: Looking for a good TEFL course

Unread post 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.
Lip25
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Posts: 1
Joined: 25 Mar 2015, 10:53
Status: New Teacher

Re: Looking for a good TEFL course

Unread post 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
charlie103
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Posts: 1
Joined: 17 Jun 2015, 15:22
Status: Trainee Teacher

Re: Looking for a good TEFL course

Unread post 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.
jyau95
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Posts: 2
Joined: 09 Mar 2016, 01:04
Status: New Teacher

Re: Looking for a good TEFL course

Unread post by jyau95 »

Is a 120 hour just online good enough?
Briona
Top Contributor
Posts: 199
Joined: 29 Jul 2009, 20:33
Status: Teacher

Re: Looking for a good TEFL course

Unread post 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
Experience teaching in Vietnam, Portugal, Poland, Spain, the UK, and Qatar
graemecr
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Posts: 7
Joined: 04 Apr 2016, 07:57
Status: DoS

Re: Looking for a good TEFL course

Unread post 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.
Sportycb
Member
Posts: 1
Joined: 18 Apr 2016, 11:47
Status: Teacher

Re: Looking for a good TEFL course

Unread post 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
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