ISI Global - 'Travel the world teaching English'

Dave!

Hey folks,

there's been a load of posters and leaflets for this all around college. It's a one-week course that gives you a qualification that you can use to travel around the world teaching English.

It sounds pretty good, the course is only €300. I won't be doing it this year, but maybe next year I might have a look.

Just wondering if anyone has done one of these courses, what they were like, what their experiences were teaching abroad, etc.

Share!

LundiMardi

bump, i'd like to hear about this also.

Endurance Man

Im going to one of the Tefl courses tonight , my sister informed me of this scheme so me and my brother are going to do it and try travel around a bit. It starts tonight, runs until sunday and then you have to submit a few online projects, all in all it should take around 2 weeks .
We wanna try get a job in Indonesia as the surf is really good there.

LundiMardi

where is the course? anything online about it?

Endurance Man

LundiMardi wrote:

where is the course? anything online about it?

http://www.teflireland.com/teflcourses.shtml

Those are the details , my sister has 6 friends who did the course and they are now scattered all over the world. Really is handy, iv chatted to the lecturer a few times and he is a great guy, success rate is very high. From what iv read on the forums finding a job afterwards is dead easy, they are in great demand.

Endurance Man

Got back a little while ago from the first nite, was more of an introduction. All sounds really good, the actual course is not half as daunting as i was expecting. The teachers/lectures are good, know why are they are there and they do it well .
The success storys really make you want to get stuck in and get out there, the demand is insane, he told us about a girl who completed here course last week and had 7 job offers that day, and you are making good money to.
Back tommorow, not looking forward to the early morning .

LundiMardi

what kind of money do you make? and these job offers, do they pay to fly you over there etc? accomodation?

Terry

Endurance Man wrote:

Got back a little while ago from the first nite, was more of an introduction. All sounds really good, the actual course is not half as daunting as i was expecting. The teachers/lectures are good, know why are they are there and they do it well .
The success storys really make you want to get stuck in and get out there, the demand is insane, he told us about a girl who completed here course last week and had 7 job offers that day, and you are making good money to.
Back tommorow, not looking forward to the early morning .

you're going to be teaching english?

Dave!

With emphasis on SPOKEN English, I hope hehe, just kiddin. Let us know how you get on tomorrow, Endurance Man!

Endurance Man

LundiMardi wrote:

what kind of money do you make? and these job offers, do they pay to fly you over there etc? accomodation?

Well they had a few flip files there from people around the world who have done the course and are now teaching. It seems to vary slightly, but flights and accommodation are usually payed for. One girl who started last year is getting accom + food + 300euro a week tax free :eek: . Some of the jobs where paying 500euro a week inc accom+food. You would get payed more if you have any sort of diploma/degree in any subjects.
Today was good, they ran through various types of lesson plans, grammar, and language - ie: how to bridge the communication barrier.

Tbh anyone who can talk decent english could get through this course, no rocket science degree needed . The demand for teachers is supposed to be increasing hugely over the next few years, one of the lecturers was contacted last week, someone in dublin was looking for 7 tefl teachers to start immediately. Summer camps also need teachers and the pay for that is supposed to be very high. There really are sooo many different routes you can take once you have the course under your belt.
Another option is to actually take a student into your home over the summer and conduct lessons with them at home, again the pay for this is high.

you're going to be teaching english?

What can i say , lazy behind the keyboard.

Just shout and i will try spew out more info.

slipss

yeah sounds good, but do you not have to be abkle to speak another language with english? If you were teaching english in Germany for example would you not
have to be able to speak german aswell?

Endurance Man

slipss wrote:

yeah sounds good, but do you not have to be abkle to speak another language with english? If you were teaching english in Germany for example would you not
have to be able to speak german aswell?

No, not at all. The students would have a VERY basic grasp of english, you are their to refine and improve their skills so that they could go into an english speaking country and interact smoothly.
A very large sector of the market is actually tutoring buisness men 1 on 1 (reckon the money is here ). They need to be fluent in the language and you are there to get them to that level.
I know it all sounds daunting, and i had (still do) many questions, but reading the feedback from the hundreds of people that have done the course and are out there teaching gives you a lot of confidence.

Endurance Man

Check out www.tefl.com, huge amount of info and feedback

http://www.tefl.com/home/testemp.html

Few of the employees feedback^^

DoctorEdgeWild

Thanks for the review of your class Enduro, sounds really good. I think I'll give it a shot - Not necessarily for the job oppurtunities but I do travel a bit and it could be a good qualification to have.

Endurance Man

DoctorEdgeWild wrote:

Thanks for the review of your class Enduro, sounds really good. I think I'll give it a shot - Not necessarily for the job oppurtunities but I do travel a bit and it could be a good qualification to have.

Ye, i think as a traveller its one of the handiest tools you could have, there are jobs EVERYWHERE.
Its two days over a weekend and you finish the course via distance learning. There is no set time frame, you can complete the projects whenever it suits you, they say it takes 2-4 weeks.

DoctorEdgeWild

Excellent stuff - I'll drop your name so - Endurance Man sent me!

Great idea doing an intensive course for those with work or otherwise committments.

Naos

Endurance Man wrote:

Tbh anyone who can talk decent english

Lol.

Course sounds pretty cool, definitly going to think seriously about it next year..

Endurance Man

Mear wrote:

Lol.

Course sounds pretty cool, definitly going to think seriously about it next year..

, leaving myself wide open for that i guess.

MonkeyTennis

Im teaching english as a foreign language and have no TEFL cert and neither do any of the teachers I know. If you have and idea where you want to teach ring up a language school and ask if they require one.
Not everyone is suited to it and you do actually have to know your only language pretty well, grammar etc, but I recommend it to anyone. The best lessons are 1-1s with businesspeople they pay well but expect a lot.

Endurance Man

MonkeyTennis wrote:

Im teaching english as a foreign language and have no TEFL cert and neither do any of the teachers I know. If you have and idea where you want to teach ring up a language school and ask if they require one.
Not everyone is suited to it and you do actually have to know your only language pretty well, grammar etc, but I recommend it to anyone. The best lessons are 1-1s with businesspeople they pay well but expect a lot.

Ye, we where told the buisness men are "Highly motivated" as our lecturers put it. The key reason for them learning english is job promotions, so they want it bad and wont mess about if they think you aren't up to the job.
I fancy the 1 on 1 thing myself, although perhaps with slightly younger students until i feel i have a grip on the whole thing.

Samhildanach

I've been working in Asia for the last 3 years as both a TEFL teacher and as a freelance designer/writer.

The benefits of doing a TEFL:

1. It makes the transition from home to a foreign culture easier - i.e. most good schools (TEFL Certification is very often required) offer free accommodation/air fare and of course a job.

If you don't do a TEFL you may not find a decent job (as I said good schools often require proof by way of certification), thus you may not get free air fare or accommodation. Also many schools that don't request proof of TEFL and/or Degree may f**k you over as these tend to be less respectable or money making businesses. If they don't care about their students enough to hire a qualified expat then they often have no standards. I've heard many horror stories about such schools.

2. You have confidence to teach because you have an idea about lesson planning, how to teach grammar/pronunciation, classroom layout etc.
It's not a quetion of just being able to speak english - you have to KNOW how to teach. (e.g. How do you correct a student etc?) Without doing a TEFL you run the risk of looking like a complete idiot in front of students (remember most foreign students have already studied english as a foreign language - they may ask you to explain a sentence structure or some seriously sticky grammar questions). If you're not hired from abroad (on the strength of your TEFL cert) and you head abroad without a cert the chances are very high that you will have to do a DEMO CLASS before a school agrees to hire you.

I highly recommend TEFL courses, they make life much easier if you want or plan to travel abroad. Even if you don't want to teach english it can be a door that leads to other opportunities. Your students may become good friends or business/job contacts.

Just a warning ... while there are many excellent schools out there ... there are also lots of terrible schools too, check out the website (link posted below) to avoid any possible nightmares. Some schools treat teachers terribly, withhold pay, make lots of promises to teachers but fail to deliver etc. I can honestly say I've seen and heard everything - accommodation evictions/passport being withheld (illegally of course)/teachers not receiving wages for months/teachers being beaten by managers etc ... but that's in Asia.
GIVE THIS SITE A VISIT TO READ THE WARNINGS http://www.englishschoolwatch.org/

I could write a book on this topic but to cut it short - teachers wages vary greatly from country to country - don't expect to be raking it in if you're thinking of teaching in Asia. If anyone wants more detailed info just PM me.

Hobbes

To add to that and the other flipside of the coin. In Korea Western English teachers are generally sought after over Koreans who can speak fluent English (oddly enough even if they born/lived in USA/Canada/etc). This is to do with the crazy culture of that each student must have thier own tutor for each class followed with the belief that only a westerner can teach English because they don't look Korean.

However a recent scandal of a website showing how to score with your students uncovered that large majority of english teachers coming to Korea were picking up fake credentials in thailand. Add to that teaching them English phrases like "fuking gook" as English for Korean. (posted link to documentry somewhere before)

You really need to do some research as well as that some schools (Hakwons) have very dodgy owners who have been known to screw teachers over. Although this could probably apply the world over.

Dave!

Just bumping this to hear some more opinions/experiences, as I'm still giving this some serious thought! I'll most likely do it within the next year

Lone Wolf

A friend of mine is is moving out to Thailand in a few weeks to take up a post in Bangkok, seems to be great way to see the world.
He also manged to get into a private school to do it so hes going to be making about three times the national average wage aswell.

toomevara

Just a couple of thoughts re:my experience of TEFL teaching. I've taught TEFL in Italy, Portugal and Spain and also done a little here in Ireland. The first thing you need to know about TEFL teaching, and this isnt to put you off doing it by any means, just a little warning...for every good school there are many more cowboy outfits set up by chancers out to make a quick killing on the huge worldwide demand for learning english.

Be EXTREMELY careful when hunting for jobs and dont be gulled or blinded by the romance of living in a foreign country. Living on a pittance in Rome or Paris while working insane soul destroying hours with little or no support (very common) gets really old, really, really quickly.

Many schools and DOS' (directors of studies) will offer you the world prior to arrival and paint extremely romanticised pictures of what they are about and the locale in which you are going to live. As a default setting take all these things with a huge pinch of salt. its also extremely important that you formalise in writing any offer of employment complete with conditions etc...Also check out online the schools where you are thinking of teaching. Dave's ESL cafe is an excellent site for posting queries about schools and you'll often be able to make contact with people who are either working in the school or the area and they'll give you the unvarnished truth. This is extremely important, make every effort to speak to staff in a school where you'll teach.

Also as a general rule of thumb be very wary of big chain schools which are mushrooming all over europe. Places like the laughably named Wall street Institutes are in my experience little more than grind schoools with little or no interest in the staff. Pay and conditions will often be poor in these places as they arent too choosy about who they'll stick in front of a bunch of bemused students first thing on a Monday morning. An exception to this rule in my experience is International House(IH, check out the website)they've got places all over europe and in general look after their staff really well, but they look for a degree and a good TEFL cert.

Also make sure that you get accomodation and support, dont be fobbed off. You should not, as a rule be asked to find your own accomodation, the schools should do this for you. Also make sure they'll help you with the mundane and boring stuff like setting up bank accounts, which can be very very difficult to do in a foreign country where maybe you dont have the language.

As regards qualifications I'd have big concerns about a course which proposes to prepare you for teaching English in a week. I did a month long RELSA(these are the places you want to go to in Ireland,check out the web site, they're recognised globally) course in Galway and I'd have to say the course was excellent but tough. It stood me in good stead and you get teaching practice etc..which quickly lets you know if you're cut out for the job. An awful lot of people are APPALLING teachers, I cannot tell you how often I've seen these poor wretches bumbling and mumbling there way through hour, hour and a half long classes.

They come completely unprepared with no ability and its excruciating for them and their students. Last year in portugal we had one such girl who had to be fired after three weeks, I sat through one of her classes in an attempt to help her out and I can easily say I've never been so sphincter tightengly embarassed in all my life. She was, like many others I've seen, fixated on having a great time abroad, but all she experienced was misery and stress, by the time they let her go the poor girl was a mental wreck.

A Good TEFl (CELTA is the industry standard)course will let you know, really quickly, if you're wasting your, and everybody else's, time. Also good TEFL schools will insist on a recognised qualification, they value their teachers and their reputation as as such will look after you well. Be very wary of schools who don't give a damn re:qualifications, it should tell you a lot about the sort of place you'll be working in!

TEFL is a great way to see the world, but do exercise caution, get yourself a proper qualification, do your research well and be very very careful about where you work and you should be fine. Also ask yourself honestly if you can teach, and teach well. It ISNT a cushy number, I cant stress this enough. It is some of the most emotionally and physically draining work you can do. Go unprepared and half-cocked at your own peril!!

supersheeps

Totally agree with Toomevara, it's a good job, but it's not the ticket to paradise that some people seem to think it is. I taught EFL for a number of years, and it's bloody tough. I've had classes of students who are just there to keep the parents happy, or keep up the visa requirements, and they would sleep the whole way through, which is hard going when you've prepared a great class on the gerund or something. The other side of the coin are the hyper-interested students who don't realise that you've got a hangover, or have lots of other students to teach, or are having a crappy day and just don't want to discuss idioms on your lunch break. Don't go near business classes unless you have some business experience yourself-I had to pass a lovely Spanish guy onto another teacher once, he was an actuary or something, wanted to go through graphs and maths in English, I'm dyscalculic, numbers are a nightmare for me, I couldn't do any of the maths and he got quite annoyed. There are also cowboys out there, I worked for one school in Dublin who took 5 of us on, then fired us after four weeks, coincidently after they'd had some inspections, gave us no reasons and thought not to pay us. I know a girl who worked in a school in Barcelona, after one month, fired her and everyone who'd started with her, and told her to sue them if she wanted wages; they did this every month, advertised in English language press in Barca and got free teachers for a month every month. You need to do your research on the school before you start a new job. YOu need to be prepared and have a bit of a library, some schools have nothing, no resources, nada. Any course that offers classroom experience is worth the extra time and money, I've seen people freeze in front of an EFL class, and these generally were qualified primary/secondary teachers. Also, to teach in rpoper schools in Ireland you need at least a primary degree, preferably also a cert in TEFL of over 100hours.
All that said, it's a great job, you do get to travel and meet great people, both students and other teachers. There are fantastic schools out there where the directors genuinely love their jobs. As I said, I did it for a few years, and taught in secondary schools afterwards, quit that career but would go back to TEFL in a second.
Jsut don't see it as a free holiday, you'll be disappointed!!!

Zillah

Huh.

When I first thought of TEFL I thought "meh", but after all this its really sounding quite appealing, and I can really visualise how to teach English fluency to people who already have a basic grounding.

This sounds cool...

the Shades

For anyone thinking of teaching TEFL in Ireland you should also know that ACELS the government body for Language teaching here requires that you have a certificate from a course that includes teaching practice and training for at least 120 hours. Without that no decent school in Ireland will offer you a job.

adonis

i was teaching english in spain last year. Its a good job but after a couple of years most of the teachers seemed to be very tired of the whole thing.
I would definitely recommend doing a RELSA or CELTA certificate before you teach as it can be a nightmare if you aren't properly qualified.
All said, it is a great way to see the world and be guaranteed a fair enough salary with about 20-25 hours of work a week!

toomevara

Forgot to mention yesterday, anyone thinking of doing TEFL should get their hands on a copy of Teaching TEFL Abroad by Susan Griffith. It's a brilliant resource and its updated every year.

Would second Adonis' view re: the 25 hours a week, but again be careful here as many schools will expect you to do 30 plus, and then you've got to factor in correcting homework and the inevitable exams and exam correction. Euro countries are massively fixated on regular (and often pointless) exams. Portugal and Italy are a nightmare in this respect. And while 25 classroom hours might sound relatively little, factor in preparation times,(yes contrary to what alot of people think you cant just wander into a class and ad lib for 90 minutes) and it can actually be exhausting. And you'll have classes of obstreporous teens, bored adults, young kids....it all adds up and it can be very,very stressful...and unlike a professional secondary school teacher you've got no resources, no back up and at best a month's training...nice!

Also be aware that in the main, it is not an 9-5 job. You have to teach around your pupils and not vice-versa, as many are students and working stiffs. This can be a real pain in the ass. Last year for example I often had a class of kids at eleven in the morning, then kicking my heels 'till four in the afternoon. Break of an hour and then straight through 'till ten in the evening. This is not at all uncommon and what it means is that your day is very fragmented and its very difficult to make plans...oh and then there are the dreaded Saturday classes...so if you get Saturday morning classes and an early Monday morning start your weekends are effectively banjaxed...

Deer

I've often thought about doing this for a year in China but I have a six year old daughter. Would it be completely impractical to think about bringing her and setting her up in a school out there?

cormie

This sounds interesting alright.

So what is the best route to take do those with experience reckon? Do you need a certain amount of leaving cert points/passes/English results to get into the training or does this not matter?

toomevara

Zillah wrote:

Huh.

When I first thought of TEFL I thought "meh", but after all this its really sounding quite appealing, and I can really visualise how to teach English fluency to people who already have a basic grounding.

This sounds cool...

Strangely enough teaching total beginners, with no English at all, is actually relatively easy as its all so basic. It can be incredibly tedious though, and with adults, very demanding on a diplomatic level because they dont want to make fools of themselves or be seen to be thick in front of their peers. Can be quite delicate....

The most difficult classes are paradoxically the advanced learners. These guys are practically fluent and because they've learned the language from the ground up are often more knowledgeable re: the grammar and structures than you are. So you get these really arcane grammar questions which frankly you can't answer. Like one of my all time favourites, whats the difference between...I 'might' go to the cinema and I 'may' go to the cinema...you could be there all day....

cormie

toomevara wrote:

Like one of my all time favourites, whats the difference between...I 'might' go to the cinema and I 'may' go to the cinema...you could be there all day....

You gonna tell us?

toomevara

Deer wrote:

I've often thought about doing this for a year in China but I have a six year old daughter. Would it be completely impractical to think about bringing her and setting her up in a school out there?

Check out the British Council website, www.britishcouncil.org, they offer positions with relocation funds for teachers with families and help with resettlement, but they generally accept only well qualified applicants. In respect of China generally be very, very careful. It is cowboy central at the moment, and with your daughter in tow, you'll need to be absolutely certain of the bone fides of any school you'll work for.

Don't know what your qualifications are, but often ex-pat schools in Hong Kong advertise for secondary school teachers, (watch The Guardian Newspaper, Education section every Tuesday, a good resource for TEFL jobs)pay and conditions are good from what I hear, and as you're teaching in a school which effectively teaches the english curriculum, I'd imagine your daughter could enroll....

toomevara

cormie wrote:

You gonna tell us?

Ummmm yes *desperately leafing through murphy's advanced english usage and finding that relevant section destroyed by dog*, will have to get back to you...

adonis

toomevara wrote:

...I 'might' go to the cinema and I 'may' go to the cinema...you could be there all day....

I think that may in this case is sometihng that is only logically necessary...
i.e there are dark clouds over there, it may rain.

toomevara

adonis wrote:

I think that may in this case is sometihng that is only logically necessary...
i.e there are dark clouds over there, it may rain.

arghhhhh........noooooo...not going there!! Willl defer to your superior knowledge Adonis!

Hobbes

might and may mean the same thing, Might however means less chance of it happening. In some cases might can mean no chance of it happening. (eg. Pigs might fly).

the Shades

cormie wrote:

This sounds interesting alright.

So what is the best route to take do those with experience reckon? Do you need a certain amount of leaving cert points/passes/English results to get into the training or does this not matter?

Practically all RELSA and CELTA (or equivalent) courses require you to have a university degree. TEFL is a post-graduate diploma so most schools will ask for both a copy of your certificate and your degree before you start work. Have a look around at different schools and the courses their offering. Be sure the certificate/diploma you get at the end will be recognised internationally AND be sure that the course is at least 120 hours long. You should have treaching practice every afternoon in most courses, but when you add up that time it relates to less than two days teaching time in a school. So while you're better prepared than the overnight courses for teaching the first few weeks (to year) in your first job is where you pick up the most experience and continue to learn more and more about teaching.

adonis

so hobbes,
why can i say "you may enter" ?

toomevara

adonis wrote:

so hobbes,
why can i say "you may enter" ?

See!!!!see!!! This is exactly what happens in a class of smart, switched on, advanced level students..they all start feckin' out smart arse exceptions to every rule and demanding an exact grammatical formula to cover EVERY eventuality...why, oh why did I go there....