i-to-i TEFL courses

brinepacer

I'm headed to Asia travelling for eight months, and then hopefully settling in either China or Japan for a year. I would like to have TEFL to fall back on, but have no degree, so have been looking at the i-to-i courses, specifically the 80 hour combined course - that's a 20 hour weekend course, 40 hours online training, and 20 hours online grammar. Has anyone taken this course, or similar? Did you feel you benefited from it? I know it's possible to get jobs in china without any training whatsoever, but would like some sort of idea of what I'm getting myself in for. I will be leaving October 19th so have approx two months to complete the course. For €600, would it be worth it? Or, failing that, would one of the reduced courses, such as 20 hour weekend and 20 hour grammar, cover enough for me to make a decent fist at it?

treefingers

can't speak for that 80hr course, but i did the 40 hour online one with i-to-i. i am moving to china in exactly one week, and i have to tell you that i have absolutely no idea of how to teach and in no way do i know what i'm doing!

the one thing the course was useful for was making it 10x easier to get a decent job. from what i can gather from friends though, its not actually very difficult to get by teaching even with no experience.

so what i would recommend is either to do a much shorter (and cheaper) online one in order to make finding a job easy and to give you grasp of the basics.

on the other hand if you are very serious about the actual teaching aspect of your trip, then i'd sayyou would be better off doing an intensive course at a school in person rather than an online one...

is_that_so

If you plan to do a course look for CELTA courses where you are going. Try "CELTA asia" in a search.

You can do one in four weeks. I know nothing about i-to-i but the minimum you should expect from a course is 120 hours which must include teaching practice. "Online training" is no substitute for actually standing up in front of a class. It may be more expensive but you know what you are getting in terms of quality. CELTA is also much more marketable internationally and a hell of lot better than online courses. IMO online TEFL courses are a complete waste of money.

As for grammar well you can buy a book for €20, probably for a lot less where you are going. You could also get a theory book or two. If you are near Dublin there are two shops, Westland Row and South Frederick Street. Just pop in and ask them for a grammar book and a theory book.

If you do want to do a course here then an ACELS course might suit. Search for "ACELS teacher training". Seem to be in and around the €900 mark.
Although I think you may get more benefit from a course on the ground wherever you are going.

rivers

hey guys,
i've just recently returned from a year and half in china teaching English (and studying chinese). Before i left i was worried about the teaching aspect too, so i enrolled in the Tefl Institute in Harrington Road for a 120 hour course. This included practice teaching real classes and all the frills of english teaching and is accredited by ACELS (like the above poster said). The course was pretty intensive and tiring especially after a full days work (Monday - friday 6 - 9.30 for 4 weeks i think), but i found it quite good. so after all this i headed to china and found that my course was of absolutely no use in teaching over there....
i got a job in a good university in a city called Dalian in northern china. I just taught oral english so knowledge of the in's and out's of grammar was largely useless. The only way to prepare yourself is to actually get a job and work it. my expectations and the reality were very different. I ended up using alot of material i took from the internet. you have to get a feel for what your students would be interested in; if they're not into the subject they'll switch off in no time.
If you're teaching kids, which mostly takes place in private language mills (more interested in money then teaching english - the schools that is) you'll be given a crappy book and told to stick to it. All the grammar there is laid out for you.
so anyway, having no degree might pose a problem in some schools and universities. So as a backup i would reccomend a TEFL course. I-to-I i've heard are not good courses btw...and six hundred euro is alot of money especially if half of it is just online. The one i did was 800euro. if you want a link pm me....
either way enjoy it. you'll have a ball and im sure the students will like you

p.s treefingers - where are you going in China?

brinepacer

Just thought i'd add, in case anyone comes searching for tefl stuff and happens upon this thread, i just completed the weekend course and i really wouldn't walk into a classroom off the back of it. There is valuable information and our instructer was really great, but there was so much info with little retention, it felt like we skimmed over ****loads of stuff. All in all i'd say it's a good primer to give you an idea of whether you want to do tefl or not, and obviously it's better than nothing, but i would definitely suggest more follow up study before going into a classroom.

I'll post back once i've finished the 20 hour grammer, 40 hour online, and 20 hour specialist stuff if anyone's interested.

is_that_so

OK gotta add a health warning on these weekend courses. Don't do them if you can avoid them. My own feelings as I have posted is that they are a complete waste of money and you should look at other alternatives.
The difficulty as I have already highlighted is that they tend to be very heavy on theory but of little or no practical use. But they offer a piece of paper which is better than nothing. What people need to remember about any initial TEFL courses is that they are just that , an introduction.

Even the CELTA or ACELS courses which are 120 hours with teaching practice have no other purpose other than to provide trainees with the confidence and ability to stand up in front of a class.

As for online grammar courses, well - €21 for English Grammar in Use by Raymond Murphy will teach you infinitely more.

brinepacer

On the contrary, i would reccomend the course to someone who wants a very basic grounding in TEFL, such as someone going to do a short voluntary stint who doesn't want to do a full celta or acels course. There was also a person on my course that was about to start teaching and was told to do a quick tefl primer course such as this to prepare herself for dealing with non-nationals, she found it pretty benificial. I would not however suggest the weekend course as the only thing to study before going off teaching.

is_that_so, i have very little time to get some bit of grounding in tefl as i will be working full time (11 hours a day, six days a week) until i leave travelling, so i feel this stopgap course is ideal for me. No disrespect meant, but phrases like "health warning", IMHO, should only be issued by someone who has actually taken the course, which it appears you haven't.

Trotter

is_that_so wrote:

..courses like this are no more than an excuse for an organisation to make money.
The difficulty as I have already highlighted is that they tend to be very heavy on theory but of little or no practical use.

Have you completed the course the OP was talking about? It does offer practical teaching experience, albeit a small amount, and I got a full summer of work out of it. They absolutely have a practical use.

Remember... I've said it before and I'll say it again. I dont want anyone posting incorrect information on this forum. People often come here to get information that helps them make important decisions.

Mod

is_that_so

brinepacer wrote:

On the contrary, i would reccomend the course to someone who wants a very basic grounding in TEFL, such as someone going to do a short voluntary stint who doesn't want to do a full celta or acels course. There was also a person on my course that was about to start teaching and was told to do a quick tefl primer course such as this to prepare herself for dealing with non-nationals, she found it pretty benificial. I would not however suggest the weekend course as the only thing to study before going off teaching.

is_that_so, i have very little time to get some bit of grounding in tefl as i will be working full time (11 hours a day, six days a week) until i leave travelling, so i feel this stopgap course is ideal for me. No disrespect meant, but phrases like "health warning", IMHO, should only be issued by someone who has actually taken the course, which it appears you haven't.

A course of this type is going to be of benefit to someone who already had some foundation in teaching and more importantly has already had some teaching experience.

However a course of that nature cannot adequately cover what a new teacher needs,the most important of which is actual teaching practice.

You get what you pay for as they say and it is better than nothing. As for the health warning, well as someone who has actually delivered training courses of that type I am pretty well-qualified to offer conclusions as to its merits.

is_that_so

Trotter wrote:

Have you completed the course the OP was talking about? It does offer practical teaching experience, albeit a small amount, and I got a full summer of work out of it. They absolutely have a practical use.

Remember... I've said it before and I'll say it again. I dont want anyone posting incorrect information on this forum. People often come here to get information that helps them make important decisions.

Mod

My problem with these courses is that they claim to offer a grounding which they cannot do in comparison with the much better options such as CELTA and ACELS. As you say yourself it is important to give people information to make informed choices.

brinepacer

Trotter wrote:

Have you completed the course the OP was talking about? It does offer practical teaching experience, albeit a small amount, and I got a full summer of work out of it. They absolutely have a practical use.

Remember... I've said it before and I'll say it again. I dont want anyone posting incorrect information on this forum. People often come here to get information that helps them make important decisions.

Mod

Hear hear.

Trotter

is_that_so wrote:

My problem with these courses is that they claim to offer a grounding which they cannot do in comparison with the much better options such as CELTA and ACELS. As you say yourself it is important to give people information to make informed choices.

Regardless of your opinions on a course's merits, you cannot come here and say they are no more than an excuse to make money. Plenty of people use these courses to go to countries where there are people without ANY course completed teaching English. In that case, people who do a weekend course have the very very basics and then go on to get their experience.

Saying that a specific company is providing courses that are no more than an excuse to make money is untrue and inaccurate info, and as I said before, will not be allowed on this forum.

is_that_so

Trotter wrote:

Regardless of your opinions on a course's merits, you cannot come here and say they are no more than an excuse to make money. Plenty of people use these courses to go to countries where there are people without ANY course completed teaching English. In that case, people who do a weekend course have the very very basics and then go on to get their experience.

Saying that a specific company is providing courses that are no more than an excuse to make money is untrue and inaccurate info, and as I said before, will not be allowed on this forum.

I withdraw that comment in relation to the money but not my comments on the merits on such courses. Guess there's nothing more to say here.

Trotter

is_that_so wrote:

I withdraw that comment in relation to the money but not my comments on the merits on such courses. Guess there's nothing more to say here.

Opinions on the merits of certain courses, when backed up by experience of those courses, are no problem! Your views are most welcome!

rivers

I'd tend to agree with IS_that_so about the above. surely he/she can comment on this type of course having taught similar? I didn't do one myself but met many people who have and their opinions were very similar to the above poster.
having heard these i'd also come to the conclusion that the i-to-i type courses are of little or no real benefit. Sure, the piece of paper might help but in alot of schools in asia, all they'll care about is whether you can speak passable english...And as for preparing you for teaching in front of 30 students, guess again. I think a text book with activities, vocab and grammar would be a much better use of your money...

Saying that a specific company is providing courses that are no more than an excuse to make money is untrue and inaccurate info, and as I said before, will not be allowed on this forum.

how can you know either way whether it's untrue and inaccurate?
it's an opinion and i thought that's what these forums were for...

Trotter

rivers wrote:

how can you know either way whether it's untrue and inaccurate?
it's an opinion and i thought that's what these forums were for...

Rivers I have the responsibility to attempt to make sure that nothing is said here that could cause boards.ie any trouble. Therefore I will do the moderating as I see fit.


And.. as I said before.. I did the weekend course, and because I had a teaching background anyway, it suited perfectly. So.. it helped me earn a lot of money over 3 or 4 summers. So.. My knowledge on the matter is 1st hand.

Tom Dunne

rivers wrote:

I didn't do one myself but met many people who have and their opinions were very similar to the above poster.
having heard these i'd also come to the conclusion that the i-to-i type courses are of little or no real benefit.

And there is the crux of the matter. You didn't actually do a course, but you heard something about a course.

Basing your opinion on second hand information does not lend any credibility to your argument. And as Trotter alluded to, we live in a very litigious society and neither us will allow spurious comments to be thrown around about a third party that would leave Boards.ie open to legal action.

It's a sad state of affairs, I agree, but that's the way it is. If you have issues with the way we moderate, take it to PM or to the Feedback forum.

is_that_so

Trotter wrote:

And.. as I said before.. I did the weekend course, and because I had a teaching background anyway, it suited perfectly. So.. it helped me earn a lot of money over 3 or 4 summers. So.. My knowledge on the matter is 1st hand.

I think this is the key here in talking about courses of this type. An experienced teacher can and will gain a lot from it because they already have a foundation to work from.

Translation

Hi all!

I've just been reading through this thread because I am interested in teaching abroad. I have spent a few days researching schools and courses that provide TEFL training.

I have no previous experience in teaching and have no degree.

I was seriously considering i-to-i but am I correct in saying that, from what I have gathered from the above, that I-to-I may be of some benefit but I would be better off looking into another way because of my lack of experience.

I'm quite confused as I am hearing so many mixed opinions.......

I am aware that there are certain countries that demand a degree for teaching. But I have heard that it can be based on the needs of specific countries also......supply and demand!

Ultimately I'm looking for advice on which course might be most beneficial for myself, without a degree or previous teaching experience.

Thanks.

gaeilgegrinds

NUIG run a fantastic course, had 100 hours T.P. when I did it a few years back. Was brilliant!

Translation

Is that in Galway?? Do you know of any other's that do the same content within Dublin??

gaeilgegrinds

Yes it's in Galway, as far as I know all the universities do them.

eoin1981

does anyone know if the ITCI course is useful. Its not acels recognised but it seems to be good and it has the 100 hours which a lot of jobs ask for.
Any ideas?

Thanks

Eoin