Changing my career...?

MonicaBing

Having been unemployed since Nov '08 and am slowly going nuts, ive decided that a complete career change is in order. So, i was thinking of teaching english to foreign students, workers etc. My questions to you guys would be, basically how to go about it, do i need specific qualifications to teach a language in my own home?

Should i do it on one to one basis or perhaps in a group setting?
Is my home the ideal place to do it or should i go to students home.
Where would i go about getting work tools to do the actual teaching?

Its literally a spur of the moment decision and i haven't thought it completely through which is why i'm posting looking for advice basically.

I didn't get to college but my qualifications are, Leaving cert, Distinctions in level 5 Fetac, Media Studies and Communications.

In fact it was my friend who came upon idea, as she said i'm good at explaining things, have a huge love of reading, media etc..

So any positive feedback would be hugely appreciated..:)


Oh and my previous job was managing a book shop and i've had some short stories published.

beertons

The course is called TEFL, Teaching English as a Foreign Language. They hold courses for them up in Dublin City, not sure where you are based. Twenty somethings do them before they go travelling, so when they are in some country in lets say somewhere in Asia, they have thew qualification to teach english to students who have the bae minimum english words.

Not so sure it's going to be a money spinner here now, all the migrants will be staying away till there's a more positive vibe out there with jobs a plenty and all that. Good luck though!

MonicaBing

beertons wrote: »

The course is called TEFL, Teaching English as a Foreign Language. They hold courses for them up in Dublin City, not sure where you are based. Twenty somethings do them before they go travelling, so when they are in some country in lets say somewhere in Asia, they have thew qualification to teach english to students who have the bae minimum english words.

Not so sure it's going to be a money spinner here now, all the migrants will be staying away till there's a more positive vibe out there with jobs a plenty and all that. Good luck though!

Ah thanks so much for that, your post is after resulting in me spending 2 and half hours on the net, and ive signed up for an online course with the appropriate qualification at the end, i owe you a pint!!:D

beertons

No pint needed. Although you could donate a pint of blood if you have the time! They only have a life span of three weeks, and need loads more donors.

ceacht

Online Tefl certification is not worth the paper it's written on and won't get you a job with a school in Ireland. If you intend to teach in Ireland you need an ACELS accredited qualification which is 100 hours plus in duration. You need a degree to do these courses though.

uiscebeatha

i agree with ceacht.

I did a weekend tefl course with i to i and subsequently did an ACELS course a while later.

The weekend or online courses aren't recognised, they are okay if perhaps you want to go to asia, as you often don't need tefl qualifications then, but in some countries they do want you to have a degree in something anyway.

The ACELS one is expensive (over €1000) and can be tough going but it's the only one which will allow you to teach in Ireland. You need to have a degree before you can do the course.

MonicaBing

ceacht wrote: »

Online Tefl certification is not worth the paper it's written on and won't get you a job with a school in Ireland. If you intend to teach in Ireland you need an ACELS accredited qualification which is 100 hours plus in duration. You need a degree to do these courses though.

Thanks guys for the feedback, ive just rung the girl @ i to i and she's adamant that the courses are internationally recognised, and that most countries, espec oz, as im interested in going there, will employ me without college qualifications.

What to fecking do now, as im not happy about shelling out the €300+ if its not going to help me get my leg up the ladder! Im so confused now as i was all fired up about this....AAAArggghgh!!

ceacht

Any company will tell you that but in fairness if they were internationally recognised that should include Ireland go look at any job ad for an Irish language school and you will see they are worthless. Try get your money back I wouldn't be to sure about the qualification being worth much in Oz I just googled it and got this

"To teach in Australia you must have a TEFL Trinity cert or CELTA which you can do in a 4 week course before you go out there" http://www.corkid.co.uk/australiasample.html

]Just an example of one that came up straight away. Look for names of specific schools that employ with that qualification so! I don't know how you will get around it without a degree first for other qualification I'm afraid.[/FONT]

uiscebeatha

i hate sounding so negative, and i don't want to burst your bubble, but i to i are going to say that.

They do have schools which they work with and can set you up with but other then that... it won't be recognised. Although like I said some countries don't need a qualification, just the fact that your a native speaker will do.

I don't know anything about Australia though, I've never taught there.

I did the course myself, but it was out of ignorance. If you google TEFL courses about half the results are itoi, so I was naive enough to go for it. It was only when I was doing the course that i found out about it not recognised.

I actually just dug up the coursebook they gave us and on page 71 ot says "There are opportunities to tutor privately in Ireland with an i to i certificate; however, the certificate is not recognised by the Department of Education and cannot be used to teach publically". so basically you can put up an ad and take private students (which you could do without ever doing any course) but you cannot work in a school or language school.


You could ring an english language school and ask if they'll accept it and I would nearly guarantee you that they'd say no.

I did waste money with these guys and had to do another course afterwards (the ACELS one) in order to qualify to teach in Ireland and I wouldn't like for anyone to do the same:mad:.

MonicaBing

uiscebeatha wrote: »

i hate sounding so negative, and i don't want to burst your bubble, but i to i are going to say that.

They do have schools which they work with and can set you up with but other then that... it won't be recognised. Although like I said some countries don't need a qualification, just the fact that your a native speaker will do.

I don't know anything about Australia though, I've never taught there.

I did the course myself, but it was out of ignorance. If you google TEFL courses about half the results are itoi, so I was naive enough to go for it. It was only when I was doing the course that i found out about it not recognised.

I actually just dug up the coursebook they gave us and on page 71 ot says "There are opportunities to tutor privately in Ireland with an i to i certificate; however, the certificate is not recognised by the Department of Education and cannot be used to teach publically". so basically you can put up an ad and take private students (which you could do without ever doing any course) but you cannot work in a school or language school.


You could ring an english language school and ask if they'll accept it and I would nearly guarantee you that they'd say no.

I did waste money with these guys and had to do another course afterwards (the ACELS one) in order to qualify to teach in Ireland and I wouldn't like for anyone to do the same:mad:.

Hey guys, thanks a million for all the positive feedback, the money was refunded to my card yesterday after i rung up and had a few words, have to say i was not impressed with the not so professional attitude of person i spoke to, but no harm done, ive got my money back. Plus i am a small bit wiser! I'll have to save up for the Celt/Celta course as its a little more expensive, Thanks again!