TEFL course thats NOT i-to-i

LittleMissLogic

Greetings folks,

After trolling the pages of boards, I hope that this question has not been duplicated..

I am living in Cork and I need to do a TEFL course. I've not heard great things about i-to-i but I'm having massive difficulty in finding a course that is not hosted by them. But I would prefer to avoid them if at all possible.

I'm also a little caught for time as I am moving to Japan in t-2 months. I have no work lined up there an absolutely no idea what I'm going to do once I get there, but figure it can't hurt to have a TEFL course under my belt.

My boyfriend has moved there with the JET program. I have no major desire to teach in a school and would hope to maybe land a job tutoring. So perhaps i-to-i would suffice?

Anyone with any experience in this matter? All advice welcome.

Thanking you in advance.

peanuthead

i-to-i would most likely suffice I'm sure, but as you say, they are not great. I don't say this from experience but I would imagine that there is only so much a two-day course can teach you.

That said, if you are already a teacher, or someone who can teach, with a good grasp of English then it may be fine.


To be honest, i-to-i could very well be the best of a bad bunch when it comes to weekend tefl courses - none of them are bound to be very good at all.

What I can do is recommend some books worth looking at if you are interested in teaching.

One very good book is "A Basic English Grammar"
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Basic-English-Grammar/dp/0194329402
very good basic book on grammar - you may know it, but how would you explain it? This book will help you there

"A framework for task-based learning"
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Framework-Task-based-Learning-Handbooks-Language/dp/0582259738/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263148218&sr=1-2
This is more of a theory book, but is great nevertheless.

Another thing I suggest that you simply must do is become a member of www.eslprintables.com This is a fantastic site, set up by a Spaniard and it contains hundreds of already made worksheets on all things ESL.

You have to contribute to be able to download, but you can PM me for more details about this if you're interested and I can help you get started.

Good luck!!

peanuthead

poncho000

can someone tell me what i to i means

poncho000

To be honest im in a similar position to the OP. Ill be going to china, but not for an other year and a half, and Im probably going to teach english there, because there is such a demand for native english speakers to teach the language. As far as I know just being white is going to be enough to get me a job, but I would like to have some sort of course under my belt so I actually know how to teach english.(but at an affordable price).

So im looking to get that out of the way now rather than later but having looked around these forums i havnt heard good things about this i to i. So what is exactly the best option out there. Im not necessarily looking for an online quick fix, as I have the time and would prefer a classroom situation

clartharlear

LittleMissLogic wrote: »

Greetings folks,

After trolling the pages of boards, I hope that this question has not been duplicated..

I am living in Cork and I need to do a TEFL course. I've not heard great things about i-to-i but I'm having massive difficulty in finding a course that is not hosted by them. But I would prefer to avoid them if at all possible.

I'm also a little caught for time as I am moving to Japan in t-2 months. I have no work lined up there an absolutely no idea what I'm going to do once I get there, but figure it can't hurt to have a TEFL course under my belt.

My boyfriend has moved there with the JET program. I have no major desire to teach in a school and would hope to maybe land a job tutoring. So perhaps i-to-i would suffice?

Anyone with any experience in this matter? All advice welcome.

Thanking you in advance.

Firstly, I must say how jealous I am of you! I love Japan and I worked there for 15 months teaching English.
The Japanese will only care that you have a university degree, not about any certification, but, as you said, it can't hurt, and a having a course under your belt might make the working a little easier, even if it doesn't benefit you in actually finding that work.
I'd recommend looking up 'eikaiwa'. How would you feel about that sort of work? It's factory line teaching and definitely doesn't require formal training.

Dionysus

LittleMissLogic wrote: »

Greetings folks,

After trolling the pages of boards, I hope that this question has not been duplicated..

I am living in Cork and I need to do a TEFL course. I've not heard great things about i-to-i but I'm having massive difficulty in finding a course that is not hosted by them. But I would prefer to avoid them if at all possible.

I'm also a little caught for time as I am moving to Japan in t-2 months. I have no work lined up there an absolutely no idea what I'm going to do once I get there, but figure it can't hurt to have a TEFL course under my belt.

My boyfriend has moved there with the JET program. I have no major desire to teach in a school and would hope to maybe land a job tutoring. So perhaps i-to-i would suffice?

Anyone with any experience in this matter? All advice welcome.

Thanking you in advance.

Here's a list of all ACELS-approved CELT courses in Ireland:

http://www.acels.ie/search.htm




I did the CELT this time last year. It took a month but it's the official Department of Education approved tefl course and as such will be of more benefit to you should you decide you want to seek a job in a state school.

El Siglo

CELTA, because if you ain't got CELTA you ain't got shit! Hard course to do, 120+ hrs, costs a lot to do in Ireland but it's resonably cheap to do abroad, and it's the most recognised tefl qualification in the business.

Tristram

If you want to teach at university in Japan you will need a CELTA or better. As far as I know dispatch agencies like Interac won't really care what kind of TEFL qualification you have. If you're just looking for some private eikaiwa classes being a native speaker will more than likely be enough.

What kind of visa are you travelling on? That's gonna play a big part in what kind of work you'll pick up if any. Where you heading btw? Did your boyfriend come over last July? Might know him if he did.

Best of luck!

Dionysus

El Siglo wrote: »

CELTA, because if you ain't got CELTA you ain't got shit!

Uninformed nonsense.

LittleMissLogic

Tristram wrote: »

If you want to teach at university in Japan you will need a CELTA or better. As far as I know dispatch agencies like Interac won't really care what kind of TEFL qualification you have. If you're just looking for some private eikaiwa classes being a native speaker will more than likely be enough.

What kind of visa are you travelling on? That's gonna play a big part in what kind of work you'll pick up if any. Where you heading btw? Did your boyfriend come over last July? Might know him if he did.

Best of luck!

He's in Kobe. You know 'im?

finnagen

poncho000 wrote: »

To be honest im in a similar position to the OP. Ill be going to china, but not for an other year and a half, and Im probably going to teach english there, because there is such a demand for native english speakers to teach the language. As far as I know just being white is going to be enough to get me a job, but I would like to have some sort of course under my belt so I actually know how to teach english.(but at an affordable price).

So im looking to get that out of the way now rather than later but having looked around these forums i havnt heard good things about this i to i. So what is exactly the best option out there. Im not necessarily looking for an online quick fix, as I have the time and would prefer a classroom situation

Hi Can you tell me what you did about this problem ,i keep gettin online tefl courses but Don't have enough info to make decide.

Tristram

LittleMissLogic wrote: »

He's in Kobe. You know 'im?

If he be a Gary or a Shaun I imagine we were drinking together in Tokyo a few months back

LittleMissLogic

Tristram wrote: »

If he be a Gary or a Shaun I imagine we were drinking together in Tokyo a few months back

That's......yes. It's Gary. I was joking but... um..

LittleMissLogic

Anyway folks. Thanks for all of your help. Doin' a course now and it's fingers crossed for me.

Rainbow_brite

LittleMissLogic wrote: »

Anyway folks. Thanks for all of your help. Doin' a course now and it's fingers crossed for me.

Just out of curiosity, may I ask which course you settled on LittleMissLogic? Just finished reading this thread and considering a course myself.. Hope its going well