Which TEFL course?

Marie212

I've just graduated from college and I'm thinking about doing a TEFL course. The thing is I don't know which one to chose. Has anyone ever done the online one with TEFL Courses Ireland?
Would a combined 140 hour TEFL course with 2 days practical training be worth the €429? I don't want to do one of these courses and then find out I can't get a job...
I know there is the option of doing the CELTA course too but I would have to travel over an hour everyday to do it plus the actual cost of doing the course. I've been doing some research into it and everyone is saying it's really intense.
I'm planning on doing this short term initially as I'm thinking of doing a postgrad in education next year so thought the TEFL would be pretty useful and I've always wanted to travel. Thanks guys, any advice would be great!

Golda Meir

Do not waste your time with an online TEFL course. They aren't worth the paper they're printed on. Potential employers will laugh at you.

CELTA on the other hand is internationally recognised and respected. Search the job sites - most schools require you to have one. Yes, the course is hard work but at least you're getting proper teacher training in front of a class, unlike with the online TEFL scams.

On a side note, I notice you are complaining that you will have to travel an hour every day to attend your CELTA class. You do realise that you will likely have to move abroad anyway to get a job once you graduate from CELTA, right? If you are a home bird who is afraid to move out of mammy's house, perhaps teaching English is not the career for you.

Golda Meir

I see a shill has signed up with a sock puppet account to promote the TEFL cert scam and then swiftly closed the account. I believe there are strict rules about exploiting this site for free advertising and business promotion. Do you get any hands-on teaching experience with TEFL certs? NO!

Seriously, browse the ESL job sites. The vast majority of employers won't give you the time of day unless you have a CELTA. You've been warned but if you want to waste 500euro on an online TEFL course then go ahead.

Marie212

Golda Meir wrote: »

Do not waste your time with an online TEFL course. They aren't worth the paper they're printed on. Potential employers will laugh at you.

CELTA on the other hand is internationally recognised and respected. Search the job sites - most schools require you to have one. Yes, the course is hard work but at least you're getting proper teacher training in front of a class, unlike with the online TEFL scams.

On a side note, I notice you are complaining that you will have to travel an hour every day to attend your CELTA class. You do realise that you will likely have to move abroad anyway to get a job once you graduate from CELTA, right? If you are a home bird who is afraid to move out of mammy's house, perhaps teaching English is not the career for you.

From posters on other forums you can get jobs with the online TEFL courses although maybe not as easily in Europe compared to Asia because of the high competition there employers are looking more for the CELTA qualification. I don't think the online TEFL courses are a scam as long as you go with a reputable company and do some research before signing up. I've seen many jobs advertised looking for people with a TEFL qualification without mentioning CELTA. I do understand the CELTA course is what's needed if I want to make a long term career out of this.

I'm not thick you know, of course I realise that I'd have to move abroad to get a job. That's the whole reason I want to do a TEFL course! Just because I have stated that the college is over an hour drive for me everyday does not imply that I'm a home bird and frankly you nothing about me to suggest that I'm "afraid to move out of mammy's house." I'm merely stating that the location of the college is rather inconvenient for me and financially I wouldn't be able to afford to move to that area for just 4 weeks on top of the price of the course.

Have you done the CELTA course yourself then?

Golda Meir

Yes, I completed my CELTA 3 years ago and I now make quite a comfortable living teaching abroad. All my fellow teachers have CELTA.

Imagine standing in front of a class on the first day of your new job. You have zero teaching experience because you did an online TEFL course. You don't know how to grade your language, how to give clear instructions to a heterogeneous group, how to organise your boardwork, how to teach in general. Even if you have a perfect knowledge of English grammar, you will be a crap teacher if you don't know how to communicate this knowledge to a group of students.

I don't know why you're getting so defensive. I'm trying to help you. If you have your heart set on an online TEFL course, why did you even make this thread? You won't listen to advice.

cluefull

Marie212 wrote: »

I've just graduated from college and I'm thinking about doing a TEFL course. The thing is I don't know which one to chose. Has anyone ever done the online one with TEFL Courses Ireland?
Would a combined 140 hour TEFL course with 2 days practical training be worth the €429? I don't want to do one of these courses and then find out I can't get a job...
I know there is the option of doing the CELTA course too but I would have to travel over an hour everyday to do it plus the actual cost of doing the course. I've been doing some research into it and everyone is saying it's really intense.
I'm planning on doing this short term initially as I'm thinking of doing a postgrad in education next year so thought the TEFL would be pretty useful and I've always wanted to travel. Thanks guys, any advice would be great!

Hey Marie,
I'm also in post degree mode and looking to do a TEFL. However, I am looking to do a TEFL that is alot cheaper than 429, as I hear once you have one it'll do when travelling. Did you have any luck finding any deals?

Also, I hear you can get experience in charity organisations here i Ireland such as Doras and Paul Partnership, in either shadowing volunteers teaching migrants, or actually teaching one to one, to gain direct knowledge of what to expect when you travel.

Marie212

cluefull wrote: »

Hey Marie,
I'm also in post degree mode and looking to do a TEFL. However, I am looking to do a TEFL that is alot cheaper than 429, as I hear once you have one it'll do when travelling. Did you have any luck finding any deals?

Also, I hear you can get experience in charity organisations here i Ireland such as Doras and Paul Partnership, in either shadowing volunteers teaching migrants, or actually teaching one to one, to gain direct knowledge of what to expect when you travel.

Hey sorry for the late reply! No I haven't found any deals around at all. I'm leaning towards doing the CELTA sometime soon that's if I don't find a job in the meantime. From what everyone says it definitely is worth the extra money and a lot of the online courses are not accredited so I would imagine it's more difficult to secure a job.

I did get a call from the online tefl company i to i about their internships to China, Vietnam and Thailand. http://www.i-to-i.com/teaching-internships/china/ You have to pay for it though but get a monthly spending allowance. I was interested in doing it but it seems pretty expensive taking into account flights, visas, travel insurance...

At the minute my head is all over the place to be honest! I'm planning on setting off to Australia next year so would like to have TEFL behind me as I travel. The voluntary work seems pretty a good idea too I must look into it

forfuxsake

Marie212 wrote: »

Hey sorry for the late reply! No I haven't found any deals around at all. I'm leaning towards doing the CELTA sometime soon that's if I don't find a job in the meantime. From what everyone says it definitely is worth the extra money and a lot of the online courses are not accredited so I would imagine it's more difficult to secure a job.

I did get a call from the online tefl company i to i about their internships to China, Vietnam and Thailand. http://www.i-to-i.com/teaching-internships/china/ You have to pay for it though but get a monthly spending allowance. I was interested in doing it but it seems pretty expensive taking into account flights, visas, travel insurance...

At the minute my head is all over the place to be honest! I'm planning on setting off to Australia next year so would like to have TEFL behind me as I travel. The voluntary work seems pretty a good idea too I must look into it

Stay away from i-to-i, why would you pay to get a job? If you want to teach English do a CELT(about €1000) or the cheapest weekend/online course you can. The former is better if you want to work in the vast majority of countries, the latter ok if you have a degree and want to work in Thailand or China. Whatever you decide, don't pay to get a job.

iluvcheese92

Golda Meir wrote: »

Do not waste your time with an online TEFL course. They aren't worth the paper they're printed on. Potential employers will laugh at you.

CELTA on the other hand is internationally recognised and respected. Search the job sites - most schools require you to have one. Yes, the course is hard work but at least you're getting proper teacher training in front of a class, unlike with the online TEFL scams.

On a side note, I notice you are complaining that you will have to travel an hour every day to attend your CELTA class. You do realise that you will likely have to move abroad anyway to get a job once you graduate from CELTA, right? If you are a home bird who is afraid to move out of mammy's house, perhaps teaching English is not the career for you.

why so condescending?

TEFLReviews

A good starting place for checking out CELTA/TESOL/TEFL course student feedback is:
www.tefl-reviews.com

NeonCookies

To be honest, it depends what you want out of it i.e. a full career in the ESL industry, or a gap year or two. I just wanted to get out of Ireland for a year and try something new. I did the 140 hour TEFL course from i to i and I'm teaching abroad now. Now, I'm teaching one to one so I don't have to teach classes which would obviously be more difficult (not that one to one is without it's challenges!) but this shows that there are options. And I've seen quite a lot of jobs advertised here too that don't require a CELTA. My boyfriend didn't even do a TEFL course, and he got a job in the same company as me which also provides training.

Obviously, the CELTA is a far superior qualification. All I'm saying is it's not necessary. It also depends on the effort you put into the TEFL course, the research you do yourself on teaching, and what country you want to go to.

hurlo83

Hi Guys,

I am also thinking about doing the Celta course. I have checked with International House and they do a part time course during the year.

Does anyone know any other colleges that do part time Celta?

Thanks:)

forfuxsake

you can do a part time CELT in Bridge Mills is Galway. Although not quite as recognised as Celta it should suffice for 99% of jobs, including those in Ireland.

hurlo83

forfuxsake wrote: »

you can do a part time CELT in Bridge Mills is Galway. Although not quite as recognised as Celta it should suffice for 99% of jobs, including those in Ireland.

Thanks,
I'm in Dublin so would like one nearby. Also, think I'm going for Celta as I'm hoping to use it for teaching in China.

fcrossen

forfuxsake wrote: »

you can do a part time CELT in Bridge Mills is Galway. Although not quite as recognised as Celta it should suffice for 99% of jobs, including those in Ireland.

The CELT course actually has official equivalency with CELTA and TESOL and is generally several 100 euro cheaper that the CELTA.

A mom 27

About the CELT, which I now know is recognised equally with the CELTA, has anyone experience of doing the CELT course either in Ennis, Limerick or Galway?

fcrossen

You'll get a list of providers from here:

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

To be honest there is so much moderation from QQI that there is little difference between the courses, so difference in the quality of delivery should be negligible. Pick the provider that is handiest for you.

I hope this helps.

(I work for a CELT provider - Dublin School of English)

DenMan

Apologies for dragging up an old thread. I'm curious OP as to how you have been getting on. Did you do the CELTA? I am doing mine in 2016 and am moving abroad to teach then. I will be pursuing a career in English language teaching.