TEFL Teachers / TEFL Resources

Dun

Was just wondering if many other people have done a TEFL or TESOL course. Also if anybody has any good links to TESOL/TEFL resources, preferable free (preferably to the point of actually )

Here's a couple of really good ones:

One Stop English
and
Dave's ESL Café

Perhaps if there are many of us here it could be made a sticky

Praetorian

I'm working on a comprehensive resource list for the English Board. It should be up in the next week!

p.pete

Is that resource list up Praetorian? I'm seriously considering doing a TEFL course in the next few months.

An evening course is important to me - want to stay in work. I think there is a decent one in Dublin School of English but I dont know too much about it.

Also does anyone know anything about how much use a 100 hour course actually is - perhaps its too short?

Praetorian

http://www.tesol.org/index.html

http://iteslj.org/links/

I'm still working on a comprehensive list. Unfortunately, it's on my home pc.

Best of luck

josh40

I did a TEFL course nearly 20 years ago and to be honest it was one of those quickie ones, and was totally useless!

It depends what you want to use it for, as a qualification for getting a job, I can'y really see anyone taking it seroiusly , unless you do a really good one, like the RSA, which is very costly and lasts up to a year.

I did mine because I wanted to work in Greece but I'd never have got the job without a degree in English.

Having said that , things have probably improved considerably since I was starting out, but I really would check out, how useful in would be workwise, before I forked out all my money, if I were you.

p.pete

Originally posted by josh40
I did a TEFL course nearly 20 years ago and to be honest it was one of those quickie ones, and was totally useless!

It depends what you want to use it for, as a qualification for getting a job, I can'y really see anyone taking it seroiusly , unless you do a really good one, like the RSA, which is very costly and lasts up to a year.

I did mine because I wanted to work in Greece but I'd never have got the job without a degree in English.

Having said that , things have probably improved considerably since I was starting out, but I really would check out, how useful in would be workwise, before I forked out all my money, if I were you.

Fair points - I have an Engineering degree and a grad. dip. so that will hopefully put me up the pecking order.

I think there is a lot more countries looking for English teachers now but my impression is that it is easier to get a job somewhere like Korea or China. The longer courses you mentioned could be a necessity for somewhere like Greece.

Certainly most of Central Europe speaks excellent English so common sense tells me they don't really want someone with a 100 hour course under their belt.

bugler

Make sure the course you do has actual teaching experience. Not sure what the going rates are...I know NUIG's TEFL course which lasts the month of July (I think) costs approx €1000. And yeah, Korea seems to be one of the premier destinations these days, due to the reasonably good wages you can earn there. Japan too.

josh40

If you have a degree and the dip you probably have a better chance, many countries do insist the degree is in English though. A lot of that is to actually get work papers. In many countries you need to have the same qualifications to get a job teaching English, as the natives.

Japan, was on my mind at one time too, but eventhough the salaries are good, the cost of living is , by all accounts outrageous.

In my days, the favoured location was one of the Arab states. I worked in Lebanon for a while, and again they insisted on a degree in English and a teaching qualification, which really surprised me, as it was a real mickey mouse operation.


Something else you might consider is, joining a teachers organization and letting them find something for you.That's how I came to Greece first. They used to advertise in Sunday newspapers, or maybe check out the Times Ed supplement


I don't know about you, but I found the practical side of the Dip. a bit of a joke , so I wouldn't worry about finding a course that offers practical training. You make that up as you go along.


Best of luck, how come someone with a degree in Engineering wants to teach English?

p.pete

Originally posted by josh40

Best of luck, how come someone with a degree in Engineering wants to teach English?

Excellent question and some really good advice, thanks. Engineering seemed like a good idea at the time. Actually I did telecoms engineering which at the time was a really good idea. Not so clever now, tough enough to find jobs - which actually suits me because I was never all that pushed with it. Trying to find something interesting to do with myself now.

mneylon

The qualifications required vary from country to country.
In Ireland you need to have done at least a 70 hour recognised course to be able to teach anywhere.

A H.Dip is not that relevant, though it may help.

Asia is not as picky about teaching staff as Europe and the wages are generally quite high.

In Europe the pre-requisites vary considerably as do the wages.

Dave's ESL cafe and TEFL.com are probably the two best online resources. There are a few other ones, but they aren't that great for jobs.

The Guardian's education supplement used to be an excellent resource for both training and job openings - I presume that it still is.

As far as courses are concerned in Ireland. Be careful. The weekend courses are a waste of money. There are a number of post-graduate courses available, including the one in UL which is of a very high standard.

hurley.e

Hi, has anyone here heard of TEFL heaven? Im thinking of doing a TEFL course with them in Thailand. Its e1000 which includes a gauranteed job for 5 months, 100 online hours, 2 weeks training in Thailand with accomodation? What do you think is it a rip off/genuine? Thanks

mneylon

hurley.e wrote: »

Hi, has anyone here heard of TEFL heaven? Im thinking of doing a TEFL course with them in Thailand. Its e1000 which includes a gauranteed job for 5 months, 100 online hours, 2 weeks training in Thailand with accomodation? What do you think is it a rip off/genuine? Thanks

Who are they accredited by?

iarmhii

Can time spent teaching English abroad be used towards the h.Dip application in terms of reaching the required points total to be accepted ? Also is having a degree along with the TEFL qualification of significant benefit when applying for jobs abroad ?





Many Thanks in Advance

Iarmhiii

deman

iarmhii wrote: »

Can time spent teaching English abroad be used towards the h.Dip application in terms of reaching the required points total to be accepted ? Also is having a degree along with the TEFL qualification of significant benefit when applying for jobs abroad ?

Short answer... yes.

lol_mark_aments

Im seriously considering this TEFL position, purely because i want to travel etc. Can anyone explain the difference between the online TEFL course you can do and the one you have to attend in person?I just need to know because i want to pick the right course and i dont know which one to do. Can anyone also recommend a good site to go to, to achieve the qualification?