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Tefl courses?

shefbert

I've just finished my degree but not sure what I want to do yet so I'm taking a year out before I go doing a masters or anything. I was thinking of doing a Tefl course and going abroad to teach for a while.

I've looked into the Celta course but it's a bit too expensive for me at the minute and then there's the issue of the credibility of some of the online courses.

If anyone has any recommendations or has had any experience with some of the online courses I'd love to hear them!

Thanks in advance!

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R.D. aka MR.D

It depends on where you want to go.

The online courses are fine for a lot of Asian countries but elsewhere a lot of or most jobs require a CELTA.

befriend1

Hey,

I am also thinking of doing a TEFL course and would love some feedback. I realise that the basic TEFL is not the best one in terms of a qualification but I already have a degree and masters in education and teaching experience. I am hoping this means that I might not need the CELTA course as it is quite costly.
Does anyone know more information in this area and/or have a similar situation?

Thanks

R.D. aka MR.D

I think you might get more responses if you post a more specific question.

ESL is essentially an unregulated industry. It is possible to get a job pretty much anywhere with any qualification. The exception is that certain countries have specific visa requirements like a BA or a TEFL certificate.

The CELTA is widely recognized in many countries as a desirable qualification. However, many schools are just like applying for a job in anything.

Which country do you want to go to? Or what are your priorities if you haven't decided yet? money? quality of life?

befriend1

Hi R.D aka Mr.D,

You are right that was very open sorry. I am wondering if I do a basic TEFL that's 120 or 140 hours will I have a good opportunity of getting a job? I hope that my current qualifications and experience would be an advantage. I would hope to work in Ireland and then consider using it to travel in places like Canada, the UK or maybe somewhere more adventurous. In Ireland I'd like good money because the expense of living but I understand I might get less abroad. My current situation might change soon and I am trying to organise a plan b strategy to be honest. Something that could end up being fun!

Thanks

Choccie Lover

befriend1 wrote: »

Hi R.D aka Mr.D,

You are right that was very open sorry. I am wondering if I do a basic TEFL that's 120 or 140 hours will I have a good opportunity of getting a job? I hope that my current qualifications and experience would be an advantage. I would hope to work in Ireland and then consider using it to travel in places like Canada, the UK or maybe somewhere more adventurous. In Ireland I'd like good money because the expense of living but I understand I might get less abroad. My current situation might change soon and I am trying to organise a plan b strategy to be honest. Something that could end up being fun!

Thanks

Hi Befriend,

My advice to you would be to get the CELTA if you wish to work in Ireland or the UK (not sure what the situation is in Canada). Most places won't even consider you unless you have it (or its equivalent).

I know it might seem a pain to fork out so much money given your experience and background, but I'm sure you will get a lot out of it (I did, despite having a fair amount of TEFL experience before doing it). There were a couple of primary school teachers on my course who had some difficulty with certain aspects of the course. They also had to 'unlearn' various things (as did I).

Anyway, the point I am trying to make is I'm sure you can get a lot out of the course despite having a background in Education and if you want to teach in the British isles or Europe (for the most part), you really should get it.

If you were open to going to Asia (Korea, for example) instead and didn't envisage working in Europe after, then you could get away without doing it.

But, in my opinion, it's a good investment. I know it's a lot of money though!!

Choccie

Tokyo

I would second the advice on doing the CELTA course if you want to have your pick of the jobs that are out there. Depending on where you go, the ESL marketplace is saturated with teachers at the moment, and decent schools are starting to ask more and more in terms of experience and qualifications from new candidates.

One thing to be aware of is that more and more schools are refusing to take the online TEFL anymore - it's considered inferior to the classroom equivalent, and indeed, in my experience it is. The practical courses allow for observation in a classroom environment, and actually dealing with non-native speakers firsthand, which gives you an excellent opportunity to figure out your strengths and weaknesses before having to work in a live classroom.

If money is an issue, consider doing the CELTA in another country. I did mine through an excellent school in Poland, and it worked out quite a bit cheaper than doing it here. It also gave me time to concentrate on the course, and not have to deal with the distractions and nights out that would have popped up here.

R.D. aka MR.D

I would also recommend a CELTA if those are your plans.

It's actually quite common for CELTA centres to hire strong CELTA candidates part time or maybe recommend them to others they know. ESL teaching works a lot on networking(like so many other careers!). So i would advise you to do the CELTA in a city that you would like to work in.

Also, you could apply for jobs with your current qualifications and see what happens. There are Easter camps and then Summer camps coming up. There are usually loads of jobs in England. It is usually working with kids but it's experience!

Try tefl.com and do a search on the jobs database.

Luco Zademann

From my understanding there's CELTA and Trinity Cert TESOL and CELT. The latter is the official one in Ireland, a bit of a rip off of CELTA in a way. I had about a dozen schools saved on my Opera Speed Dial until my netbook went wonky. You can do CELTA or CELT in Ireland for about a grand. Cheapest I think I saw was in Galway for about €850. Couple of places around Dublin for under a grand from what I can recall. Cork was about €1200.

You'll seldom see Trinity Cert TESOL advertised but if you do it's another to consider, sometimes it may be slightly cheaper but supposedly it's just as good. You could go to say Poland and do one there but when you add in travel, accommodation and other expenses it's about the same if you were doing it in your home town here (often actually it works out more expensive going abroad to do it)

For outside of Europe you won't need CELTA as much, think China, Korea. Some programmes will even train you for free. Within Europe you will need CELTA or CELT or Trinity.