I am thinking of doing a T.E.F.L. course online or in person but am unsure which one to go for,there are alot of online courses.Also i was wondering if there is any realistic chance of getting a job abroad with just an online certificate.Any advice/experience anyone? Btw i have not got a teaching background.

Worth getting a proper training in person. Go for a CELTA qualification- I did mine at the Regent School of English in Oxford, but they have branches all over the country. CELTA is held in high regard all over the world, and so you are more likely to be able to find decently paid work in the place you want to go to.

Thanks joe i,ll look into that.

I did a CELTA many years ago. At the time it was cheaper to go and do the course in Spain than it was to do it in the UK.

I did it at the British language centre in Madrid. The teaching staff were excellent and I can honestly say the work was more challenging and intensive than my degree. I think it lasted 2 or 3 weeks but you were actually teaching classes everyday. Half the battle is getting confidence in front of a class and learning the tricks of the trade to make it a bit easier for yourself. I guess a virtual course might not provide this.

I took a job with the language school at the end of the course but it was hard work, pretty much all early mornings and late nights so it did not fit in with my idea of “living la vida loca” in Spain !

When employing people I didn’t demand a TEFL certificate at all, I prefered any old degree or a PGCE. It was obvious from their letter of motivation if their written English wasn’t up to scratch. Half a dozen questions on the phone gave me a good idea of their ability to speak and teach English.

Start applying and see how you get on. It’s a good time to send a few CVs as schools will be looking for teachers for next school year. When I found a random CV in the post I always read it. When I put an advert in the Times Ed’ I changed my address slightly so I didn’t even have to open all the hundreds of applications.

If you decide to do one then do a CELTA or TRINITY otherwsie they have absolutely no recongition world wide – even if TEFL International in Thailand say they do.

However, you need to remember they are running business’s and it’s in their interest to get you a pass.

CELTA ran by International House in Bangkok was ok, I just needed it for a visa issue at the time to cover my back. I had been teaching science and English for 4 years before I took it and it was a breeze.

I am currently an English teacher in Brazil.

I did both the on-line TEFL course, but before I did, I also did their 2 day classroom course. The people who ran the course are called i-to-i:

http://www.i-to-i.com/tefl-course/

I know you only want to do the online course, but I found the 2 day workshop a massive help, and gave me a lot of confidence and ideas on how to run classes.

Right now, we have a lot of fun. I teach adult students in their offices. They have intermediate or pre intermediate level English, and there is a massive demand for good quality native speakers of English. As well as the language, you have a huge amount of cultural knowledge that can be put to good use too.

I do not often use text books to teach. I select one language point per lesson, then use newspaper articles to illustrate the language, and then we practice speaking the points.

For example, this morning we read one story about police asking a drunk driver to drive to a police station, another story about the lottery winners, and another story about a mother in law sending an email to her future daughter in law that went viral. With adults you can have a lot of fun to really help the students relax, and use interesting stories to engage them. (We were doing the past tenses with “had”)

So yeah, i-to-i are very good, the on-line course was excellent, but I would do the 120 hour course and not just the 60 hour one. It will be a lot better after having done their weekend though, and is not too expensive. As an unemployed person in Scotland, I also had a £200 voucher to contribute to the cost of the course.

Some helpful replies there thanks,what i am nervous about really is spending hundreds of pounds on an online course that turns out to be usless when it comes to finding a job/placement.Lots of food for thought above though ,thanks.

To be honest, no one in Brazil has asked to see my qualifications. However, although in theory I could be working as a teacher with no qualifications, I really do feel that I benefitted a lot. The on-line course will help you re-aquaint yourself with maybe long forgotten grammar.

You do need this, but I try and teach without referring to too many grammatical rules. I just try and introduce situations, and build on what students already know.

I do not think you need to spend thousands on the month long residential courses, but yes, I would recommend at least some form of qualification.

Also with i-to-i they have an alert and on-line service to help you find jobs. Actually moving to another country though, well you may spend more money than you had budgeted for, but that is a different issue.

See if you can get discount on the course. When I did mine in Manchester you got a 50% discount if you were unemployed.
I hear what Edukator says, but it’ll be easier to get a job with a certificate than without.

The first think to really think about is whether you are for or against the forum grammar pedants.

And good luck, it’s a fun and interesting job. I did it for 10 or so years and enjoyed it 95% of the time.

No-one (as a pronoun)
reaquaint
online

I suggest doing hyphen use in your next class, Simon. 😉

On a serious note, make sure your letter of motivation is perfect, Mikey, as the person reading it will probably be an experienced English teacher and file your letter in the bin at the third error that isn’t obviously a typo.

Edit: “motivation letter” or “accompanying letter” might be better. 😳

i completed the CELTA course a few years back.

i wouldn’t want to stand in front of a clas without having had any previous experience of doing so. i don’t have a problem talkng to large groups of people, but to stand there in front of a group of studdents is different.

you (should) also get taught many ‘tricks’ that aren’t necessarily apparent to you at the start.

there was a thread on this a while ago…..

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/talk-to-me-about-tefl-tesol

Well the great thing about teaching English is that no-one knows if you are right or wrong 😀

On a different note, it can be very good fun, and it is great to see progress in your students when they have struggled with certain key points for many years.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dphayJDCzog[/video]

I did mine many years ago in Cairo, tbh I can’t see how you could possibly learn how to teach any subject via an online course. You really need to be there, with a tutor and proper students.

^^ agree.

online is good for resources, not for hands-on experience.

CELTA course involves teaching real people for 2-3 hours a day over 2-3 weeks.