BootsnAll Travel Community

Hello all!

I am new here to BNA *wave*

I have been looking on the forums for a couple hours now, soaking up all the useful information here (Thanks for that).

Now I have a few questions of my own.

I was curious where most of you (if you have) have received your TEFL Certificates. I have researched various sites, been to the cafe, and read many posts elsewhere.

My interest in teaching TEFL grows increasingly everyday. Unfortunately, I do not have the luxury of a University Degree that seemingly most countrys/schools require. I am wanting to earn a TEFL Certificate and get my 'feet wet' to see how I like it. In the future, I will most likely get a degree.

While researching various sites that offer TEFL Certificates, I just keep thinking about references, wanting to hear from other people.

Another question I had pertains to an earlier post I read. I believe someone said something about a TEFL Certificate done online is not recognized through many schools. Is this true?

Thank you for all your help,

Jarrett D

I also do not have a degree and was looking through these possibilities a couple months ago.

I am obtaining my TESOL Cert through TEFL International. My 4-week Course starts on February 18th in Zhuhai, China and will be followed by a paid ($1500 USD) 3 month teaching placement somewhere in China. This particular course is only $1980 USD and comes with all accomidation, plus 15 hours of Chinese lessons.

Check out their website.

http://www.teflinternational.com

And the program that I am going through and others like it are through TEFL Internationals side company called Cultural Extremes.

http://www.culturalextremes.com



If you have any other questions feel free to post them on this same thread. There are plenty of people here that can give you all the info you could ever need =-) Good Luck!

Thanks SK!

Exactly what I am looking for. People who have no degree, and what they are doing to get into TEFL.

I see you're from Portland! Just minutes from me!

Toss me and email and maybe we can chat, or I can just talk your ear off with questions ;P

JarrettDeLorenzo@Hotmail.com

quote:

Another question I had pertains to an earlier post I read. I believe someone said something about a TEFL Certificate done online is not recognized through many schools. Is this true?

Generally true, if it's the only course you've ever taken or it's not backed up by experience in the classroom.

One thing to add to Superkid's response...best check on the country you want to work in on the necessity of a degree. While TEFL courses are the usual minimum for landing the job, immigration departments often need you to have a 4 year degree (not necessarily related to EFL) to get working papers.

Hi, I am interested in TEFL as well but not as the only thing I will do and I don't have a degree either. I just want to see if it fits in my travel plans. So I am signed up for the i-to-i weekend course. It is 20 hours in a class plus 20 hours of grammer. They have job placement and as far as I can tell, it seems legit. I was really happy with their phone people and all that. www.i-to-i.com. good luck!

I received my certificate through TEFL Worldwide Prague, an internationally recognized certificate course (www.teflworldwideprague.com). It's a 4-week intensive course but will prepare you for any kind of teaching environment! The best part is that they help with job placement after you complete the course and at any future point. I have many friends that have found positions teaching in the Czech Republic where it is not required to have a BA. I'm currently living and working in Prague, so let me know if you have any questions!

Cheers,
Jen

Im doing mine as a post-graduate certificate through a university.

As long as your certificate isn't from an online source, you should have zippo problems finding work teaching.

For most recognized courses that include real teaching practice, I'd agree (ie no big difference between the celta, tefl international, whatever). But there are courses which people pay for that are in person but don't include teaching practice, and if an employer requires a recognized certificate, as plenty in Europe do - a weekend course is not that.

There are certainly countries, most notably Korea and Japan, where no certificate is required, so for the sake of getting the job, which if any course you take is not the deciding factor...so in that sense I'd agree that if you're thinking about the world at large which course you take is not the most important factor.

But I'd caution against thinking that any in person course will be fine for the specific place you want to go...

Ok, I just discovered the tabs button.

I read that TEFL International is a scam, so beware!!! I'm not sure how true it is, but I read about it here:
TEFL Watch Hall of Shame

I've also read that the Trinity & Cambridge CertTESOL Certificates are pretty widely internationally recognized. Someone may be able to burst my bubble on that, though :-)

Having done this myself, all throughout SE Asia, the only nation that ever made me have TEFL, or any other formal certification, was Thailand and there only in 3 schools. Allother nations are more concerned with your desterity in the language. Native Speakers trump TEFLs any day of the week in places like Cambodia.

Of course Europe or some Rim nations like Japana nd Korea are alot different. Depends on locale.