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.

Hi all,

I have recieved my TEFL certificate from an on-line provider, serious teachers, also have gotten a few jobs from them too, and have been working in China for the last few years and have had absolutely no problems getting a job in China with this Diploma, plus it was on-line so I didn't have to sit in a class and do it at the teachers pace.
Well anyway, I have put the link below, if you like it do it, if not then don't

Here is the link: http://www.seriousteachers.com/TEFL/Tef ... l=10025161

I worked for 2 or so years in Korea and now I'm in China. The only TEFL certificate I have is a scrap of paper through my company. You really don't need on so long as you have a college degree of some sorts. Everything you need to know about teaching will come to you quite quickly if you survive six months in a classroom.

I would agree with the previous poster. It's not worth paying a fortune for a course to teach you the skills that you'd pick up quite quickly in a job. I worked in Japan for a year in a private language school and they gave me some training and support, and the rest I learnt as I went. I dod get a TEFL certificate beforehand which was certainly useful, but I wouldn't necessarily spend a fortune on it. Far more useful was the experience gained actually doing the job. I did get paid slightly more for having a TEFL certificate too!

Or you can swing by Khan Sao Road and pick up a cert for really cheap, along with a master's degree, and a Doctorate of Veterinary Sciences as well.

Here are some key tips to teaching that I learned.

1) Grow eyes in the back of your head.
2) Don't take crap from your students, but you don't need to be a vicious thug either.
3) If your class is bored, chances are they are bored because you are being boring.
4) Lesson planning helps massively when you start out. I still do lesson plans for each of my classes to this day and I've been teaching for five years.

A good lesson plan lays out the sequence of events that you'll follow in class. If you find yourself at a loss for what to do you can refer to your plan.

Always have a backup activity for when your original plan craps out.

Always treat your students with a measure of respect. That doesn't mean kiss their little behinds, but it does mean that you ought to remember that most of these kids are your customers. Keep your hands off of them, don't call them stupid, and praise them for their progress as often as you can.

-Sticker charts help for troublesome classes.

Always remember that your boss will probably side with the customer before he backs up his teacher. Let's face it.. the kids are his bread and butter. No way he's going to piss one of them off to satisfy you.

Never bring up the fact that your class sucked. You have to market yourself to your employers at all times. Emphasize the positive to yourself, your class, and your boss at all times. Even if you spend 45 minutes getting them to shut up you still praise for the five minutes they were quiet and busy.

Don't play hangman, that's lame...
Don't be doing no blasted word searches on a regular class day.. those are lamer..

If you need suggestions for a game you really just need to ask the nearest foreign teacher. Your coworkers probably have dozens of games they can suggest to you. This book here is a must read for anyone wanting to give ESL a whirl:

http://www.amazon.com/ESL-Games-Classroom-Activities-Interactive/dp/1595260684

There are a couple other books recommended at the bottom of the page, pick a couple of them for resources.

Now remember... Your job is to teach your students English. Not to speak with them in their native language. If you can speak their native tongue you'd be well advised to keep it quiet. I've seen teachers get in a heap of trouble for speaking Korean or Chinese with their students.

Bring about five dollars worth of pennies as well. They make great prizes and the total cost is minimal.

I could go on for about 10 pages but you'll figure it out on your own in a few months. If you don't want to get a CELTA that's fine, but keep in mind the CELTA does open doors that even my BA of Anthropology won't open. Countries like Indonesia probably wouldn't let me in without a Celta and a BA.

Soooo... over time I'll have to suck it up and bite the bullet if I want to hit Indonesia.