Job Discussion Forums

Burke · Joined: 22 Nov 2012 Posts: 42 Location: Beijing

Am I overreacting? I think not. I inquired about their on-line 120 Hour TEFL course and was told numerous lies as follows...

* You must have a TEFL certificate to teach anywhere in Asia (100% False)

* The onlineTefl.com certificate is internationally recognized (100% False)

* When you complete their TEFL course you get a "paid internship" (False)

* If you teach in China you "can earn a small fortune" (200% False)

So then when I realized they were lying to me and challenged 'Julia" to provide proof of what she told me, she changed the subject and started telling me about "special offers" When she refused to answer my direct questions, I asked her to speak with her supervisor and she just hung up the phone! So then I started googling the internet and found quite a few people with complaints about this company which appears to be a thinly-veiled scam with a fantastic-looking web site. Here is some of what I found...

http://www.eslwatch.info/china-2/scams-or-schemes-in-china/8415-red-alert-onlinetefl-com-scam-in-progress

http://malaysia.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20130424182426AAnfZ5w

http://internationalteflreviews.wordpress.com/tag/onlinetefl-com/

john123 · Joined: 29 Jan 2012 Posts: 83

Sorry Burke, but I would be suspicious of anything with 'online', mostly because it will be a waste of money and not the golden certificate (CELTA/Trinity TESOL) which people SHOULD strive to get. The fact you inquired and have let the penny drop somewhat that they are a bunch of scammers does not really give you hero status. They use words such as 'respected', 'specialist'. and 'comprehensive' which would immediately make me suspicious.

Who are the courses accredited by? I wonder ...

'If you speak English, then you can teach English'. What a bunch of jokers.

Regards

John

john123 · Joined: 29 Jan 2012 Posts: 83

'seems' to be a fraud? Change 'seems to 'is', and be done with the shoddy outfit.

coledavis · Joined: 21 Jun 2003 Posts: 1838

Let's say we start up an online TEFL certificate ourselves - yes us, the great and the good of this forum. Let's say that we put our hearts and souls into making it as useful as possible, price it reasonably and market it with the great integrity for which we are known. Maybe we go out of our way to provide videos showing excellent teachers at work. Even with all of that, we would still be offering a qualification which, however enlightening, would not include that vital element, teaching practice with feedback. And employers will know that too.

Just factor in normal cupidity and these TEFLcom people will start to hove into view.

I think you should give up on the idea of online TEFL. Even the better, less marketing-driven courses will only be of use to some extent to people with specific needs. E.g. qualified non-language teachers who may decide to try to learn TEFL without practice, those wishing to get an idea of what it is about and those with experience who want to learn more.

Burke · Joined: 22 Nov 2012 Posts: 42 Location: Beijing

Actually Cole you convinced me... Unless a TEFL certificate is internationally accepted, it is as valuable as toilet paper and both could probably be used for the same purpose. But what pissed me off about this onlinetefl.com group are the blatant lies and deception they use to trick people out of their money.

The more I google them with the words "scam" and "fraud" the more lies I find. But then I also found some great "reviews" like the guy "Beare" at About.com and it is obvious they even fabricated their own reviews. These people are just plain shameless.

When people directly confront them at their "forum" they get deleted and banned. See http://ChinaFraudPatrol.co.uk and you understand just how sneaky this group of con artists can be.

coledavis · Joined: 21 Jun 2003 Posts: 1838

As far as new teachers are concerned there are two factors:
First, do employers want the qualification? This is necessary for getting jobs in most parts of the world.
Second, does it provide the necessary skills? Apart from getting a job, this helps you to keep it. The novelty value of being a native speaker holds for only a very short time; training is the base for developing, which you also need to do. The qualification is necessary but not sufficient for becoming a skilled teacher; if you don't know what skills you are supposed to develop, development will be a painful process. The course at least makes you aware of what is required and how roughly far you are away from that.

teacher4life · Joined: 22 Apr 2012 Posts: 121

Whenever you see an ad for a school asking for a TESOL/CELTA/etc certificate, contact them directly and ask them which (if any) they prefer. Find out if you can what folks already working there have.

coledavis · Joined: 21 Jun 2003 Posts: 1838

Ok, but in general, it goes like this:
Some institutions will ONLY accept people with CELTA or Trinity certificates.
Other institutions will accept CELTA, Trinity and I am told SIT certificates.
Others will accept any course with a four week onsite training.
Very few will accept weekend/online/zero qualifications.

B4UGO · Joined: 19 Nov 2012 Posts: 24 Location: China/Korea

In case you didn't know, this group uses various names and according to the below links one of the names, i-to-i.com has been blacklisted as far back as 2007 and 2008.

http://teflblacklist.blogspot.dk/2008/01/i-to-i-tefl-up-to-their-old-tricks.html

http://www.teflspin.com/2008/07/volunteer-to-be-sucker.html

Maybe this is why they started using the onlinetefl.com name? The CTA also warned people back in 2010, but they are like an annoying hemorrhoid that simply won't go away.

Professional TEFLer · Joined: 09 May 2013 Posts: 77

coledavis · Joined: 21 Jun 2003 Posts: 1838

Quite frankly, if an organisation is selling weekend and online courses in addition to its four week ones, I would doubt if the four weeks ones will be particularly good. If they don't have integrity in the first place, I don't see why they would come over all moral in one aspect of their business.

B4UGO · Joined: 19 Nov 2012 Posts: 24 Location: China/Korea

choudoufu · Joined: 25 May 2010 Posts: 3325 Location: Mao-berry, PRC

if you speak engrish, you can teach engrish.

true! in china, this be true.

most university ads i've looked at do not require any sort of certification.
if asked for, it's usually "tefl certificate desired." all is negotiable.

is online any good? sure it is.......in china. most schools that ask for
a certificate (excluding real international schools) don't make no never
mind whether it's classroom or online, 120 hours or 40 hours. it's
just a piece of paper.

international accreditation? they can't tell the difference between a celta
or a delta or a deltoid or a tricuspid. "bob's house of toefl" will do nicely.

it might be worthless in terms of "nolidge," but if it gets you a job, then
it can be considered a good investment. once you have a year or two
of teachin' experience in country, the paper won't be needed no more.

oh, and that small fortune? depends on your definition of fortune. your
average uni job pays around $1K plus accommodations and airfare.
you can easily bank 50% of that. workload generally is 14-16 hours per
week. with privates, you can double your pay, for savings of around
$1.5k/month.

Professional TEFLer · Joined: 09 May 2013 Posts: 77

santi84 · Joined: 14 Mar 2008 Posts: 1317 Location: under da sea

This isn't exclusive to TEFL. The personal training industry (a sideproject of mine) is similar - some people have 40 hour online certificates, others have a BSc in Kinesiology. I think some (a lot) of responsibility is on the student who signs up for this crap. Buyer beware. There are scams/false promises all over the internet and this is just another one.

Even if this company went the way of the dodo by tomorrow, another one would pop up again shortly. There is no shortage of people willing to part with a minimal amount of cash to get rich quick. It reminds me of a diet fad.