Job Discussion Forums

[cordilleranevada]

Heyall, I�ve got some really bad news about International House in Santiago. I, too, was stoked about the possibility of getting a CELTA in Santiago, but I had the same experience trying to find info on it: the webpage wouldn't open, the phone # I called said it was "temporarily out of service", etc. ... so on Friday (march 11) I went to find it, at 292 Roman Diaz in Provi. The place is deserted; it�s obvious that there was a sign up at one point that has since been torn down; it just in general looked like hell. But, just to make sure, I asked across the street at a Spanish-teaching institute, and they confirmed that the place had �gone under� 8 or 9 months ago.
(BTW, just in case anyone else who is also fluent in Spanish has also thought about maybe teaching Spanish in Chile to gringo tourists, I asked them if they ever hire gringos hispanohablantes to teach Spanish to foreigners and they more or less scoffed at the idea.)
So that�s a drag. I was really hoping to have the opportunity to find a CELTA course in Santiago. If I�m going to lay down a few grand for a course, I�d really prefer a CELTA to a TEFL because it seems to open more doors. I think the reason employers tend to prefer CELTA is, it has standardized accreditation (through Cambridge, I imagine), whereas TEFL does not. The director at Comunicorp (the one who told me they wouldn�t consider anyone with less than a CELTA) was the one who told me this; she said any course can call itself a TEFL course and hand out certificates, but the variation between courses, in terms of both content and quality, is enormous.
That said, I�ve never taken a TEFL course either and I�m not suggesting that there�s anything wrong with them! They are recognized by many employers (depending on the course, I imagine, but it�s very difficult to get a straight answer about which ones they like and which they don�t) and I get the impression that it�s almost always helpful to have when looking for a job teaching English. In fact, if I can�t get a CELTA, which is what it�s looking like at this point, I�ll probably try to get at least some form of certification, most likely a TEFL online, in order to increase my chances, since I have a little bit of teaching exp but not much.
Which brings up my main question, which is whether or not anyone knows anything about the reputation of online TEFL courses. I mean, I know I know I know (please don�t reply telling me online isn�t as good, I already know that) that an online TEFL is not nearly as good as a classroom TEFL, for obvious reasons (ie, 40 hrs vs. 120 or whatever; no supervised classroom exp, etc. etc. etc.), but that looks like the most feasible option for me right now, and some have got to be better than others. Specifically, I wanted to ask about Brewster TESOL Institute (www.tesol1.net), which says it�s a 200-hr online course for $129, vs. $265-295 for 40 hrs with ICAL, Bridge TEFL online, i-to-i, etc. However, it seems a bit charcha (lame / poor quality) and I�m not sure I trust it. (For example, the website says it guarantees job placement while you take the course, but then in tiny print points out that this guarantee is limited to China, Taiwan, and South Korea, so that makes me wonder if it�s designed only for those places and what its credibility would be here in Chile.) Then there are courses like English International, which is a 3-part course that requires you to arrange and videotape 6 lessons in order to satisfy the �teaching practice� endorsement, but each part is $185-195, plus $15-40 international shipping, so that�d mean about $620 for me for all three courses (125 hrs incl. �teaching practice�), and, again, I know nothing of their reputation. Also, Bridge-TEFL at least seems pretty straightforward, so that�s one I�m considering, but I don�t know whether it would be worth it to add one or both of their �endorsements� for �Business English� or �Young Learner� (an extra $40-45 each, plus the $295 for the basic course).
If anyone has more info or experience with online courses I�d really appreciate some advice. Thanks!

P.S. � when I talked to Nora Sepulveda at Instituto Norteamericano Chileno today, she said they definitely look for TEFL/CELTA (though not to the exclusion of experience, I�m sure), and said some other locations to try in Santiago would be Universidad Catolica or DUOC (I think that�s what she said: it�s some sort of instituto de capacitacion, I think, or that�s what I�m going to look under in the amarillas anyway) for similar certification courses. If I find anything out about these places I�ll post again. Good luck everyone!

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[koshechka]

hello
sorry to say i don't have any of the answers to your questions but i am concerned about the same thing, in fact, i was thinking of starting the online bridgelinguatec thing some time really soon. i am still in mexico and probably won't come to chile until july so i still have time. did you get a chance to ask some of your potential employers if they would not accept someone who had 2 years of experience and an online tefl thing? that is my biggest concern, putting out 300 and getting nothing tangible as a result. also, did you just come as a tourist? are you planning to leave every 3 months? isn't there some other school that will give me papers upon hiring me? it seems that sam marsali is the only one to do this and they are the most hated school on this site.
thanks, anything you can share will be greatly appreciated

[cordilleranevada]

hi koschecka,

as I said before (in the Sam Marsalli post, replying to you), I�m no expert, but I think your experience should go a long way. A lot of institutes have said they�re looking for candidates with certification and/or experience. I have relatively little experience, so that�s why I�m so concerned about getting certification.
Could you let me know what you think of the B-L course if you decide to take it? I�m still weighing my options, but it seems I should be way more worried about certification than you!

[Gordon]

Sorry can't comment on online certs and whether they are worth it or not. However, I can tell you that Jeff Mohammed is the real deal and knows what he is talking about. His online course does look good (haven't done it though, I have a CELTA) and he is as about experienced as it comes. The course might be more than the other courses but that is probably because it is worth the money. If I had to do an online course, it would be English Int'l.

[koshechka]

i still haven't decided on a course, sorry to be of so little help. the bridge linguatec one looked nicer than the i-i so that is as far as i've gotten so far. also, since they have an office in santiago i thought it would make better sense. what are the seasons like? i am planning to come somewhere between june and august, is there a better time? should i really follow the advice of some and just go without finding any thing from here? i have also been told that it makes sense to get the job with marsali the mean, get the paperwork, stay with them a month while looking for other things and move on to better things. finally, going back to the certificates, i think that the celta one is the best but it is never done online and it is way too expensive, are you planning to teach for long or is it just something you are doing for fun? you should think about it.
well, thanks for writing in both places, if anything comes up, i will write, but i am sure you will have more to tell since you are actually there. good luck job hunting, any advice will be greatly appreciated.

[Weona]

[koshechka]

i'm pretty sure it can be done since they don't fulfill the contract from their side either. from what i know they promise to give you 20 hours but it's rarely that much which leaves the teachers running around looking for odd jobs. therefore, there is no ethical problem as far as i am concerned. weona, can you answer any of my certificate questions, or, do you know of any other schools which will help me with the paperwork? i am afraid to just come and have a go at it which is what everyone seems to be recommending, and i am not planning to stay for a short period of time so that whole mendoza scheme doesn't appeal to me either. i want to be as legal as they come. i've spent like 6 months getting my mexican papers in order and working under the table and that was a hastle so hopefully there is a better way. thanks

[Aramas]

There's an online version of the Global TESOL course available, and you have to do 6 hours of supervised teaching in order to pass. It's the same course as their regular TESOL certificate, which seems to be quite well regarded - for a non-Cambridge/Trinity course.

Another option is to do a CELTA in Brazil for under $1000USD - the cheapest in the world, and available in Rio and Recife.

[AndyRoofman]

Where in Brazil can you do the CELTA for under $1000 US.? Can you tell me, I want to do it at that price.

Thanks


AndyRoofman.

[Aramas]

The starting point for CELTA matters is:
http://www.cambridgeesol.org

In Rio, try http://www.britannia.com.br/.
Contact Details

RIO DE JANEIRO (BR145)

MS MAVIS RADLEY
BRITANNIA INTERNATIONAL ENGLISH
RUA GENERAL RABELO 36
GAVEA
RIO DE JANEIRO
CEP 22454-010
BRAZIL

Tel: +55 21 5211 0940
Fax: +55 21 2511 0893
E-mail: [email protected]

For Recife, try
Contact Details

RECIFE (BR119)

MR RODDY KAY
SOCIEDAD BRASILEIRA DE CULTURA INGLESA - RECIFE
RUA MAMANGUAPE
BOA VIAGEM
5 RECIFE-PE
BRAZIL

Tel: +55 81 3228 6649
Fax: + 55-81-3445 8434
E-mail: [email protected]

The franchise has a website at http://www.culturainglesa.com.br/ , but it's in Portuguese and not terribly helpful. I suggest you email them.

[tesol1]

I just saw your post and wanted to reply personally concerning our program. We have just added a link to Chile as a country. You may find this by going to our site at http://tesol1.net and clicking esl information by country on our naviagtion bar, then following the maps, or simply clicking on the following link : http://tesol1.net/id51.html

Our certificates are recognized worldwide, not only in Asia, we simply limit our guarantee to asia because it is far easier for graduates to find work there as there is more demand for qualified esl teachers in that area and EU passports are not an issue.

There is still, however, a great likelihood of obtaining employment anywhere with our certificate, especially with the links we provide.

You will find that we are the only teacher training school that guarantees employment ANYWHERE!

Hope this information is helpful.

Ernest Woodford
Brewster TESOL Institute
Course Director