Job Discussion Forums

[littleme]

I'm thinking about getting a TESOL certificate through TEFL in Italy. It's a four week program. Is this concept a scam or is it something that DOES look good on your teaching resume. I am a public school teacher in the US who would like to teach in Europe. I'm also looking for a reason to go to Italy for a few weeks, but only if it's an affordable program that will actually HELP me in finding work overseas.

Again, is the TESOL certificate a resume-helper or just a scam? Thank you in advance for your help!

[denise]

Depends on the program--there are many good ones out there, and there are also some scams. You say yours is a four-week one--that sounds good. (I've heard some sketchy things about the one-week courses.) How much practice teaching time does yours include?

A lot of schools will ask for one. Your prior teaching experience may offset it, but I don't know. But even if schools don't require one, teaching in the States might be a bit different from doing EFL, so at the very least the course will prepare you.

And, as you said, you'd get four weeks in Italy out of it... A good TEFL program will, unfortunately, keep you quite busy, though, so you probably won't have too much free time in those four weeks.

I'd be willing to bet that at some point the issue of CELTA/Trinity/"the rest" will come up. Some schools may give preference to the "big" certificates, but a lot of them won't.

d

[sojourner]

Hi Littleme,

Your query should have been directed to Dave's Teacher Training Forum.Many (most) of the postings there are to do with the validity/practicality of 4-week training courses.There is currently a thread there on "you are all CELTA pushers", which apart from a lot of petty bickering, contains a few gems of wisdom.

Where do you want to teach ? In Europe, it would appear that many (most?) reputable language schools seem to require that their teacher applicants possess some qualification re ESL teaching,as well as possibly a generalist degree.It seems that the (basic) sort of ESL teaching qualification they are looking for would be a CELTA or Trinity certificate.(brand name and known quality factors).You mentioned something about TEFL - isn't that the one run by a guy called Bruce,based in Thailand ? If so,it would appear,from reports,that it is a good course - but,it would appear,that it isn't as well known as CELTA/Trinity.Therefore,it might be better to opt for a CELTA or Trinity course,if you want to teach in Europe.Anyway,whatever course you choose, make sure that it involves a practical teaching component (before 'real' students).

Is is such training worthwhile ? In my opinion - yes ! I undertook CELTA training in Melbourne a couple of years ago.I am a qualified secondary teacher.A couple of my fellow-trainees were also qualified teachers.We all got a lot out of the course.There were also a couple of people who had been working as ESL teachers in China.They later told me that they had learnt a lot re such issues as the teaching of tenses,etc.

In Japan and Sth Korea,it would appear that many language schools have never heard of such qualifications as CELTA ! Regarding Sth Korea,for jobs in unis/colleges,employers are more likely to insist upon "appropriate English language teaching qualifications" - ideally Masters in TESOL,but you may be able to get by with a 4-week certificate,PLUS your normal teaching qualification (eg B.Ed),generalist Masters degree,etc.But there appears to be a lot of competion for uni jobs in that country,because the vacations are much longer,conditions are much better,etc,than in the hagwans.

I'm currently in China.You can easily pick up some sort of work without any ESL qualifications.But the best places appear to be looking for those who have some ESL teaching qualification.

Best of luck in whatever you decide to do.

Peter

[scot47]

Trinity is my recommendation. They are Number Two after CELTA (UCLES). Watch out for rip-offs.