Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ragin cajun]

Howdy Everybody!!!!! Could you be so kind to give me the low down on TEFL International in Phuket, Thailand. I am thinking about taking a course yonder for four weeks. Thanks Much,
The Ragin Cajun

[kimcheeking]

I believe that The Lemon is doing the CELTA there right now... If you want more info.. you should head over to the international board.

[posco's trumpet]

[Manner of Speaking]

Ragin Cajun,

I don't know about the Phuket course, but this was my experience with the TEFL International course in Ban Phe, which I took last summer as an 'upgrade'. I'm sure both locations are pretty similar. In Ban Phe the TEFL International school basically also operates out of the same building as a small hotel (same owners). The hotel isn't the Holiday Inn, but it was more than adequate. I had an air-conditioned room, a laundry service, all sheets and towels provided, with very cheap and delicious meals available every day, except for the weekends. On weekends most of us walked down the road to the beach and ate from one of the beachside canteens, or walked into Ban Phe (15 minutes on foot) and ate at a restaurant in town. You could easily spend no more than $6.00 a day on food, but I think Phuket might be a bit more expensive than Ban Phe.

The TESOL course itself was quite rigorous, but certainly "doable". Nobody in our class failed, or had an especially difficult time with the workload, even though one student in our group only had a high school education. The hotel rooms were on the 3rd and 4th floors of the TEFL International building, and the two classrooms were on the second floor. All teaching materials, books, etc. were provided to us. For the teaching practice component, we did have to spend $20 or $25 on paper, markers, supplies, etc. We were in class pretty much 8 hours a day for the first 2 1/2 weeks, and the last week and a half was teaching practice in a local Thai high school.

The teaching technique that the instructors want you to use for the TP is very user-friendly and is designed to build up your teaching skills and classroom confidence very quickly. I really enjoyed it. The main challenge of the course is that there is a lot of paperwork. Every student must keep a portfolio of the quizzes, lesson plans and teaching observations that they did, so that these can be assessed by an independent evaluator from outside TEFL International. Also, in order to keep it rigorous and of a high-standard, there is so much information packed into 4 weeks that you have homework and reading to keep up with EVERY night. At least an hour or two of homework/extra reading every night. If you can handle that, then the other aspects of the course are a breeze.

If you are Canadian, you don't need a visa to take the course. Canadians and Americans can get a 30-day tourist visa right at the airport, and the course is only 29 days. If you plan to stay longer, however, you will need to get a longer visa, either before you go or as a visa extension once you get there. I don't know about visa extensions as I didn't need to get one, but a few other people who were in my class advised me that it was relatively easy. If you want to WORK in Thailand, or do the internship, you must get a work visa, and to do this you must leave Thailand and apply for it at a Thai embassy or consulate outside the country. I know that for two of the guys who got jobs, this involved a 2-day trip to Laos and some paperwork. I can send you the email address of one of the guys who went to Laos if you want.

On the final day of the course, we were interviewed individually by an independent evaluator, from an organization called AITQ (or something like that). His/her job was to evaluate what we the work that we did during the course, to ensure that it was of a sufficient standard. The course was no vacation, or "diploma mill". It was a challenging academic experience. The instructors were all very helpful, very professional, always available, and very positive with the feedback. Certainly I had no complaints with the course, and the $1600 or so I paid for it was certainly well worth the money.

Hope this helps.

Cheers and best wishes,

MOS

[waterbaby]

FWIW...

TESOL/TEFL/CELTA certificates

1. TESOL Certification in Thailand
2. TESOL Online
3. Benefits of Getting CELTA Certified in Thailand?
4. TESOL Certification

[bruce]

For us here at TEFL International, answering this question is quite easy. As the most transparent TESOL course provider in the world, finding out real opinions of our course is very easy.

First visit our website at www.tefllife.com. On the right column you will see a link to Feedback. To there and see feedback for all worldwide courses, unedited and available for anyone to see. You will note from the overall averages that most everyone who takes our course really, really likes it.

You will also see a link for moderation. You can see our course meets international standards because you can see the moderation reports for every location.

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