Job Discussion Forums

[PlushSky]

Hi everyone

Quick summary of my own position: 29 year old white male from the UK. I have a degree in English literature but no teaching experience. Having spent countless hours researching possible TEFL destinations on here and other sites I have settled upon Vietnam. I have almost four thousand pounds saved total though I'd prefer to not cut in to that any further than about 1500 which should be enough to cover my flights, visa, and general living expenses for the first month or so before I get on my feet.

So

The next step is to become certified and this is where I'm hitting a snag. The prevailing consensus across the tefl forumsphere is to not bother with an online only course ("Not worth the paper they're printed on", "You need the classroom practice") but to also not commit to the rather pricey CELTA until one is sure that they want to teach EFL for a couple of years at least. Now, I definitely don't want to travel halfway across the globe to teach without any classroom experience but I also don't want to spend the £1200 the average CELTA costs here in the UK. I'd be comfortable spending up to about £500 on a course with quality classroom teaching practice. So, with that said, I researched TEFL courses in the UK and these appeared to be the best of the bunch:

http://www.tefl.org.uk/ - £239. 100 hour online course plus 20 hour weekend classroom (practising with other trainees, not real students). Level 2 on the QCF scale.

http://www.theteflacademy.com/ - £195. 100 hour online course plus 20 hour weekend classroom (practising with other trainees, not real students). Unknown QCF level

http://www.onlinetefl.com/ (i-to-i) - £329. 120 hour online plus 20 hour weekend classroom (practising with other trainees, not real students). Unknown QCF level.

Has anybody here used these organisations before? Do they look 'legit' to those of you more experienced here? Would certificates from one of these be scoffed at by Vietnamese employers? The thing I'm most confused about is this: CELTA or cert Tesol with 6 hours teaching practice are the gold standard (Level 5 QCF). All courses I can find that aren't online only but also aren't CELTA are either listed as Level 2 QCF or not at all. Do level 3 or 4 courses even exist and are they proportionally priced?
A lot of questions, I know. I just really don't want to spend 2 to 3 hundred pounds on something worthless. Any responses much appreciated!

[spiral78]

The 'fellow trainees' make these clearly sub-standard. The teaching practice needs to be with real students.

I don't think you will find a 'standard' course in your price range of 500. It's too bad that your budget is so tight - far better to start out with a reputable cert if at all possible.

As noted here on the board, you can probably find a very basic starter job in Asia with any cheap course.

However, a CELTA or equivalent (120 hours on site and with the key supervised teaching practice with real students - usually about 6 hours of practice teaching in all) - is an ENTRY-LEVEL qualification.

It's NOT aimed at people who are already experienced and certain they want to teach long-term. That's the role of DELTA and MA.

[Sashadroogie]

The not real students part means they are essentially the same as any old online course. Don't bother with them.

If you don't want to pay for Celta, fair enough. Then get your hands on some TEFLtastic books and teach yourself, rather than waste your money on the listed courses.

[esl_prof]

[I'm With Stupid]

There are plenty of courses that are just as good (if not better) than the CELTA. The problem is that they tend to cost about the same. The reality is that that's how much it costs to pay for a few professional trainers to run a 4 week course with real students.

You might want to look at Europe at the moment, because the price of the Euro makes it quite a bit cheaper. Or look for schools with special deals. When I did mine, for example, the school offered $100 discount for paying early, and then $750 refund for signing a contract with them, so I effectively got it for $650. And don't forget to check out the Trinity Certificate, which can sometimes be a bit cheaper.

If you're gonna go the non-CELTA route, research it properly. Find out what qualifications the trainers have got. They should have a DELTA/DipTESOL minimum (some older tutors might have an older equivalent). My friend did a TESOL certificate, which she said was very good at the time, and was accepted as an equivalent to the CELTA in Vietnam. But two years later, she found out that it was being taught by someone who was on the same course as her. So they were charging almost as much as the CELTA to be trained by someone with two years experience and no further qualifications.

And yeah, hours in the classroom without real students won't be counted as classroom hours for the purposes of judging a certificate.

[spiral78]

I agree with IWS. My own cert is a CELTA equivalent, but as s/he says, they cost about the same. The one thing to flag if you go for an equivalent cert (we mean 120 hours on site and at least 6 hours of practice teaching with real students and feedback from qualified trainers) is that you will need to highlight on your CV and cover letters that your cert covered the key elements. Prospective employers may not want to do the research to find out if your cert met the standards. CELTA and Trinity are well known.

[ExpatLuke]

[PlushSky]

Thanks for taking the time to respond and offering your insights guys.

[spiral78]

[esl_prof]

Apparently, a cheap online cert is sufficient to meet the minimum requirements for legally working in Vietnam. If you're opting not to go with a CELTA-equivalent cert, you might send a PM to VietCanada as he seems to be knowledgeable about the best online options to meet Vietnamese government requirements.

As for self-study, you might get started with . . .

1. Any good university level textbook on methods of teaching ESL, such as:
http://www.amazon.com/Teaching-English-Second-Foreign-Language/dp/1111351694/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1435859354&sr=8-4&keywords=teaching+english+as+a+second+language

and

2. Any of Betty Azar's grammar texts and workbooks:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=betty+azar

Just commit to working through all of the exercises at a pace that fits your schedule. By the time you finish the first set of books, you should be able to answer most of the common grammar questions that you'll be asked as a teacher.

Finally

3. You might want to pick up a couple of books on teaching activities and games for children as that seems to be a large segment of entry-level teaching jobs in both Vietnam and the rest of Asia.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=teaching+english+esl+to+children&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Ateaching+english+esl+to+children

Good luck, and please keep us posted on how things go.

[esl_prof]

[VietCanada]

[Sashadroogie]

If VietCanada is correct that Celta is considered a stepping stone to management positions in Vietnam, then that should be a clear signal to anybody halfway serious about real teaching to steer clear of Vietnam...

[ExpatLuke]

[VietCanada]