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bradford
Joined: 24 Jan 2005
Posts: 8
Location: St. Louis, MO
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 Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2005 4:14 pm Post subject: Online TEFL Certification |
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Has anyone gone through an online TEFL certification program or have any recommendations? I am looking to go to South America in May and would like to get certified first. I have a degree in education but there are no schools here in St. Louis for TEFL or ESL.
Thanks!
Sara |
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Sekhmet
Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 329
Location: Alexandria, Egypt
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| Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2005 5:10 pm Post subject: |
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Opinion?? Don't bother with online. You learn nothing (well maybe a bit of grammar), and you come out with a certificate that really isn't worth the paper it's written on. Do yourself a favour and invest in a good, onsite course with teaching practice. Not that with a degree in Education you should really need it, but teaching EFL is very different to, say, Math...
Plus, it seems that the only place you can get a job without a TEFL certificate are the shady schools - not a good idea for a newbie!!! Save the money you'd spend on an online certificate, and find yourself a good onsite course in South America. You might even make some good contacts while there, which will help a LOT..... |
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ls650
Joined: 10 May 2003
Posts: 3484
Location: British Columbia
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| Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2005 8:32 pm Post subject: |
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| IMHO - a TEFL Certificate without any practical classroom experience is next to worthless. |
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pirateinpanama
Joined: 04 Feb 2003
Posts: 93
Location: Panama City, Panama
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| Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2005 10:28 am Post subject: don't bother... |
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you're degree will sufffice in this part of the world. Don't be fooled by these ads that say you need a certificate of some kind to teach in Central or S.America. Not true in most cases.
I work for a large well known international university system and out of the 20 people working in the English department only 2 hold one of these certificates.
As for private schools (more like public schools in the USA), in this city, people are teaching with just high school degrees. |
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bradford
Joined: 24 Jan 2005
Posts: 8
Location: St. Louis, MO
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| Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2005 9:15 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks for the responses. Well, now that I am deciding between finding an onsite course or a job, two more questions:
1. Any recommendations on best (safest, salary...) cities in South America?
2. Did you find a job before flying there or after arriving by dropping off your resume and making contacts?
Thanks a bunch!
Sara |
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Guy Courchesne
Joined: 10 Mar 2003
Posts: 9650
Location: Mexico City
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| Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2005 10:25 pm Post subject: |
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| One the benefits of an onsite course is that most have job placement services in the regions where they are located. Bridge-Linguatec I think does this in Argentina, as do we in Mexico, and International House (inhouse placements I believe) in a few locations around Latin America. |
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Deconstructor
Joined: 30 Dec 2003
Posts: 775
Location: Montreal
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| Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 6:18 pm Post subject: |
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| bradford wrote: |
Thanks for the responses. Well, now that I am deciding between finding an onsite course or a job, two more questions:
1. Any recommendations on best (safest, salary...) cities in South America?
2. Did you find a job before flying there or after arriving by dropping off your resume and making contacts?
Thanks a bunch!
Sara |
IMO it's never a good idea to go to a country and start looking for a job. For example if you did that in Brazil you'd be in deep trouble because getting a working visa is next to impossible there. You gotta do your homework from home, and don't depend on the net only. Call the consulates of the countries in question and query. |
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