Job Discussion Forums

Bubba · Joined: 30 Apr 2004 Posts: 34

A friend wants to try any of these programs. Does anyone have info on them?

www.global-english.com

http://teacher-training.net

www.onlinetefl.com

spiral78 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 11534 Location: On a Short Leash

Depends a bit on where your friend hopes to teach, but on-line courses are not considered adequate by language schools in many countries, because they lack supervised teaching practice.

Sekhmet · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 329 Location: Alexandria, Egypt

Bubba - what Spiral says is true. A lot of places don't accept online certification, and this is all over the world (to my knowledge!!). Plus, if your friend has never done any teaching, how are they supposed to know if they like it?? An observed teaching practicum and over 100 hors of input sessions is the way forward...

dyak · Joined: 25 Jun 2003 Posts: 630

It's the epitome of how unregulated this industry is, that you can get 'accredited' to teach online without setting foot in a classroom!

I have a certificate from www.becomeasurgeononline4less.com, can i take your tonsils out?

Shocked

foreignDevil · Joined: 23 Jun 2003 Posts: 580

The places that would accept online certificates are most likely the places that would also accept no certificate at all. That is, the certificate is superfluous.

Where I am in China my employer actually rewards tefl certificate-holders with a small salary increase, but it is a laughable amount, and they don't care where the certificate is from. And there is absolutely no change in your professional status within the school.

budgie · Joined: 22 Feb 2005 Posts: 40

How about in the middle east? I have a friend who's a non-native speaker but hopes to get work teaching children or something. What kind of TEFL would she need?

marblez · Joined: 24 Oct 2004 Posts: 248 Location: Canada

Sekhmet · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 329 Location: Alexandria, Egypt

Unfortunately, the Middle East has lots and lots of different requirements, depending on which country, type of institution, experience, proficiency, etc. Countries like Kuwait and KSA are unlikely to offer jobs to non-native speakers because their pay scales are pretty high and competition can be fierce, even among native speakers.
Egypt is more likely to have something, but again, it all depends on the type of institution. A language school might be able to offer something, but the pay would be quite low. Wages in Egypt are low at best, but for a person with no qualifications, no experience, and a non-native speaker, you could end up on a subsistence wage.
However, a decent TEFL qualification, some experience and a BA could land a decent job here, even for a non-native speaker.

budgie · Joined: 22 Feb 2005 Posts: 40