Job Discussion Forums

[timmyjames1976]

I was checking into the Canterbury TEFL program in Madrid that was advertised a few days ago in the job board section here. Does anyone have experience with that program? Also, what is the typical work week like in Madrid. I read the sticky, but it is a few years old, so I am not sure if it is dated at all. Any details would be great!

[Rebate]

I have been in touch with the Canterbury school and have been impressed by their quick and professional communications. I have not yet attended the school but I recently saw a post under the Spain board: EBC vs. Canterbury that worries me. I emailed Canterbury and requested a response to the post and I'll let you know what I find out. In the meantime you may want to read the post yourself.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed, though.

Rebate

[justin andersen]

I was a grad of EBC and I can tell you that EBC�s teaching practice classes were great. We taught to different levels, nationalities, professions and they were all "ingles Gratis" meaning EBC gave these free English classes to allow us to practice "live".

I taught individual classes, very big classes, and I thought I was gonna get a different thing when I started teaching and getting paid for it. Little, did I know! Well, the only difference is now I get paid for teaching English and its nice to enjoy Madrid on your wages!

I am not going to comment on Canterbury because I only want to comment on the school I went to and that is EBC, we were definitely teaching in the real world! Funnily, my PAID classes with different schools are almost identical to the teaching practice classes I had at EBC. Suerte a todos.

[Mikka]

I taught in Spain for 2 years, 2001-2003 and I'm familiar with Canterbury English. My advice, if you are going to travel to Spain and invest money in a TEFL course, it would be much wiser to invest in the CELTA (Certificate for English Language Teaching to Adults) offered through the British Language Centre. The CELTA and the Trinity TESOL are the only two internationally recognized TEFL qualifications. The reason-quality control. In order to offer the CELTA, a center and their teachers have to certified by Cambridge University. Further, for each course, an outside examiner comes in to evaluate teachers, student lesson plans, and observe student-teacher lessons. This is not to say that a Canterbury TEFL would be frowned upon elsewhere, you did do a course after all, but it's simply that, a course.

On a final note, the Canterbury English TEFL is modeled after the CELTA. When I went there to interview in 2001, my interviewer took one look at my CV, looked favorably upon my recently received CELTA and questioned me extensively about the format of the course. He furiously scribbled notes and told me that Canterbury English would soon be offering their own brand. I was offered the job but later received a better offer elsewhere.

[Spainish]

Double post reply...

Regarding Mikkas post:

Ah, the old TEFL vs. CELTA debate . It's been argued to death, and though I admit that in many ways the CELTA does seem to be more "official" in so much as the checks and accreditation from Cambridge University etc., in general a TEFL certificate is still just as valid world wide. What I think is more important to consider is that a good 80% of the people who decide to teach abroad only do it for a year or so tops (from what I've witnessed here in Spain that rate may even be higher).

So, if you are planning on making a career out of teaching ESL abroad I would say go for the CELTA, your long term prospects will be better with it. But if you are just looking to practice your Spanish and breathe a breath of fresh European air, don't bother paying the extra, you'll find work (at least here in Spain) no sweat. There are plenty of good TEFL courses to choose from, I'm still not buying into the "cowboy outfit TEFL course" horror stories as I have yet to truly see or here about one here in Spain (granted ITC just fell through a few months ago, but they were a respected and known course provider until their demise, so I hardly see that as an example).



Regarding Justin�s post:

Maybe I'm missing something, as I'm not sure why the "teaching practice" aspect of EBCs TEFL course was suddenly being discussed, but my experience with Canterbury was very similar. 40 hours of in class training was required to complete the certificate course plus a video taped "final exam" class that they graded and later gave you a copy of to present to future employers that might require a practice class or example to be given. To my knowledge, all TEFL course providers require some form of in class "real" training (at least those that I've heard of here in Madrid).

[justin andersen]

Hey I spoke about my experiences as an EBC grad and so the teaching practice classes came in, nowhere in my post did I make a bad reference to any other EFL school because as I pointed out how can I comment on other schools when I only have experience from one. As you said teaching practice is part of an EFL program so it can be commented on. Also somewhere along this thread a certain school�s teaching practice was being discussed by an ex grad of that school and I guess I posted my experience on the wrong thread so youre kinda confused as to where I�m coming from.

[Spainish]

No worries Justin,

I hope you didn't feel I was accusing you of making a bad reference to another school, I guess I was just a bit confused because timmy was asking a general question about Canterbury and then suddenly EBCs teaching practice was brought up (I kinda figured maybe you had meant to post it else where ).

Spainish

[justin andersen]

No probs, you see I saw a post from an ex grad of Canterbury on this forum and the experiences she/he had, and something about teaching practice, the school, etc. etc but I can�t seem to find that Canterbury�s ex grad�s post anywhere now. So maybe that�s also why we�re all confused because that post seemed to have disappeared, but really all I wanna do is teach and enjoy Madrid at least for a year and if anyone wants info, pm me or email me. Thanks anyway Spainish and may we all keep on enjoying Madrid! hasta pronto!

[Rice Paddy Daddy]

I've wanted more on Spain...

[Spainish]

Hey Rice Paddy Daddy,

If you wan't more on Spain you've come to the right place! But considering the amount of info already available through the search option I think a more specific question or request would be in order !!

Feel free to PM me, if you prefer hearing things straight from the bulls mouth, as I've been here in Madrid for nearly 4 years now and have a lot of love (for Spain that is) to give!