Job Discussion Forums

[Agent007]

Hi. I'm new to this forum and new to ESL. I will greatly appreciate any advice that can be offered.

I have a BA in English, and am from the U.S. I will be spending the summer in Toronto, Canada, and wish to do an ESL teacher training program while I'm there. I'm trying to choose between studying at International House-Toronto, which offers a TESL, or Language Studies International (LSI) which offers a CELTA. IH appears to me to have the advantage of being connected to all the other IH schools around the world, while LSI appears to offer little in the way of getting work after the course's completion. However, I understand that the CELTA is the more recognized certificate. On the other hand, the TESL seems to have stricter requirements about admission--it requires a college degree, for example-- which suggests to me that it should be considered at least as valid a credential, even if it actually is not.

I am looking to find work as soon as this fall, probably in Poland or Russia. A far less convenient option for teacher training, but one that I'll consider if others strongly recommend it, is to get the CELTA at St. Giles in San Francisco. They appear, at least on their website, to offer extensive help and preparation for job placement. However, this will dash my other plans for the summer, and also be considerably more expensive.

Any thoughts? If you don't happen to be familiar with these particular schools, perhaps you can make a suggestion just based on what you know about the CELTA vs. TESL, and about IH vs. LSI. My strongest consideration is getting a job with a decent employer for the fall--in light of that, I should also mention that the LSI course ends in mid-September, and the IH course ends in mid-August.

Thanks very much for any input you can offer. It will be greatly appreciated!

[wildchild]

Does this mean that you are not working with the Peace Corps anymore, 007?

[teflexpert]

I'd go for IH myself, as they do have a good reputation for their courses ( but not as employers!). All I know about LSI is that I was once offered a interview with them for a DOS job, but I didn't get the letter in time, and then the principal sent me a horrible email threatening to tell everyone on the ARELS mailing list how I hadn't turned up for the interview. Nice!

[Agent007]

Thanks, Teflexpert. Since you say that International House doesn't have a good rep as employers, I think I'll take my chances with the CELTA at LSI, and just hope that since I'm paying them, they won't do anything weird like you described. My main incentive for taking the course with IH was so they could employ me at one of their schools--but if they have a lousy rep as employers, then maybe I'd rather not work for them. I might be better off just using the name recognition of the CELTA, which I can get at LSI, and use that to apply to schools for employment.

Thanks again.