Job Discussion Forums

kyz · Joined: 10 Oct 2006 Posts: 9 Location: New Zealand

Hi People

Has anyone from Australia or elsewhere heard of this website called www.teflcourses.com.au and the course is called an i to i TEFL course.

has anyone got one of these certificates and has had no probelms getting work with this qualification?

Please help.. I am trying to choose the correct TEFL course for future job hunting

Thanks

Kyz Confused

lozwich · Joined: 25 May 2003 Posts: 1536

Which one are you thinking of doing? Many jobs require more than a weekend course. The CELTA, for example, is 5 weeks full-time.

kyz · Joined: 10 Oct 2006 Posts: 9 Location: New Zealand

Hi there..

I was thinking on this website www.teflcourses.com.au that I would do the premier course. I am not a professionl teacher. I have been teaching english in Italy privatly to under 10 years of age children over the last year. I was thinking of travelling and working in Turkey, Greece, Spain or Italy again. The course has the following content..

Premier TEFL (80 hours)
Online TEFL course (40 hours)
Weekend TEFL course (20 hours)
Grammar awareness module (20 hours training)
Access to our job contacts database (8000+)
TEFL certificate
Employers reference
TEFL Toolkit e-book
Lonely Planet country guide
Six months supply of lesson plans
Lifetime access to our Teaching Abroad helpdesk
�A concise grammar for English language teachers� book

Have you heard of "I to I" TEFL courses? Maybe I am better to call some schools in these countries and see what TEFL accredited courses they accept?

Thanks for replying

Kyz

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

I can't speak for Turkey, but the other countries you mention are all considered desirable places to work/live and there are lots of English teachers there - hence competition for jobs.

The basic entry-level course considered acceptable by decent language schools is a 100+ hour ON-SITE course offering at least 6 hours of supervised teaching practice. The supervised teaching practice is key.

You would probably be better off to save your money, to go one of the countries you mentioned, and take a course there. There are a lot of advantages to this - you will make useful contacts in the country, your practice teaching students will be really like the ones you will be teaching, and you can get oriented in the country before you have to strike out on your own there.

However, you should be aware that (unless you have a second citizenship from an EU member country) you would have to work illegally. You should check the individual country forums below for more info.

lozwich · Joined: 25 May 2003 Posts: 1536

Hi Kyz,

Are you back in Oz? Which city? I might be able to give you some contacts for the CELTA depending on which city you're in.

I also agree with spiral78 about doing a training course in the country you want to live in, but I'd be careful about the exchange rate. Coming from the UK and paying for a TEFL course in Euros makes it a bargain, but sometimes its not quite the same if you're paying with Aussie dollars.

I don't know much about i to i, but after a quick skim of the site, the Premier option doesn't seem to meet the usual requirement of classroom teaching practice. The teach abroad one seems a lot better, but I got a bit confused about the fees, and it looks like it costs about the same as the CELTA, so why not just do that course, since its more widely recognised?

Hope this helps,
Lozwich.

kyz · Joined: 10 Oct 2006 Posts: 9 Location: New Zealand

Hi lozwich

I am in Auckland New Zealand sorry.. the i to i course has also a new zealand branch.. also we have TEFL international branch but unfortunately it is not near Auckland..

the price difference in NZD between a CELTA and the TEFL premier was about NZD1500.00 also the CELTA meant taking a month off work to do it full time. I am now thinking a CELTA course would be the better option but i am not sure if having no degree its really going to benefit me either way if i put the time money in to either of these courses?....

I am under the impression that without a degree I am going to find getting a job difficult?

I have taught english in italy to under 10 years olds but that was illegally and probably not a good idea to put on my resume. So with little teaching expereince i am not sure what to do.. I had my heart set on going to Turkey to teach!

Any feed back would be appreciated.

Thank you

Kyz

ITTP · Joined: 23 Sep 2006 Posts: 343 Location: Prague/Worldwide

Hello Kyz.

A degree is not usually required if you plan on teaching in Turkey.

If you require any further info on teaching in Turkey then the Turkey section of this forum has some excellent posts.

You can also feel free to email me and I will provide you with objective feedback (we have had a number of grads who have headed down to Turkey).

All the best!