Job Discussion Forums

[stellaz]

hi,

I'm looking at doing TEFL somewhere in spain, preferably barcelona and it was just wondering how to go about it?ive seen something on i-to-i.com that offers a 4 week course and then straight into a job afterwards for around �400-500, but ive now been informed that i-to-i arent really that good, and that i would need to do a �800-1000 CELTA course anyway.

Has anyone done TEFL with i-to-i, or is it worth me organising it myself? im aiming to go in october and would really like to go into work after that, im a complete beginner so any help would be hugely appreciated, thanks!!)

Stella

[mdk]

I dunno. How many students will you get to practice on.

I paid $1,000 to get a TEFL in Barcelona and there were 8 other students in the course trying to practice teaching 4 people the school had dragged in off the streets. It was ( how you say ? ) unique, but they gave me a pukka sahib TEFL certificate. You do the math.

[SirKirby]

i-to-i aren't offering you either Trinity or Cambridge CELTA, both of which will be much more highly regarded by Directors of Studies (DoS) who will (or will not) be offering you jobs afterwards.

You want to maximise your chances of getting a decent job in a good school...?

Does the i-to-i course give you ANY classroom teaching experience...? Their website doesn't make it clear (a bad sign).

Even their "most in depth TEFL course [which] combines theoretical training with practical teaching experience" doesn't appear to put you in front of real students and require you to teach them.

Personally (as a former DoS) I wouldn't employ you if that's all you had to offer me...

[spiral78]

To clarify, the European standard is 120 hours on-site including teaching practice on actual students (not peer trainees) with supervision and feedback from experienced teacher-trainers. The teaching practice is considered key in almost all European job markets. Anything less will put you at a disadvantage, since most newbies DO have the above training.

[mdk]

But if you have to cut your coat to fit your cloth then you can fall back on the old adage, perhaps. "The farther you go back in the woods, the easier it is to get a job" Do you have any teaching experience at all? I had spent a couple of years as a graduate teaching assistant back in the day. That stood me in good stead when I dropped into the Russian boondocks about 30 years later.

My point is that there are a lot of neat places (which I would infinitely prefer to Barcelona or Madrid) in Spain. I have just walked the via de la plata from Extremadura up into Leon and then I did a lateral to Sahagun onto the Camino Frances and I am currently rusticating in Madrid because my hip developed a misery in Villdangas del Paramo. Those names probably don�t mean much to the kind of people who hang out in Barcelona, but they were all nice places which would love to have a native speaker come and help them learn English.

If you settle in Mansilla de las Mulas, for instance, you can eat Bacalao a las Mansillas as much as you like. Bedad! It�s just the finest thing that could ever happen to a piece of salt cod that you could imagine!

If you go up into Galicia you can even get bagpipe music.

[craftynick]

I did my TEFL coures through i-to-i here in Barcelona nearly 2 summers ago, the tutor was really good but im not sure if he still works with them or not (think he may have left them!) but is was very badly organised! We did get some teaching practice but mostly on people that they pulled off the street and usually not for as many hours as we were supposed to have. Also there were a lot of complaints from people about the school we were using, not just from our group but people who did the course after us. As far as im aware they dont use this school anymore. Also beware if they promise accommodation included, this was worsly organised than everything else.

The only reason i picked i-to-i was because the course was half price, though they charged some others the full price. I have had no problems getting jobs despite the fact it isnt a CELTA cert but if you can afford it i would go with another company. Basically expect what you pay for