Job Discussion Forums

superstevieg · Joined: 21 Dec 2008 Posts: 18

Hi,

I am arriving into Japan mid-March and hopefully finding work teaching English on my Working Holiday Visa.

I hold a degree, but have no teaching experience or qualifications,

Although it�s not my intention to teach English long term, I am not going into it with faint-hearted attitude and I want to prepare myself the best I can before I arrive.

I have ruled out taking on a 2-4 week intensive TEFL course as I can�t really afford the time due to work commitments. But I do have several options that I�m hoping someone could advise me on which route I should go down and why:

1) Take a 100 hr online TEFL course with ICAL (�135) or i-to-i (�260) � this is my preferred option as I will gain an insight into teaching and also obtain a Certificate at the end of the course which may impress employers? Does anyone have any experience from taking an online course with ICAL or i-to-i? Has anyone made use of their teacher placement service?

2) Read a book, e.g. 'How to Teach English', by Jeremy Harmer

3) Take an intensive TEFL weekend course � this will give some first-hand experience, albeit minor experience, of teaching classes.

Many thanks for any help,

Steve

Never Ceased To Be Amazed · Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 9:02 pm Post subject:

I won't even dignify this post with a response! Oh, crap, I just did that, didn't I? Get some education and get into the biz...I'm soooo tired of these WHV cowboys! Get onto your governments to "get real" with you economies and stop sucking offa the Japanese teet...which is getting smaller and smaller!

I'm sooo unqualifed, but as I have white skin, you owe me a job. GIVE THE PROFESSIONALS A BREAK!!

NCTBA!!!

P.s.-Read a book...your intelligence matches you question!

purple_piano · Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 10:58 pm Post subject:

I can't help with info about the online courses, sorry!

Harmer's "The Practice of English Language Teaching" is good and the 4th edition comes with a DVD with some example lessons of experienced teachers. I would imagine if you were doing an online course you wouldn't get the opportunity to observe so that may be helpful.

A book that I have found really useful is Scrivener's "Learning Teaching". It's a no nonsense starter guide.

Also get yourself a good grammar reference book. Smile

superstevieg · Joined: 21 Dec 2008 Posts: 18

thanks purple piano, I have a waterstones voucher so I mau use that for the books you have suggested,

Never ceased to amazed, it concerns me that have taken the time to type out such a negative reply. How is this meant to help me and other people in the same position. Japan does not owe us a living for simply being white, so that's why I'm trying to take steps and earn the right to get hired. WHV holders are not all cowboys - whats wrong with trying to find work and mix in a bit of travel at the same time. We all have to start somewhere.

G Cthulhu · Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2009 4:53 pm Post subject:

NCTBA is just bitter that he could never get the advantages of a WHV. Most grown ups would simply get over it and deal with the fact that it is what it is.

Don't bother with the 100 hour course: it won't impress anyone; those that don't know what it is won't regard it as anything different from anything else out there (including those people that simply claim to have a certificate) and those that do know what it is (ie. worthless) will laugh in your face about it.

Go the book route and try to get some (volunteer somewhere?) classroom experience before leaving for Japan.

Good luck with the monkey life. Smile

fluffyhamster · Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2009 6:13 pm Post subject:

Hi Superstevie. I'm guessing that among other things, NCTBA didn't notice that you said you have a degree (which would likely satisfy the minimum educational requirements for the issuance of a work visa, iff you were prepared to apply for jobs from outside Japan and wait however long it would take to get a positive reply...seeing as you don't seem prepared to wait outside Japan, just make sure that you bring enough money to tide you over once in until you get enough work or - being-realistic-worst-case-scenario - have to leave Japan and regroup). As for an expensive/more extensive initial certificate (or indeed even the cheaper, supposedly more "intensive" ones), why bother when a) as I said above, all that is required for a genuine work visa is a degree and b) entry-level employers aren't prepared to pay a yen more for a teacher with a cert as opposed to one without (and some teachers without might not even have degrees i.e. really are "genuine" WHV cases), not that they would necessarily be "unimpressed" with a cert*; then, c) if you really get bitten by the TEFL bug you might one day wish that you'd saved that cert money and put it towards an MA instead (the entry requirements for MAs are first degree and relevant experience - certs and dips aren't mentioned AFAIK).

Harmer's HTTE (2nd edition) also can be bought with an accompanying DVD, and is certainly easier to get into than his TPOELT 4th (which beyond the 2nd edition started to sprawl a bit IMHO). Comments about those books and more can be found via the Huddleston & Pullum-related sublinks in the following 'Grammar Questions' thread post (and the post also includes many useful links for learning grammar, and also phonetics and the IPA as it relates to English - all of which will help ensure that your methodology won't run the risk of being linguistically ill-informed and thus potentially too "empty", so much hand-waving!):
http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?p=714587#714587

A recent thread about Japan-specific teaching books:
http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=67932

Wikipedia obviously can also be a place to start or turn to. See for example:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language_learning_and_teaching

I'm always banging on about how much one can learn from books, and TEFL certificate courses proceed from one having read at least a few beforehand anyway (i.e. the courses ultimately won't tell you much you couldn't learn yourself or soon work out, apart from that you are or aren't quite suited to standing up in front of people and politely imparting knowledge and encouraging learning).

*That is, given a choice between one or not, I think that most employers would actually take the cert, on the assumption that it would make the person a better teacher, at least in the customer's eyes. Note that I am talking here about working for independent progressive eikaiwa, or as an AET or whatever i.e. about jobs where one might be expected to show initiative and develop one's own activities, as opposed to just following a prescribed chain eikaiwa method, for which complete greenhorn malleable teachers, who have no option but to take the advice offered, may be preferable/preferred.

Hoser · Joined: 19 Mar 2005 Posts: 694 Location: Toronto, Canada

What never ceases to amaze me is how satire just goes completely over the heads of people on a board full of supposedly English teachers.

Never Ceased To Be Amazed · Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2009 11:53 pm Post subject:

superstevieg · Joined: 21 Dec 2008 Posts: 18

Just wanted to say thanks to G Cthulhu and fluffyhamster for their advice - it has given me plenty to think about

Never Ceased To Be Amazed · Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2009 4:55 pm Post subject:

Me, too...

NCTBA

reasonJP · Joined: 17 Jul 2008 Posts: 48

Might be a little off topic, but I'm curious- I'm thinking of getting a masters in TESOL, and I know a lot of unis, Birmingham for example, do distance learning. Has anyone ever done one of those? What was the schedule like? Were the costs rediculous?

womblingfree · Joined: 04 Mar 2006 Posts: 826

Absolutely no point in doing an online TEFL course. How will they assess your teaching? Pointless.

You don't need one for Japan anyway and you say you don't want to teach long-term so save your money.

fluffyhamster · Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2009 8:04 pm Post subject:

wintersweet · Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2009 12:04 am Post subject:

Hmm, nearly all MA TESOL programs in the US include a teaching practicum (at least the ones I know of). I did a lot more teaching during my MA than during my certification.

womblingfree · Joined: 04 Mar 2006 Posts: 826