Job Discussion Forums

[carl_00]

Greetings,

Initially I planned on doing the Celta after a year or two in South Korea. But, it's proving difficult getting work at the moment, so, I'm considering doing an online TEFL course. Ideally I want to get this done asap so I can get a job asap.

How soon would each one take? Assuming that their numbers aren't the length of time they're expected to be completed in .

And, once I do have one completed I will then be looking at other potential locations in Asia. So, for China is a 40hr cert. sufficient, what about Japan, Taiwan, or somewhere South East?

Thanks.

[nickpellatt]

A 40 hour i-i online course would take up to 10 hours I reckon. Thats based on my experience of wasting some of my hard earned $$$ on one a few years ago.

There may be exceptions, but most employers who would accept a 40 hour online i-i course would also accept you without one. They would also probably accept a certificate in TEFL made up with clip art and printed and laminated at home.

Avoid IMO, unless you have one employer in mind who is saying 'Yes, Ill give you a job, just get a certificate of any description to satisfy our policy'. I dont think the online certs represent value for money, and more importantly, I dont think you actually LEARN anything from them. Certainly nothing you couldnt learn by buying a book for 1/10 of the cost of a course.

[carl_00]

True, one of the reasons I've not already done an online cert. is because I was expecting to do the Celta after a few years in Korea. And I'm not particularly keen on spending the money on it beforehand.

I've also recently come across a school offering the 120-hr cert. in-house as opposed to online, in terms of the level would this be on par with a Celta?

[Glenski]

Most entry level employers in Japan don't even require a certification.

[nickpellatt]

[carl_00]

@glenski: I'm surprised to hear that, but even so, I imagine due to the number of applicants a TEFL cert. is almost an essential to get above the rest.

@nickpellatt: I wasn't looking at i-to-i. The school is one based in Madrid called Canterbury English, cheaper than a Celta and offering work afterwards hmmm...either way, note-to-self: avoid i-to-i.

[Glenski]

[tttompatz]

[TeresaLopez]

[AGoodStory]

[nickpellatt]

[Big Poppa Pump]

If you can't afford the CELTA maybe you should consider one of those courses in Thailand where you get a rural teaching placement for a few months? Apparently the cost is fairly modest.

Personally, I'd rather hire a teacher that has an in-person training than an online training if it came down to that sort of qualification.

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

[Justin Trullinger]

I've never opposed online courses specifically because they are online; rather I oppose crap courses because they are crap.

MANY online "certificate" programs fall into this category, though not all.


And if you check Cambridge's website, you'll see that the not-yet-available "online" CELTA will still have a substantial onsite component.


Best,
Justin

PS- And whatever the CELTA does, it's unlikely to change my opinion of i to i

[fluffyhamster]

Thanks for the heads up about the forthcoming "online" CELTA, Justin.

Just think, prospective ELT trainees will now be able to actually sit at home (on comfier chairs, with a glass of expensive breakfast wine within easier reach, etc etc), concentrate, read, and most importantly THINK (for themselves) a lot more than before probably (especially as the onlne course will be 'delivered over a longer period of time than the 4-week intensive model'*) - meaning equally that they won't have to endure being half-lectured at by trainers, or worse, by uppity fellow trainees, quite so much as could've been the case previously!

But seriously, it will be interesting to see how this switch to online learning at not just DELTA but now also CELTA level pans out. On the one hand it is a smart move by UCLES and its CELTA providers (including IH), because "increasing access" also means increasing profits (and like I say, who really wants to sit around being half-lectured to death FT when they could be reading PT in between working a job or whatever else), but on the other hand, they will be losing the very thing that has always distinguished the CELTA (and 'equivalents') from "lesser" certs: the fact that it is (was) 100% face-to-face, doesn't (didn't) stint on the TP (the six hours is a MINIMUM, and even if you clear little more than that amount yourself, you'll probably get to observe fellow trainees' TP to the tune of tens of hours in total), is (was) tougher and more intensive than Marine bootcamp and would thus prepare one well for one's first teaching missions, etc etc etc.

Maybe the greed (or nowadays the recessionary financial need!) of the providers will be their undoing (in the sense of losing a "monopoly" of sorts, and thus facing increased competition)...but doubtless the demands of the customer (for online/distance learning) is as much if not moreso a motivator for the change. Still, let's not forget that UCLES will doubtless INSIST on the TP being completed (and completed in short order, ASAP after the online portion(s)) for the certificate to be issued (whereas competitors e.g. INTESOL seem to leave the completion of TP up to the customer, though in INTESOL's case stating reasonably clearly that CELTA-equivalency can only be attained by doing the TP), so perhaps the "quality" of the CELTA will continue to be "assured" (not that I myself think it was that high to begin with!).

I do foresee a definite potential problem however in the fact that the CELTA online/input and TP/face-to-face tutors will likely not be one and the same person, even if they are both based at or "liaise closely" with/through the same training center - I mean, we've all read about how even the old wholly on-site format could lead to people failing due to lack of enough specific/custom-tailored feedback (on TP i.e. on how the theory was seen to be applied by the trainee) etc.

* http://www.cambridgeesol.org/exams/exams-info/faqs/celta-course-online-faq.html#1