Job Discussion Forums

[jonchaley]

...at least I THINK they're new. Apologies if I'm wrong. I DID look.

First question:

OK, what I've read here is I need CELTA or Trinity certs if I want to get the best acceptance from a host country. I looked at the websites, and it seems to mean travel to one of just a handful of US cities. Is that right? I have gathered here that no one seems to think an on line cert is anywhere near as valuable, so travel to a big city is going to up the expense considerably for me, especially if I have to stay a while. How long would I need to stay in, for example, San Fransisco working on this? It would get very expensive very quickly there.

Second question:

This has been covered, but not to my knowledge specifically about the area I am interested in. I have a felony I pled no contest to about 15 years ago. It WILL show up on a background check. I am interested mainly in central/eastern Europe/Russia as my host countries. Does anyone know if the former felony is a deal killer?

Thanks for all the help!

[spiral78]

Consider getting a reputable certificate in the country where you want to start teaching. Good training centres provide a nice bridge into country/culture. They usually do things like arrange for your accomodation during the course, airport pickup, local orientation, and possibly local language classes. Your practice teaching students will be representative of those you'll be working with when you start, and your training centre should be able to put you in touch with reputable local employers.

On the felony issue, it is likely to be a problem in the regions you mention.

You might pick a country, locate a training centre there, and ask them about the felony conviction. Hopefully you'd get an honest answer. You could also usefully ask the US embassy of the country in question about this.

[denise]

As always, I agree with spiral78.

Really, since the course will cost you so much anyway (it sounds like you'd have to find accommodation, etc. even to do it in the US), might as well put that money towards getting an in-country certificate. Even if you don't stay in that country, it will be easier to job-hunt within the region. You could do a course in Prague, for example, and then travel around central/eastern Europe from there--might be easier than packing up and moving from the US.

d

[jonchaley]

[spiral78]

That's an unqualified, unequivocal 'No.' Millions start off with no local language skills. It's a useful thing to develop as you can, though - more important for daily life/shopping/etc than in the classroom.

[jonchaley]

Thanks to both respondents here. It is a good idea to get the cert in a country where I plan to teach. Do you recommend that I only shoot for a CELTA or Trinity cert within that host country? I have not checked and am not sure where these certs are available. So for example, if I was looking at Budapest as a possibility, should I rule it out because there is no trinity or CELTA there but there IS one in, say, Moscow?

Another way to put the question is, if I go to another country to get my cert, would you still advise that it would be very limiting to me to get anything other than a Trinity or CELTA? If these two were that important, i would simply choose which cities/countries had those courses as available options within the region I am looking at, rather than just go to my first choice as a city/country and get some kind of cert that is not as widely recognized.

[spiral78]

Prague's a mecca for training centres and I think there are both Trinity and CELTA courses there. To train in Prague basically works for the region - Poland/Hungary/Slovakia/Czech Rep. You could check what's available in Poland as well - lots of courses on offer there.

On the issue of name-brand certs, there are some reasonable equivalents (in Prague, I know for sure, there are five or six reputable generic cert courses). So long as you plan to teach in that region, a generic is fine. If you think you're going to teach in multiple countries/far away, then you probably want the recognised name brands.

[jonchaley]

Much obliged. thanks again. You seem very knowledgeable. Do you have any idea which countries within my area of interest would be the most likely to accept me as an EFL instructor in spite of my felony?

Or, if none of the above, which countries anywhere in the world would be most likely?

[spiral78]

On the legal issue, I can only speak for the Czech Rep, where we do have to provide a document stating that our criminal records are clear. I'm not sure to what degree this is applied across the whole region - sorry.

I think one way to find out might be to contact course providers in the countries you're interested in - be straight with them and hopefully they'll be straight with you. It's an easy email to write, basically - "I'm intereted in taking a course and teaching in....but must first find out how likely it is that I'll be able to get legal papers in light of....Can you offer any concrete information on this issue?"

I'm sure other regulars will be along shortly with info about the rest of the world -my direct experience is limited to Europe and Canada, in terms of teaching!

[jonchaley]

[naturegirl321]

Certs are about a month or five weeks. As for the criminal check, simply don't apply to countries that require one.

[coledavis]

Question 1: Yes, get CELTA or Trinity even if it involves travelling. These are best for Russia (as well as many other places), especially for your first job, which may need to be a 'McSchool'.
Question 2: I don't know if Russia checks up on this.