Job Discussion Forums

[merso]

I am looking to do an online course with i to i (advertised on this site). I have no teaching experience but I am looking at getting a job in spain. Am I aiming to high ? or should I look at somewhere like china or south america? where less qualifications and experience are needed. any feedback would be great.
cheers scott

[Gordon]

Where are you from? Do you have an EU passport?
I wouldn't take a TEFL course online, you won't be teaching virtual students in the real world. If you don't have any experience, how will you get any feedback about your teaching?

[Eijse]

...

[ChicagoCubMike]

I did the i-to-i course and I can tell you it's a lot more rigorous than you might expect. It takes at least four weeks to do, and you're paired with a mentor who reviews all of your work (and there's a lot of written work required). Basically, the i-to-i course gives you a guerrilla course in effectively teaching the core competencies, lesson planning, and classroom management, capitalizing on your own creativity and ability to think on your feet. It's really aimed at the no-resources-but-a-piece-of-chalk-in-the-backwoods-of-Burma TEFL set: if they don't think you're going to be effective in a situation like that, they won't let you pass the course. There are ten units of substantially written work, and judging from the student forums (that you have access to as a student), a lot of people find the course to be way more difficult than they had anticipated.

In terms of qualifications, since when are you ever supposed to believe naysayers? Believe in yourself and what you want to do. With an online certificate, I'm not supposed to have been able to find a job in the States, and especially not in Chicago, home to some major TESOL and Applied Linguistics programs. Meanwhile, the i-to-i certificate got me hired at a local Chicago language school in less than two weeks, I'm currently being courted by another, and I'm privately tutoring.

My two cents: do the i-to-i certificate, and go seek out employment in the country of YOUR choice. Where there's a will, there's a way.

However, now, watch how quickly the naysayers in this forum will jump on my response to you. Some people on this forum are very good at offering patronizing responses telling you that if you don't follow their beaten path in terms of qualifications to the letter, you'll never be successful and moreover never be a good teacher.

You need to ask yourself whether you should believe in that kind of advice, or should just believe in yourself and your committment to learn. I chose the latter option, and I have a great job. If I had listened to all the naysayers on here, I'd be unemployed right now. Do with THAT what you will