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ladygringa · Joined: 17 Jul 2005 Posts: 14

I want to go to Ecuador in Oct. for 6-10 months.

Any suggestions on the best/cheapest/fastest TEFL online certification course? Or does having the TEFL even really help that much?

Justin Trullinger · Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 2:39 pm Post subject:

Best, cheapest, fastest...not sure what you're really looking for here.

For me, and I do hire teachers in Quito, an online TEFL cert doesn't mean too much. Have you taught before? Lived in LA? What other education have you had? By itself, a TEFL cert (a good one, done on site) is only a starting place. An on line one is a "buy a cert," as far as I can tell.

Regards,

Justin

Chazz · Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2005 9:09 pm Post subject:

I took the Global TESOL Certification program. I am pretty sure that they are the biggest company out there doing this sort of thing. It cost $1000 Canadian for the basic course/cert. (five full days in class). I also got two specialization courses to do via correspondence. This was a promo deal so you may be looking at an extra few hundred. Either way - they are well recognized and provide you with some real pretty pieces of fancy paper with your name on them - and isn't that what we all really want?
The course is quick. I don't know that "quick" is a good thing unless you have experience. Just as valuable as a cert. is any experience you have/can get. I thought the course was pretty good and comprehensive but I imagine that that's subjective. I had a great instructor.
They provide a lot of post-course support too but I've not had the chance to use it so...
Hope that helps. Good luck!