Job Discussion Forums

[rorymoylan]

After some good advice to a previous posting I searched around a little more and wanted to know if anyone has any comments on the following organisations/websites that offer TEFL courses in BA.

Bridge Linguatech
TEFLocal
www.travellingteachers.com
EBC

I only ask as its hard to see (given they all claim to be of a similar standard) any weaknesses. Some are cheaper of course, which I feel is not always a sign of a lack of quality.

Any feedback would be great.

Until then...

[amy1982]

i HIGHLY recommend emailing the programs and asking them to put you in touch with former students... that's what i did when i was researching programs and it helped me a lot. a good question to ask is what people didn't like about the course - you tend to get more useful information that way... if a place won't put you in touch with former students, that's not a good sign...

i've posted a bunch about ebc, but i can't compare it to other programs. i think the teaching practice is key. there is no point in doing a program that doesn't give you several opportunities to teach non-native english speakers.

what didn't i like about ebc? well, that's hard to say. it was a lot of hard work, you're there ALL DAY LONG, and the teaching practice classes aren't very representative of what you encounter teaching english in buenos aires. the ebc classes are split into 3 levels, typically 8+ students, and you get a variety of students. none of the students were so advanced that it was difficult to figure out what to teach them. it was easy to fill the hour, and to come up with activities and topics that were interesting to the students as well as myself.

my students now are typically businessmen and want me to do lessons using business english to extend their vocabularies. i've had a hard time getting them to sing "head, shoulders, knees and toes". i have 2 group classes, one with 3 students, the other with 2. i have 2 beginner classes and 2 preintermediate students, the rest of my students are all very advanced. the lessons i did for teaching at ebc are all way too easy for them and most of my classes are 1.5 hrs as opposed to an hour (that's easier though - i was always running out of time at ebc). generally, i talk about current events, cultural differences/experiences, and go over business articles with them. but many times i don't feel like i'm really teaching them anything, more just giving them a chance to practice.

well, i hope that helps some. good luck in your search.