Job Discussion Forums

MattElz · Joined: 07 Jan 2004 Posts: 92 Location: New York, NY, USA

Has anyone heard of the American TESOL Institute certificate program? It is offered at Milestone Learning in NYC over the course of 5 days (a 20 hr course). How is it?

angrysoba · Joined: 20 Jan 2006 Posts: 446 Location: Kansai, Japan

http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/job/viewtopic.php?t=37345

paulmanser · Joined: 28 Nov 2005 Posts: 403

I'd do a 4 week course if I were you. You dont need CELTA/TRINITY for everything, only International House or Brit council want such high qualifications. Maybe wstern Europe too.

Most other places int eh world want, Degree, native speaker, 4 WEEK TEFL CERT from COT/any UK UNIVERSITY/ECT

MattElz · Joined: 07 Jan 2004 Posts: 92 Location: New York, NY, USA

It's just that I am working at a NYC ESL school and can only tutor because I don't have this BS 2 day certification. (I taught in Japan for over a year.) The school wanted me to teach for them but state law requires career schools to have their teachers certified. The course is not being offered until the fall, so I wanted something offered sooner and somewhat affordable.

stillnosheep · Joined: 01 Mar 2004 Posts: 2068 Location: eslcafe

Only Trinity or Celta are Internationally recognised. Though COT are 'recognised' as a legitimate body by the British Council they are not recommended by them as providers of EFL training. Other courses may be good but nobody who matters (ie employers) have heard of them.

paulmanser · Joined: 28 Nov 2005 Posts: 403

beggers cant be choosers, ie. China, Poland.

COT is just as good. Only a nut from Poland would turn away a native with degree, eu passport, cot or uk university accred tesol course. like I said beggers cant be choosers.

If only ppl with celta/trinity did tefl. The tefl field would be in deep booboo.

paulmanser · Joined: 28 Nov 2005 Posts: 403

Their not recommend becasue they cant check eevry compnay that supply coursea accred by cot ABROAD. where most TEFL courses ARE offered abroad.

COLLEGE OF TEACHERS is in my opinion FINE. 1849 royal charter mark. Their better than your average IAQUO or woteevr they are.

paulmanser · Joined: 28 Nov 2005 Posts: 403

Poland employers HAVE heard of COT....................corrected you nosleep. wink.

tedkarma · Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 3:11 am Post subject:

It is an old argument, but CELTA and Trinity are not the only recognized certificates in the world. Most knowledgeable employers look for observed teaching practice and a minimum 100 hour course. That's it. It is not, after all, rocket science - it is only a four to six week course - depending on where you take it. The courses are a LOT of work - but not particularly difficult.

A limitation of the CELTA is that it is adult focused - the "A" in CELTA. The problem with it is that, in many countries, the real "bread and butter" work is teaching children. They will be happy, for extra money of course, to sell you a certificate program for teaching young learners.

Most TEFL Cert programs give you approaches for adults and children and even give you a bit of focus on the local population where you study. Yeah, CELTA is the same EVERYWHERE - too bad they can't give you just a bit of local focus too.

And - yes - Cambridge recommends the CELTA - because they get hefty royalty fees for each course taken. Of course they do! I would too!

CELTA and Trinity are fine programs - but not the only game in town.

stillnosheep · Joined: 01 Mar 2004 Posts: 2068 Location: eslcafe

paulmanser · Joined: 28 Nov 2005 Posts: 403

I havent taken the course yet.

I make loads of spelling mistakes on forums, big deal.............

ls650 · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 3484 Location: British Columbia

stillnosheep · Joined: 01 Mar 2004 Posts: 2068 Location: eslcafe

I wasn't referring to mis-typings made when typing quickly. I was referring to basic mistakes in grammar and syntax and in your repeated use of "their" for "they're" which led you to use "they" (or "their" (sic) for "they're") twice within five words in the same sentence when referring to two different bodies (The British Council and the College of Teachers) which made your post hard to read and understand.

If you are yet to take the course why do you keep asserting all over Dave's on the quality of training of which you have no experience? Similarly why pretend to be so knowledgeable about sharks in the presence of those of us have been swimming with them for years, and in some cases for decades.

I for one would prefer to have my training independently assessed. I find it suspicious that the CoT play up their Royal Charter Mark (given in 1879 or whenever for activities entirely unrelated to TEFK training and which is any case only a Charter, or permission, to engage in certain activities, not a Quality Mark, and their recognition by the British Council, which is just that, recognition.

It is not the standard of CoTs training that I object to - I have never experienced their training - but what I consider to be the deliberate attempt at misrepresenting themselves that they perpetrate on their website.

So good luck with your training. And with sorting out basic errors in grammar and syntax. I can recommend Swan's Practical English Usage as a good solid reference book and Jeremy Harmer's The Practice of English Language Teaching and/or Jim Scrivener's Learning Teaching as worth borrowing from the library to get stuck into before your course; I find the Scrivener to be the more readable and thought provoking of the two whilst the Harmer is great at providing practical classroom ideas. Also email your future tutors and ask them for their recommendations.

paulmanser · Joined: 28 Nov 2005 Posts: 403

The Practice of English Language Teaching and/or Jim Scrivener's

I have this book.

Few others too.

stillnosheep · Joined: 01 Mar 2004 Posts: 2068 Location: eslcafe

Then read them (they are two books, not one) and get Practical English Usage to bone up on subject/verb agreement, correct use of the apostrophe, homophones (they're/their/there) and basic syntax.