Job Discussion Forums

[neilmac]

I am trying to decide which TEFL course to do, to enable me to ultimately find work in Latin America. From what I see, there are 2 main certificates that are internationally recognized. i have to choose, then, between a CELTA course and a TESOL course. Is there any real difference or are they exactly the same?

[naturegirl321]

I think that CELTA is more well-known, but generally in LA they ask for a degree rather than a one month cert.

[TEFL anonymous]

Is there any school/place in particular you're looking at? If so, read the ads there and see which one they refer to more often. I applied for jobs in Mexico and although many asked for the CELTA, people accepted my Trinity TESOL equally.

I must tell you about a job at a language school that I applied for earlier this year though - the DoS said that because my Cert wasn't CELTA (and that was the best cert to have apparently!) she would pay me less because she had never heard of Trinity TESOL and assumed it to be rubbish. Thus an offer of a measly 30 pesos an hour was placed on the table...

However, in other places I've been for interviews with, such as Universities and businesses, they know exactly what I'm talking about and had no problems what so ever, didn't even question it. If they're DoS's who know what they're doing, they'll know the score. If not, do you want to work for someone who isn't even aware of basic qualifications for TESOL teachers anyway?

I'd look at both and see which one you want to do. They're a little different and ultimately, do the one that you think you'll benefit from most. I'm not an interviewer or anything, but that's my opinion based on my recent experience here, for what it's worth!

[denise]

TEFL anonymous--sounds like that DoS who interviewed you was, well... (searching for a nicer term...) an idiot.

Neilmac--there are a lot of courses that are internationally recognized. The CELTA and the Trinity certificates are the "name brands", basically. There are a lot of job ads that request only a "TEFL certificate." But then, since I'm not in the market for a job in Latin America at the moment, I look at job ads all over the world just out of curiosity.

The basic components should be the same--a grammar review; a guide to lesson planning (the PPP model--presentation, practice, production); examples of how to teach reading, writing, listening, speaking, and grammar; practice teaching sessions, with both your fellow classmates and real, live English learners as students (I think we only practice-taught our classmates once, and everything after that was with real students); feedback from peers and trainers.

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