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denalynn12
Joined: 05 Mar 2009
Posts: 3
Location: Pennsylvania, USA
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 Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 1:29 pm Post subject: Hello, I am new and need advice (if you wouldn't mind) |
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Hi there-
I am looking into teaching English abroad and I have looked into a few different options. My lease is up in the USA in May so I initially would like to go around then. If I have to- June or even earlier in April. I originally was going to go to South Korea and have a recruiter that is helping me get organized and I just sent away for my Apostilized forms and they should be coming any week now. But I have been rethinking and perhaps would like to go other places instead (Taiwan, Thailand, etc...)
Please give me some advice from when it was your first time preparing and leaving the country and some words of wisdom as to where to go for a first time TEFL teacher. It would be much appreciated. I do have a TEFL certificate from i to i and a college degree. Also, I am a 27 year old female, so I would like to go somewhere where there would be some Americans and Westerners at first so I wouldn't feel totally overwhelmed.
: ) |
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Chancellor
Joined: 31 Oct 2005
Posts: 1337
Location: Ji'an, China - if you're willing to send me cigars, I accept donations :)
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| Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 1:59 pm Post subject: Re: Hello, I am new and need advice (if you wouldn't mind) |
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| denalynn12 wrote: |
Hi there-
I am looking into teaching English abroad and I have looked into a few different options. My lease is up in the USA in May so I initially would like to go around then. If I have to- June or even earlier in April. I originally was going to go to South Korea and have a recruiter that is helping me get organized and I just sent away for my Apostilized forms and they should be coming any week now. But I have been rethinking and perhaps would like to go other places instead (Taiwan, Thailand, etc...)
Please give me some advice from when it was your first time preparing and leaving the country and some words of wisdom as to where to go for a first time TEFL teacher. It would be much appreciated. I do have a TEFL certificate from i to i and a college degree. Also, I am a 27 year old female, so I would like to go somewhere where there would be some Americans and Westerners at first so I wouldn't feel totally overwhelmed.
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How many hours is your i-to-i certificate? Frankly, given that it is an online certification that starts out with 40 hours and offers absolutely no teaching practice with real EFL students, my recommendation would be to go out and get better certification that has, at minimum, 100-120 course hours and at least 6 hours of teaching practice with real EFL students. Otherwise, i-to-i supposedly does job placements and you might find it easier to go that route. |
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denalynn12
Joined: 05 Mar 2009
Posts: 3
Location: Pennsylvania, USA
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| Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 3:32 pm Post subject: |
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well, I did the 80-hour course. Should I apply for a couple of more extra classes to get me up to 100/120?
I thought it wasn't required for you to take a TEFL Course nor have experience in the field. I am sure they would prefer it, but not necessary. My recruiter told me alot of schools like to teach you themselves so experience wasn't needed. |
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Chancellor
Joined: 31 Oct 2005
Posts: 1337
Location: Ji'an, China - if you're willing to send me cigars, I accept donations :)
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| Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 4:41 pm Post subject: |
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| denalynn12 wrote: |
well, I did the 80-hour course. Should I apply for a couple of more extra classes to get me up to 100/120?
I thought it wasn't required for you to take a TEFL Course nor have experience in the field. I am sure they would prefer it, but not necessary. My recruiter told me alot of schools like to teach you themselves so experience wasn't needed. |
Not only should you take the remaining modules to get you up to no less than 100 hours (120 would be better), you most certainly should get some teaching practice (which means you are being graded/observed while teaching). How would an employer know you can teach if you've never done a teaching practicum?
Better schools (and even a great many of the not-so-good schools from what I've seen) require prospective teachers to have teacher certification. Why should a student (or, in the case of a child, the parents) pay a school to teach him English when those doing the teaching aren't certified to teach? If you had children, would you send them to a school where the teachers weren't certified to teach? Would you as an adult go to a school that prepares you for a particular occupation where the instructors weren't certified to teach you the course material?
If you're going to stick with i-to-i, go finish taking whatever modules you haven't finished yet and have i-to-i place you in a job. If you can, arrange to do a supervised teaching practicum (with real ESL/EFL students, not fellow i-to-i trainees like i-to-i does) of at least six hours' duration (get i-to-i to help you with that, perhaps through one of their volunteer opportunities). If you want better entry-level jobs in this field then prospective employers are going to want to see that you've had some supervised teaching practice (to make sure you can actually teach). If you can't get a supervised teaching practice, perhaps you can do some volunteer ESL teaching in your local area (or elsewhere) and have the place document that you did the teaching and that you were successful at it. For example, in some places Literacy Volunteers does ESL classes. |
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father Mackenzie
Joined: 10 Oct 2008
Posts: 105
Location: Jakarta Barat
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| Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 5:29 pm Post subject: |
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The i to i online certificate is accepted by some schools thats for sure but I would recommend that you take the Chancellors advice and get some observed teaching practice so that you are made more ready for when you do start teaching.
I have worked with teachers with this certficate and those that have some experience of teaching settled in better than those with none.
I would also consider looking for jobs other than what i to i offer and looking on Daves ESL for jobs is a great place to start.
With the i to i certificate you will start teaching at entry level. PM me if you want any more information. |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 10:24 pm Post subject: |
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I do not think it is very practical to tell you where you should go. That needs to be an individual decision.
I can tell you that if you wait until May or June, you will find you have missed the peak hiring time in Japan (March). Also, figure that even with a recruiter it will probably take you 2-4 months to land something and get the visa paperwork processed. |
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denalynn12
Joined: 05 Mar 2009
Posts: 3
Location: Pennsylvania, USA
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| Posted: Sat Mar 07, 2009 3:57 am Post subject: |
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| thanks for your insight! |
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Honky Nick
Joined: 20 Sep 2006
Posts: 113
Location: Hong Kong
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| Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2009 1:10 pm Post subject: |
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| Yes, do a more comprehensive TEFL Cert if you have the time and money, then go out and get some experience. I'm in HK now, but I think Japan is a great introduction to teaching abroad (friendly people, hugely different from any other country in the world), and there are definitely a lot of foreigners around if you're feeling too overwhelmed by culture shock. They also have quite a few programs (JET, ALT, language schools) who will hire people in your position. Good luck! |
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