Job Discussion Forums

[canucmeee]

I am interested in going to Prague for certification and to teach. I am not sure if I will make a career of it but am planning on being there at least one year. That being said, I have seen someplace on here or the expats site that the Caledonian School's certification program is only good for Eastern Europe and isn't worth much elsewhere. Is this true? Is it worth it (extra expense, etc) to get certified with Trinity or Cambridge CELTA if I am not sure how long I will be over there?

[spiral78]

Caledonian offers a decent generic cert, though it's not the brand name. I have a similar cert (from way back in 1998) and never had any problem with recognition, in Europe and Canada, but haven't tried Asia.

Any cert that is 120 hours on site, including teaching practice on real students, should meet the standard.

Though CELTA and Trinity are the brand names~!!

[roadwalker]

Celta and Trinity Tesol certificates are definitely the better known brands, but I would base your decision on whether the Caledonian program is worthwhile or not, in and of itself. I received a Tefl years ago from ITC which is (was??) based in Prague. I haven't had any trouble in China with it being an 'off-brand'. China requires a bachelor's and some sort of Celta/Tesol/Tefl plus two years experience. On the other hand, teachers with lesser qualifications often find work in the out of the way locations and with unscrupulous employers in the private sector. Check the various Asian forums. I believe Japan doesn't even care about any of those certificates. I don't know about Korea or Taiwan, but I can't imagine Southeast Asian countries being too specific about which one.

If it's a good program it's worth your while. At minimum, look for 100+ hours of instruction and at least six hours of observed practice teaching. Check for student feedback but not only on the school's website!

[roadwalker]

Celta and Trinity Tesol certificates are definitely the better known brands, but I would base your decision on whether the Caledonian program is worthwhile or not, in and of itself. I received a Tefl years ago from ITC which is (was??) based in Prague. I haven't had any trouble in China with it being an 'off-brand'. China requires a bachelor's and some sort of Celta/Tesol/Tefl plus two years experience. On the other hand, teachers with lesser qualifications often find work in the out of the way locations and with unscrupulous employers in the private sector. Check the various Asian forums. I believe Japan doesn't even care about any of those certificates. I don't know about Korea or Taiwan, but I can't imagine Southeast Asian countries being too specific about which one.

If it's a good program it's worth your while. At minimum, look for 100+ hours of instruction and at least six hours of observed practice teaching. Check for student feedback but not only on the school's website!

[spiral78]

My cert course was also ITC, 1998.

[smithryansmith]

caledonian gets trainees due to that garantee. its fine, but if you are reasonably competent youll be able to find a better paying job. dont let that garantee be only reason you choose the school. the TEFL courses in prague all have good reps. id say:

If you want to make TEFL teaching a career, do the CELTA at akcent.

If you just wany to do it for a year or two, go for the cheapest option. ITC or one of those. in the beginning youll need any extra money you can get before your first paycheck.

lots of ITC grads on this thread

[spiral78]

Yeah, ITC certified lots of us (and didn't certify some - my course had 13 trainees, and only 3 of us passed ). But I think it's long gone!!

Yes, Caledonian's salaries were considered at the low end for the city (am not sure if that is true this year, but it has been over the past 10 or so) but some newbies are OK with that, in return for the security of the 'guaranteed' job. It might be an acceptable trade-off for some people.

[smithryansmith]

Wow. 3 out of 13. it must have been a tough course. Or you must have had some less than stellar people. ITC is still kicking. Might have changed owners, though. Lots of good memories from my course.

http://www.itc-training.com/

[canucmeee]

Just how difficult is it to get housing and find a job without a school's assistance?

One perk Caledonian school has is that it offers survival Czech lessons during their TEFL course. Has anyone experienced their 'survival Czech lessons' and if you have or if you are familiar with Prague do you think I really need them or would it be the same if I studied on my own?

Also, the Caledonian website says that they pay teachers 16,000-20,000czk/month

I'm assuming the new teachers start with the 16... and is 18,000-20,000czk normally average pay?

[ITTP]

[spiral78]

ITC's trainers changed over quite a lot in the period from 1998/2000. Some were good, some less so. The same assessment could be made of the trainees on their courses. The low success rate of my course was due in part to trainers, in part to an unusually high percentage of trainees who could be described as socially challenged.

canucmee, a school's help in finding housing is normally quite useful. Consider that many landlords won't speak English, and that contracts normally need to be in Czech. Negotiating directly with a landlord could be difficult to impossible, though you might get lucky and find someone with the language skills to make it work. At least, it's probably by far the easiest course of action to start out with housing you get through a school, then to consider other options later on when you know the city and have some local contacts who can help you out -

[smithryansmith]

[juliebk]

I'm actually in a similar position as you canucmeee. I am deciding between trinity at oxfordtefl and CELTA at Akcent. I think that Akcent offers survival czech if you go the week before, but I don't think oxfordtefl does. Does anyone else know about these two (in general, not just survival czech)? Has anyone done either of these courses? Is one more helpful with advice about finding a job?

[spiral78]

Both have solid reputations, and should be able to give you reliable information about good local employers. Survival Czech's a useful little bonus - but nothing to really make a decision based on.

[ITTP]