Job Discussion Forums

[Falcon24]

I am considering enrolling in an Oxford Seminars' TEFL course. I have been told that this course is good short term training; however, I wanted to ask others about the quality of this certificate and how easily one can gain employment in Latin America with it. I hold a bachelor's degree from Cornell University and have some knowledge of intermediate level Spanish, but no significant teaching experience.

Do you think that this qualification would be sufficient to get a decent job in Cusco, Peru? I would be looking to teach for about six months in 2010. Let me know what you think. Any suggestions/advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Falcon 24

[Mike Lee]

Oxford Seminars will certify you. Its only 60 hours though. It'll work in Peru, but if you ever want to go elsewhere, chances are you'll need to take another course that goes up to 120 hours. I myself went through Oxford and felt the course to be rushed and crammed into the 6 classes. It does give adequate instruction on how to teach, but you don't get a lot of actual practice teaching, nor do you construct a lot of your own lessons. I would say go to Oxford Seminars if:

you are looking for something fast
you are looking for something cheap
you are willing to work in a limited number of countries (due to the lack of hours)
you are confident in your language skills and ability to become a good teacher and plan your own lessons.

That being said, a CELTA or TEFL of 120 hours are valuable because they will teach you a lot more in depth about how to be a good teacher. In my case, I would like to be in a better situation to complete on of them, but am going to go to Peru with an Oxford Seminars certificate because I have ESL experience and am a Linguistics major so I am confident in my teaching abilities. That, and I don't have the time or money to commit to one. Hope this was helpful

[naturegirl321]

Actually, you probably don't need a cert to work in Peru, but if you're going to get one, do it right 120 hours plus 6 of teaching.

[Mike Lee]

thats better advice

[Prof.Gringo]

Just from what I know, Oxford is a JOKE!

A one week "course" where you don't even teach students isn't going to prepare you. You are better off just taking the cheapest on-line course you can find if you just want a piece of paper. In fact, taking a 100 hour on-line TEFL would look way better than a 60 hour "six day seminar". There are multiple on-line TEFL providers listed here on Dave's and they all offer online TEFL certs, some as cheap as $160. You can get a decent 100 hour cert for just over $300.

EDIT: I just checked the website of "Oxford Seminars". The cost for the course is $1,095. They also have a "money back" gurantee. This is an immediate redflag. Read the fine print. You need 20 rejection letters from schools in 4 different countries. Guess what? Schools don't send rejection letters, not by mail or by email.

For the same cost or a little more you can take a 120 hour on-site TEFL with at least 6 hours of teaching practice.

I took my TEFL cert course in Chiapas, Mexico. At the time I paid $1,300 and I got a 120 hour TEFL. That included housing (but not meals), a way better deal than $1100 for a 60 hour class.

Better yet, take an on-site TEFL in your target country (Peru). The feedback, practice teaching and being able to interact with other students will prepare you to teach.

Or you can just read some TEFL teaching and grammar books and hope you can find a school that will hire and train you in their own in-house method.