Job Discussion Forums

[w124]

I'd like to say hi to everyone and introduce myself a little...

I was born in Taiwan but I've been living in Los Angeles for almost 30 years, since I was 6-years-old. I have dual citizenship as well and would love to spend more time with my parents in Taiwan.

I am intersted in getting a TEFL certification BEFORE arriving in Taiwan, and I'm wondering if you guys have any opinions or experience with ICAL's Online training or with ANY online training courses?

http://www.icalweb.com/cms/index.php

TEFL course review has pretty good reviews, but the more opinions about it the better
http://www.teflcoursereview.com/ical-on ... -training/

Any suggestions, recommendations, opinions welcome!

Thanks for your time and input!

[ESL Hobo]

Welcome back to Taiwan
Sorry I don't know about the online certificates you are asking about.
I did mine online at ITTT and it has helped in getting me a couple of jobs. But I strongly recommend (if you have the time and money)doing an on campus course with a practicum if you don't have any teaching experience.
Best wishes

[raitei]

From what I've read on the forums, the consensus is that taking online TEFL certification classes are a waste of time and money and that the only real worthwhile certification is onsite for 100 or so hrs with about 6 hrs of teaching. Hope that helps!

[steve_c]

[Rooster_2006]

I'd argue that ANY 120-hour certificate is worthless in the eyes of an employer. They're generally only useful for actually learning how to teach English, or for borderline cases who are trying to get a visa (e.g. an AA holder teaching in Taiwan, or a high school graduate teaching in China).

In Korea, it always went like this.

(in many, many job interviews)
Me: I also have the Cambridge CELTA English teaching certification.
Interviewer: So what about your experience?

In China, one time, it went like this:

Me: I'm also starting a CELTA English teaching class. So I'll have a TEFL certificate when I come back to China.
Interviewer: Are you asking how much we pay?

One time my girlfriend in Korea wanted to watch me speak English (she couldn't speak English and had never had a foreign boyfriend/friend before, so this was a novelty to her), so she invited her English teacher (one of those super arrogant Korean women who feels superior to everyone because she can speak English). It came up in conversation that I taught English too, and she asked me what kinds of qualifications I had. Then she explained to my girlfriend, in Korean, that "it's just this course that takes a month."

Taiwan MIGHT be different. I just got someone who e-mailed me back and wants to do an interview/teaching demo. They told me to "bring along my teaching certification." Okay, so that's officially the first time in two years and many, many interviews that ANYONE has cared about my TEFL certification (and the best one, I might add).

In other words, if you really, genuinely want to learn good teaching method, take a course in TEFL on teaching the age group you want to teach (CELTA is not very helpful for teaching kids, unfortunately). If you only have an associate's degree, a TEFL course can help you get a visa. However, don't expect employers to give a rat's ass about it, because they don't.

[w124]

Thanks for the replies!

Tt sounds like the TEFL certification is more for self-improvement than 'requirement'....I'll definitely look into that some more since I'm gonna be new to teaching and learning from observing is definitely different than the 'real world'

I love being with kids and am pretty good with managing them (at least on a one-to-one basis) so I'd like to give that a try. People say I look younger then my age and I'm smaller in structure so that will work well with kids that are easily intimidated by size and age...I guess

I couldn't find any threads specific threads about benefits of TEFL certification so perhaps we can make this thread into one

Thanks again for all the replies and let's keep 'em coming!

[Rooster_2006]

[Taylor]

QUOTE: "her English teacher (one of those super arrogant Korean women who feels superior to everyone because she can speak English)."

I will remember this comment for the rest of my life! Absolutely hilarious!!!

[MisterLinguistix]

Hello,

When I lived in Vietnam I was in the process of taking an online 120-hour TESOL certification (www.global-english.com) and teaching at a lower-end school which didn't require any certification. I then applied for a job at a higher-end school and was told by the nice head teacher that he would bend the rules (which required a CELTA) and let me teach at his school once I finished the online course. Unfortunately I needed another few months to finish the course and left Vietnam before I could take him up on his offer.

The main benefits of taking the online TESOL were that I could do the course WHILE I gained experience teaching. In addition I simply didn't have the $1,000+ to do the official CELTA. A few of the jobs that I have landed DID take into account the certification (once I completed it) and I believe the it got me in the door on a few places. Therefore, the ~ $500 did pay for itself.

I am now in the process of doing another of their courses : Teaching English to Young Learners, as I have now taught young students for over a year and am looking to increase my skills. This course is also affordable (~$200).

My ultimate intention is to eventually do the CELTA course when I can get the money together. But the online courses (in addition to my independant reading on the subject) have paid off.

Look at it as a stepping stone.