Job Discussion Forums

[mattdsoares]

Let me start by saying I'm 25 years old with 2 years experience teaching K-5 students in South Korea. I have a BA in Linguistics. I do not currently have any teaching certifications.

That being said, I'm finishing my 2nd year in Korea and am looking to move on somewhere new. While I know that if I choose to stay in most of Asia I don't need any kind of certification, I'd like to explore my options in places like Turkey, Russia, or other non-EU countries. I'd also like to make a bit of a career of ESL instruction.

So I'm thinking that I ought to look into a certification course so I can expand my job market outside of E. Asia. The problem is that there are soooo many ESL certification options.

From what I've gathered TEFL courses are not regulated and can be "accredited" by a number of different non standardized organizations, or not accredited at all (Oxford Seminars springs to mind). Then there's CELTA, which is fully accredited by Cambridge and held to more rigorous standards as well as being more respected internationally.

Basically I'm looking to take a 4 week course abroad in my target country. I'm looking at Turkey being that target country. I'm confused as to whether places like Via Lingua, or TEFL International are worth my time and money and will provide me with a respected certification, or whether I ought to stay to hell with TEFL and the often fly by night nature of some of the organizations and go with a CELTA course.

I'm really quite confused overall as the lack of international standards makes it quite difficult to figure out what is a good course and what is rubbish. I'm willing to spend the money on a good course. I don't want to be applying for a great position in 4 or 5 years and not get the job because TEFL International or Oxford Seminars isn't a properly accredited institution.

I love the look of TEFL International or Via Lingua's courses because the price is reasonable and they set you up with housing for a month as well as claiming to help you find a job in that country. At the same time, these programs also seem to garner some negative feedback at times and lack the type of high profile accreditation of CELTA.

Any guidance would be appreciated.

[golsa]

Save your time and get a CELTA.

Shop around before deciding where to take the class because you can save a lot of money. Here in Tbilisi, the CELTA class costs 975 Euros and you can find housing for under $300 for the month. In a US city, the CELTA will cost upwards of $2,000 and the housing will be almost as much.

[nomad soul]

[mattdsoares]

[golsa]

[naturegirl321]

In my experience, again this is just mine, after the first couple of jobs I haven't been asked about my TEFL cert (which is good because they just went out of business ) INstead they ask for your masters, publications, workshops, etc.

[spiral78]

The real keys are that a course is on-site and includes supervised teaching practice with real students. I have a generic cert, and it's been accepted by all my employers over the years and is also officially recognised by the Canadian authorities as an acceptable entry-level cert.

If you did go for a generic, you would need to be sure that you highlight the fact that it was on-site and included the key teaching practicuum. A CELTA is easier, because most reputable employers know already that it meets the standard.

Depending where you go, a cert will often be needed, even later on if you've got a related MA/publications/workshops, etc. It's an entry-level qual and is certainly trumped by other stuff, but it's still considered a necessary step in the eyes of many employers, because of the supervised teaching element.

[mattdsoares]

Thanks for the input. Looks like CELTA is the best choice for me. Guess I'll find somewhere interesting and afforadable and take a 1 month "working holiday" to get my CELTA certification.

[fluffyhamster]

[RalphReggin]

I'm going through the same questions I'm looking at all diferent countries and not sure what cert would work ,,,china, brazil and Europe are on the table presently does anyone know wich ones they need ,,Celt, TEOFL ets.? I'm open to any country with good pay.

[spiral78]

If you are a citizen of an EU member country, you're eligible for legal work permits for Europe. If not, you are looking at the 'new' EU member countries only for legal work (there is tonnes of discussion of this on the Europe boards below, if you're new to this).

European salaries are basically subsistence level - possibly not what you would consider 'good pay.' You can generally make enough to live ok, with a bit of frugality, and to travel around the country you are living in, but not enough to pay off debts back home or to travel abroad much.

For this region, you also need to factor in start-up costs; it's not the norm here for schools to pay for flights over or indeed to hire from abroad - there are simply too many teachers here on the ground ready to interview in person for a reputable school to take a chance on someone sight-unseen. So count on travel and housing expenses for at least a couple of months in advance. Timing is also critical - contracts usually run Sept/Oct through June, so you'd need to arrive in time to start interviewing in late Aug or early Sept to maximise your chances of finding something.

The Asian job market is an entirely different kettle of fish. Dunno about Brazil.

CELTA and equivalent certs are the standard for the Euro region - 120 hours on site and including at least 6 hours of supervised teaching practice with real students (not peer trainees).

[RalphReggin]

No, not a cit. of a European country, Would like to get to France but probaly would have to go in the backdoor somehow if I went that root , dont mind doing that-- gotta do what you gotta do but sounds like they do'nt pay that good...things not looking to good in the US, about reached the end of the line here looking to broaden horizens ,,need airfair to be paid so might consentrate on asia ,,,thanks for your help spiral!

[spiral78]

Back door/under the table work used to be pretty common, but the Schengen zone laws that went into effect January 2009 have pretty much closed the loopholes. You might want to google Schengen zone if you're not up on the new developments....

I'd say cross France off your list, unfortunately, short of finding and marrying a French national!!

[RalphReggin]

thanks spiral !! I'll avoid france and look up the Schenken Law.

[nomad soul]

RalphReggin, do you have a degree? That would give you more options, especially if you add a CELTA or other valid TEFL cert.