Job Discussion Forums

sisyphus · Joined: 20 Sep 2009 Posts: 170

What would be your preferred TEFL course destination (if you were planning to take a TEFL)? This is a kind of survey, I'm interested in finding out where newbies really want to do their TEFL. Berlin, Prague, Ho Chi Minh, Shanghai, London etc?

coledavis · Joined: 21 Jun 2003 Posts: 1838

First branch: Would you take it in your home country or abroad? I think doing it at home (assuming you are a native speaker) is more challenging because you have to teach multilingual classes (i.e. no fast explanations in the students first language).

sisyphus · Joined: 20 Sep 2009 Posts: 170

cole, yes you're absolutely right that would be the first question. I am just for the sake of simplicity asking for a one shot answer i.e Washington, Rio, etc ,just a brief overview of preferences..... Idea

7969 · Joined: 26 Mar 2003 Posts: 5782 Location: Coastal Guangdong

Bangkok? You can get a decent priced hotel for a monthly rate, I was in Vega House near Asok BTS for ~ Bt10,000 per month. Prices usually depend on time of year of course, I got that rate just at the tail end of low season. Nice accommodation close to transport links. Good meals can be had for Bt150-200 all over the place in Bangkok. Of course your finances and where you are currently will play a big part in all of this.

artemisia · Joined: 04 Nov 2008 Posts: 875 Location: the world

Prices vary, but many choose the location where they plan to stay and teach. I think that's a good idea. There are benefits to doing it in an English speaking country, but very often TEFLers deal with monolingual groups while working abroad. I think it'd be hard to pin this down to certain cities as so much depends on later work opportunities if taking the option of studying where you want to work.

Denim-Maniac · Joined: 31 Jan 2012 Posts: 1238

I feel the preferred location is to do it at home. So it all depends on where you live really. In my small (less than 80,000 people) UK hometown, there are two course providers, one offers a Trinity 3 times a year, the other is a local college that offers CELTA on a part-time basis.

Doing it at home offers a lot of advantages IMO.

Tudor · Joined: 21 Aug 2009 Posts: 339

Some more points of view here...

http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?p=1009191&highlight=#1009191

White ice · Joined: 28 Aug 2012 Posts: 37

im going to do mine in my local area.

celta sounds pretty intense so i feel its a better idea to do it somewhere i know rather than trying to settle into a new place at the same time.

coledavis · Joined: 21 Jun 2003 Posts: 1838

Re CELTA (and Trinity) being intense: Yes, if you have not taught before and are therefore unused to preparing lessons and addressing groups of people, then it will be.

Let us assume that this is the case. The choice is an uncertain one. If you stay at home, you don't have new challenges but you will need to avoid distractions and, if possible, have other people make allowances so you get a chance to prepare and, who knows, rest. If you relocate, it may be possible to spend more time alone in your room; on the other hand, if you're in a new city, will you really want to spend all that time holed up and not seeing anything? Having written what I've written, I would say that staying at home is most sensible, except in terms of visiting prospective employers.

Which brings me to your question: It depends on where you want to go.

If finance is the big issue, there are loads of threads on 'where can I get the best bang for my buck'.

You also need to consider visa issues. Western Europe may be fun to go to, but if you're non-EU, then it's difficult. Also, even if you are EU, the lack of jobs in the west means that your western training course may give you a holiday (although CELTA/Trinity for a newbie will absorb most of your time) but is less likely to lead to a decent job.