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rayne
Joined: 05 Aug 2009
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 Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 9:32 pm Post subject: |
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| isitts wrote: |
I, personally, would not cut corners with online certificates. You don't have to get a CELTA. I got a perfectly legitimate 130 hour TEFL Certificate for half the cost of the CELTA, and it's served me just fine.
Your teaching experience is going to overshadow your brand of certificates anyway. And you'll be able to make back the money you spent on the TEFL course (including the housing) within a few months of your job.
Just my advice.
These TEFL courses are a lot like driver's ed - you learn a particular standard in class, but once you're out on the road, you develop your own driving style (while keeping the basic principles you learned from the course). And the longer you've been driving, the less people will be concerned about which prestigious driving school you went to.
Of course, the counter-argument could be that if you've been driving badly for a long time, one could ask, "Where'd you learn to drive?!" But I think for the most part, we'd hope you're not driving in exactly the manner you learned in driver's ed. No one would want to get in the car with you. |
Sorry, not 100% sure what you're saying. Are you suggesting to do a in-person class or are you saying a TESOL/TEFL certificate isn't as good as teaching experience so I don't HAVE to do it if I really don't want it?
If I take an in-class course will it be covered by my student loans? I can take it at a community college in my city... I'm guessing yes? I think I should call to double check but if anyone lives in BC and knows, let me know  |
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RMNC
Joined: 21 Jul 2010
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| Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 9:45 pm Post subject: |
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The second one. Everyone can talk the talk but people who have walked the walk will always get the job first. You could have the best TESOL CELTA or TEFL and still lose the job to someone with 1 year of Korea time in 95% of the cases.
And I doubt student loans cover it unless it's an actual class at your university, most TESOL classes are independently run. |
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isitts
Joined: 25 Dec 2008
Location: Korea
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| Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 9:56 pm Post subject: |
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| rayne wrote: |
| isitts wrote: |
I, personally, would not cut corners with online certificates. You don't have to get a CELTA. I got a perfectly legitimate 130 hour TEFL Certificate for half the cost of the CELTA, and it's served me just fine.
Your teaching experience is going to overshadow your brand of certificates anyway. And you'll be able to make back the money you spent on the TEFL course (including the housing) within a few months of your job.
Just my advice.
These TEFL courses are a lot like driver's ed - you learn a particular standard in class, but once you're out on the road, you develop your own driving style (while keeping the basic principles you learned from the course). And the longer you've been driving, the less people will be concerned about which prestigious driving school you went to.
Of course, the counter-argument could be that if you've been driving badly for a long time, one could ask, "Where'd you learn to drive?!" But I think for the most part, we'd hope you're not driving in exactly the manner you learned in driver's ed. No one would want to get in the car with you. |
Sorry, not 100% sure what you're saying. Are you suggesting to do a in-person class or are you saying a TESOL/TEFL certificate isn't as good as teaching experience so I don't HAVE to do it if I really don't want it?
If I take an in-class course will it be covered by my student loans? I can take it at a community college in my city... I'm guessing yes? I think I should call to double check but if anyone lives in BC and knows, let me know |
Sorry, I guess that was confusing 
Um, what I'm saying is I really recommend taking an on-site course where you are teaching actual students learning English. You'll have more options that way than with an online course. That is what I'm stressing.
Now, that said, in choosing which course to take, I'm agreeing with ttompatz. |
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edwardcatflap
Joined: 22 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 9:57 pm Post subject: |
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| Everyone can talk the talk but people who have walked the walk will always get the job first. |
Except for those schools that actively seek out people with no experience.
Besides which, an online cert shows you can talk the talk but a CELTA shows you can walk the walk as well, in the sense of doing 6 hours assessed teaching practice with real students. A year in Korea at Ding Dang Dong academy just shows you've avoided getting fired by your Hagwan owner for a year. Which might not have anything to do with your teaching abilities. Mind you, as you say, most Koreans would probably see it as a sign you're probably not going to do a midnight run and hire you because of that. |
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isitts
Joined: 25 Dec 2008
Location: Korea
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| Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 10:10 pm Post subject: |
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| rayne wrote: |
If I take an in-class course will it be covered by my student loans? I can take it at a community college in my city... I'm guessing yes? I think I should call to double check but if anyone lives in BC and knows, let me know |
Well, sure. Check with them. See if it is offering a certificate that meets the criteria. If so, great. But I think RMNC might be right. Most of these are independently run.
If you are paying off loans, could you maybe take another loan (from, say, your parents) and offer a payment plan for them upon getting your job? If you end up working in Korea, you'll not be paying for housing so it shouldn't be difficult to pay your parents back quickly. |
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rayne
Joined: 05 Aug 2009
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| Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 11:46 pm Post subject: |
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| RMNC wrote: |
The second one. Everyone can talk the talk but people who have walked the walk will always get the job first. You could have the best TESOL CELTA or TEFL and still lose the job to someone with 1 year of Korea time in 95% of the cases.
And I doubt student loans cover it unless it's an actual class at your university, most TESOL classes are independently run. |
Actually a lot of universities and colleges offer TESOL/TEFL courses where I live, so it would be considered as classes part of a post-secondary institution. I'm still gonna give my government's student loans office a call and double check all this though. If student loans covers the on-site, I'll defiantly do that. The student loans will definitely NOT cover online though.
| isitts wrote: |
Sorry, I guess that was confusing
Um, what I'm saying is I really recommend taking an on-site course where you are teaching actual students learning English. You'll have more options that way than with an online course. That is what I'm stressing.
Now, that said, in choosing which course to take, I'm agreeing with ttompatz. |
I actually have 4 month inbetween my last day of university classes and going to Korea so I thought I might as well do a certificate instead of sitting around on my butt all day.
I agree with all of you that on-site courses would be much better, but the huge difference in price is the thing that's really getting to me.
| isitts wrote: |
If you are paying off loans, could you maybe take another loan (from, say, your parents) and offer a payment plan for them upon getting your job? If you end up working in Korea, you'll not be paying for housing so it shouldn't be difficult to pay your parents back quickly. |
I don't want to borrow money from my parents. One of the reason's I'm leaving the country... our relationship is just that bad.
If it's online I can afford it. If it's on-site I'll really need a student loan or else it's a no go. |
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isitts
Joined: 25 Dec 2008
Location: Korea
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| Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2011 1:11 am Post subject: |
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| rayne wrote: |
| RMNC wrote: |
The second one. Everyone can talk the talk but people who have walked the walk will always get the job first. You could have the best TESOL CELTA or TEFL and still lose the job to someone with 1 year of Korea time in 95% of the cases.
And I doubt student loans cover it unless it's an actual class at your university, most TESOL classes are independently run. |
Actually a lot of universities and colleges offer TESOL/TEFL courses where I live, so it would be considered as classes part of a post-secondary institution. I'm still gonna give my government's student loans office a call and double check all this though. If student loans covers the on-site, I'll defiantly do that. The student loans will definitely NOT cover online though.
| isitts wrote: |
Sorry, I guess that was confusing
Um, what I'm saying is I really recommend taking an on-site course where you are teaching actual students learning English. You'll have more options that way than with an online course. That is what I'm stressing.
Now, that said, in choosing which course to take, I'm agreeing with ttompatz. |
I actually have 4 month inbetween my last day of university classes and going to Korea so I thought I might as well do a certificate instead of sitting around on my butt all day.
I agree with all of you that on-site courses would be much better, but the huge difference in price is the thing that's really getting to me.
| isitts wrote: |
If you are paying off loans, could you maybe take another loan (from, say, your parents) and offer a payment plan for them upon getting your job? If you end up working in Korea, you'll not be paying for housing so it shouldn't be difficult to pay your parents back quickly. |
I don't want to borrow money from my parents. One of the reason's I'm leaving the country... our relationship is just that bad.
If it's online I can afford it. If it's on-site I'll really need a student loan or else it's a no go. |
Ok. Well, in light of this, I'd say go for the online course. If you have the time and money for that, go for it. It can only help you (since we're just talking about Korea here).
If it helps you get a job here, you can decide later if you want to do an on-site course, and by then you should easily have the financial resources to do so. I paid for my TEFL course with the money I made in Japan.
So, anyway, yeah. The online course sounds like your best option. Good luck to you!
*Remember to refer back to what ttompatz and RMNC said about online courses on page 1 of this thread.* |
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rayne
Joined: 05 Aug 2009
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| Posted: Sat May 21, 2011 10:42 pm Post subject: |
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Alright, so I've decided to do an online TEFL course.
I think I'm going to go with ITTT TEFL's 120hour course (with a tutor... I can't stand tests, no matter they are open book, online, whatever. And most people on Dave's are saying they took 4 to 6 to 16 hours. It's just not for me)
http://www.teflonline.net/courses/tutor.html
For the on site teaching practicum, how is it arranged? Do they call up a school near me and set something up? Can people tell them their experience?
If anyone knows a (cheaper/better/both) online course besides ITTT, please share your experience =] |
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isitts
Joined: 25 Dec 2008
Location: Korea
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| Posted: Sun May 22, 2011 12:31 am Post subject: |
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| rayne wrote: |
Alright, so I've decided to do an online TEFL course.
I think I'm going to go with ITTT TEFL's 120hour course (with a tutor... I can't stand tests, no matter they are open book, online, whatever. And most people on Dave's are saying they took 4 to 6 to 16 hours. It's just not for me)
http://www.teflonline.net/courses/tutor.html
For the on site teaching practicum, how is it arranged? Do they call up a school near me and set something up? Can people tell them their experience?
If anyone knows a (cheaper/better/both) online course besides ITTT, please share your experience =] |
I don't know about the on-site arrangement. You could call them.
By the way, there's a long thread here about ITTT:
http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=123773
You could also ask your question there.
Good luck! Sounds like most people on that thread thought it was a helpful course and helped give them a pay bump. |
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vw08
Joined: 08 Dec 2010
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| Posted: Sun May 22, 2011 8:01 am Post subject: |
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ITTT's 120 hour course is purely computer based. There is no in-class/practical component for this type of certificate. Though many people use the terms TEFL and TESOL interchangeably, as far as certificates go, they are very different.
I'm going to second using ITTT. I'm currently finishing my last unit of the course you are interested in and it has been a fairly straightforward process. |
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rayne
Joined: 05 Aug 2009
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| Posted: Sun May 22, 2011 12:54 pm Post subject: |
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| isitts wrote: |
| rayne wrote: |
Alright, so I've decided to do an online TEFL course.
I think I'm going to go with ITTT TEFL's 120hour course (with a tutor... I can't stand tests, no matter they are open book, online, whatever. And most people on Dave's are saying they took 4 to 6 to 16 hours. It's just not for me)
http://www.teflonline.net/courses/tutor.html
For the on site teaching practicum, how is it arranged? Do they call up a school near me and set something up? Can people tell them their experience?
If anyone knows a (cheaper/better/both) online course besides ITTT, please share your experience =] |
I don't know about the on-site arrangement. You could call them.
By the way, there's a long thread here about ITTT:
http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=123773
You could also ask your question there.
Good luck! Sounds like most people on that thread thought it was a helpful course and helped give them a pay bump. |
Thank you, I've read that thread already. It's actually one of the reasons why I decided on ITTT
| vw08 wrote: |
ITTT's 120 hour course is purely computer based. There is no in-class/practical component for this type of certificate. Though many people use the terms TEFL and TESOL interchangeably, as far as certificates go, they are very different.
I'm going to second using ITTT. I'm currently finishing my last unit of the course you are interested in and it has been a fairly straightforward process. |
ITTT has two different sites, one for TEFL and one for TESOL. According to my google searches and topics on here, it doesn't matter which one I take and they are about the same thing... Since you say they're different, can you tell me in what way they are different?
Are the two courses really different?
Some people in previous posts strongly recommended that I take a 120hr course with practicum and not a 100hr course without. Since this one doesn't have a a practicum anyways, should I just go with a 100 hour course?  |
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vw08
Joined: 08 Dec 2010
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| Posted: Sun May 22, 2011 2:46 pm Post subject: |
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I've gone over the ITTT sites for TESOL and TEFL too and it looks like they are identical, right down to the description of course units. I should have been more clear when describing the difference between TESOL and TEFL. In terms of certificates, they appear to be virtually identical and just a matter of regional preference for calling it TESOL or TEFL. In academia and teaching there are very real and important differences between TEFL and TESOL. There is more on the exact difference between the two certificates at http://www.bootsnall.com/tefl/04-12/faq.html#2.
For ITTT, the big difference between the tutored and non-tutored, is whether you complete course work in unit by unit or take one big test at the end. It is up to you which you feel more comfortable completing and past posts on http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=123773&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=90 will tell you more on the pluses and minuses of each type of course. |
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rayne
Joined: 05 Aug 2009
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| Posted: Sun May 22, 2011 3:05 pm Post subject: |
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| vw08 wrote: |
I've gone over the ITTT sites for TESOL and TEFL too and it looks like they are identical, right down to the description of course units. I should have been more clear when describing the difference between TESOL and TEFL. In terms of certificates, they appear to be virtually identical and just a matter of regional preference for calling it TESOL or TEFL. In academia and teaching there are very real and important differences between TEFL and TESOL. There is more on the exact difference between the two certificates at http://www.bootsnall.com/tefl/04-12/faq.html#2.
For ITTT, the big difference between the tutored and non-tutored, is whether you complete course work in unit by unit or take one big test at the end. It is up to you which you feel more comfortable completing and past posts on http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=123773&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=90 will tell you more on the pluses and minuses of each type of course. |
Huh, I guess it'll be better for me to get a TESOL then, thanks for the information! |
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