Korean Job Discussion Forums

[hubba bubba]

So, I'm looking into getting a TEFL, but don't want to waste my time or money.

For those of you who have a tefl cert., would you say you went to a "good school"? If so, what was good about it. If not, why was it suck? I mean, what makes one school better than the other?

I know about the 100 hours of classroom instruction with 20 being a teaching requirement. But even with that, there seems like there could be gigantic differences between schools. 100 classroom hours watching sesame street? 100 hours listening to someone talk about theory tat you will never use?

Also, besides CELTA, what are the main internationally recognized programs?

Thanks,

Hubba


PS, Yes I know this has probably been covered before. But there are new people (and their experiences) showing up all the time. And no, I didn't use the search function...you know why.

[Colorado]

I did the TEFL International course in Ban Phe, Thailand. I had no prior teaching experience, and had never been overseas. For me, it was a good introduction to the field.
Was it a good course? Well, it was for me. It gave me the initial confidence I needed to step in front of a class of 35-50 students.
If you are already a teacher, then you know what to expect in the classroom, how to prepare a lesson plan and how to manage a large unruly class. I had no clue. And having the certificate often results in a bigger paycheck, so it's not been a waste of money. I've re-couped the cost of the course several times over.

[passport220]

I also had no prior teaching experience. I took my TESOL class at Stamford in Hat Yai, Thailand. It seems to me the course content will be similar between many of these courses.

I thought the most valuable part of the course was having an experienced trainer. I felt fortunate that during my course we were taught by an experienced ESL teacher who seemed very dedicated to do his best to pass on his knowledge and experience to us. I think it is very important to find out all that you can about who will be instructing the class you decide to take.


Good luck

[babtangee]

Got my TESOL cert. from http://www.teachinternational.com/ in Australia. Couldn't praise it enough. Mainly because of the 20 hours of practical training and the quality of the trainers. Saved me from being thrown into my first hagwon class without a clue what to do.

[spliff]

Why don't you just do a photshopped/scanned cert, that what I did...and it works fine...

[ChuckECheese]

[ilovebdt]

I did the Trinty TESOL Cert and really enjoyed it. I am a creative person so this course was good for me because you plan all your lessons from scratch.

ilovebdt

[poet13]

So what about TEFL in Korea? Whats the best outfit? How can you pay for an online course here without a credit card. I don't use credit cards. (read, cut them all up a long time ago)

Sorry to hijack your thread OP, but so many of the posts were about getting TEFL elswhere, I just wanted to hear from someone who has done it here....

[huffdaddy]

I did my TEFL with Bridge-Linguatec in Buenos Aires. Not really worth it for teaching here. It was entirely adult oriented. Practice classes were all with 1-3 students. Not to mention the head teacher was a b*tch who didn't give any guidance at all.

If you're going to do a TEFL and teach in Korea, make sure it's children oriented and involves large practice classes.

[fancypants]

If you are Canadian and plan to continue teaching when you return, you pretty much have to have a Canada TESL approved certificate if you want to work at a quality school. Canada TESL has a list of approved certificates here:

http://www.tesl.ca/

Note that the CELTA is on the list, all of the certificates must be completed in Canada, and that all approved programs are a minimum of 100 hours.

I agree, though, that it doesn't really help you all that much if you are teaching kids unless you take it and then do a CELTYL (young learners extension) after, but it's a pricey way to go...

The CELTA and the CELTYL can both be taken at the British Council in Seoul:

www.britishcouncil.or.kr

Sorry, OP, I know you didn't want more info about CELTA, but I thought perhaps others might be interested...

[Areut]

What made some of you pick the places where you got your TEFL Cert? Do look at the name of school or just the hours. Also did most of you have accommodation part of it? Thinking about getting my TEFL Cert and am thinking about doing it in Thailand since there is no place around where I live to do one. Should I think of accommodation as well as the course? Or would you just do an online Cert?

[gang ah jee]

[tomato]

I took a certification program at a State university, but I should have known about the program which BDT took.
I learn more from pursuing my own ideas than from listening to the teacher.

I did a term paper on sign language as a memory device.
For this term paper, I ran an experiment.
The experimental group learned some Japanese words in Japanese sign language.
The control group learned the same words through interlingual puns. To
remember the word tako, which means octopus, they saw a picture of an octopus enjoying a Mexican snack.
There was no significant difference between the two groups.

In English class, I use American sign language as a memory device.

I also did a term paper on stylized spoken intonation.





I bring a miniature keyboard to English class and ask any piano students to play these stylized intonation patterns on the keyboard.

Since these ideas are unconventional, I have to fight with conventional English school directors.
But the children eat these ideas up, so I keep on fighting.

I would tell you what was covered in the TEFL classroom, but I honestly don't remember.

[Colorado]

[Zark]

Try "How to Select a TEFL School" for a good review of what might work best for you.

http://phuketdelight.com/TEFL.htm