TEFL Certificates

Hi EFL World!

I've just been doing some research on schools that offer properly accredited TEFL Certificates and two names that stood out from the crowd were The International TEFL Academy (ITA), and International TEFL TESOL Training (iTTT).  They've both been around quite a while, and have proven track records.  Actually I mentioned ITA in my other blog www.summercampthailand.blogspot.com.  They may be a little more expensive than a school like English For Fun, but at least you will get a proper internationally accredited certificate.  Best of all, of course, is the full blown CELTA, if you can afford it.  Unfortunately, the old adage "you get what you pay for" still stands true.

If you want a job teaching in Thailand I recommend doing ITA or iTTT's online course (both are pretty cheap), and then going straight to a placement agency in Thailand, who will give you an orientation course and placement for free, because they take a direct cut from the school.  Don't be conned into doing English For Fun's orientation course, particularly if you're signed up with Camp Thailand, because you'll be paying through your nose for something that should be free.

Some people have managed to go on to get jobs in Korea using an EFF certificate, but I'd say that's just luck or poor checking by the school in Korea.  Often they'll take you on the back of your teaching experience in Thailand rather than the validity of the certificate.  The point is that any reports of people getting jobs there doesn't suddenly make the EFF certificate "internationally accredited" as Philip Crabb claims.  It's still a junk qualification.

Good luck to all of you in the New Year !!

EFL Greg

ITA stands for International TEFL Academy
iTTT stands for International TEFL and TESOL Training

Accreditation

Hi EFL Teachers,

Another important aspect to check when you're thinking of signing up for a course is accreditation. 

Rule Number Three - Always check the authenticity of any claim to be accredited by an international organisation, particularly if it's a university or a major provider.

A lot of course providers claim to be accredited by all kinds of high ranking organisations, and that their TEFL certificates are "internationally accredited".  However, often it means little more than that two companies or organisations are marketing together or merely sharing information about each other.  A sort of "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" scenario.  Clearly this is not genuine accreditation.  So this brings us to our third golden rule, which is to check with the accrediting organisation as to exactly what their relationship with the course provider is.  Often you will find that you either will not get a reply or that they will quickly go quiet on you, particularly if they have some kind of international status.  If this happens, that is a clear warning that there may be other features of the company that are bogus.

So watch out for false claims and as usual never take any company on face value.

EFL Greg

Location and Address

Greg again! 

Hope your search for a suitable camp or course is going well.  Meanwhile, continuing from our last post, let's take a look at rule number two:

Rule Number Two - Always check the authenticity of the course provider's contact address.

This is important, because in the event of any difficulties, if you have no way to actually meet with anyone in person, you may find yourself floundering.  An example may be if they fail to deliver the various excursions and activities as advertised.  Or the course itself might be seriously lacking in content.  In either case, you may well find yourself feeling short-changed.  So you want to be sure that they are fully accessible and accountable.  A lot of course providers rent places for the month concerned and then simply vanish afterwards.  Flashy websites can be highly deceptive, and just an email address isn't going to get you very far.  An address would also be essential if you tried to take legal action.  But more about that in my next post.

Meanwhile, good luck with your search.

EFL Greg

TEFL Thailand

Hi Everyone,

EFL Greg here!  Just posting to give you youngsters planning to teach in Thailand some tips.  This first post is about choosing the right course.  If you google TEFL Thailand (the most popular choice of key words) a whole bunch of course providers will come up.  Well, how do you know which one to go for?  Price?  Location?  Course?  Or a combination of all? 

We'll look at them all later, but the most important thing you need to be warned of is that there are a lot of illegitimate companies out there.  They may well be just trying to get your money and providing the bare minimum in terms of service.  So how are you going to know which ones are genuine and which ones are not?  The first thing is don't be fooled by flashy websites and testimonials on their own site.  So ....

Rule Number One - Always google for reviews of that school.  In today's internet age, there will almost certainly be stuff out there.   And it may give a completely different impression from what the website gives.  It's amazing just how many people take a company's website on face value, and don't check it out further.

Watch out for my next post!

EFL Greg