[AloraAnn]

I have been looking at Courses for taking a certificate TEFL. At the moment I don't need one but can I please have some opinions on advantages/disadvantages of these certificates.

[livinginkorea]

Hi, I did my TEFL certificate with i-to-i a few years ago and it was great as I had no idea how I would teach or where to start. After 3 years of teaching now I think that a TEFL cert. is nearly a requirment in most countries and if it's not you can get paid more for having one. That's what happened in my case as I had a 100 hours one.

However I have heard some people saying that i-to-i is not really recongised anymore but I have no idea about that to be honest. I think that some employers would take it and others wouldn't. Personally I think that experience is more important but alot of jobs pay more if you have a TEFL Cert.

Where are you planning on teaching? You should check if you really need it in that country. If your goal is too go to that country and you have to do the cert. then you should do it. If not then spend your time on reading this forum and articles about teaching. That helped me a lot more than a little cert.

[emile]

Hi Alora,

Maybe you could give us more details on your circumstances. Do you not need the cert now because you are focusing on other types of teaching or because the school you are with doesn't require it?

The main advantage of these certs is basically that you will become more professional in your approach and you will be able to travel. Many countries require a degree in any discipline + Tefl (or equivalent) to work there as an English teacher.

[AloraAnn]

I live in Spain and give private lessons to children 8-13 years old. The parents I meet are more interested in the fact that I am a native english speaking person, who can have fun with the children while they are learning the language. I was thinking that maybe the children and myself could benefit from me doing a course but from what I am reading on this site, unless I want to work in a school I probably don't need a certificate.

[keith t]

Hi AloraAnn

It's true that you probably won't need a certificate unless you want to work in a school. So it depends on your aims and ambitions in your teaching career!

You'll find nowadays that the majority of schools and language centres require a qualification of some kind. The most internationally recognised and accepted are the Cambridge CELTA and Trinity Cert TESOL. Both these are 120 hour, classroom based courses, and include some observed teaching practice as part of the assessment. There are several other good quality courses of equivalent length and content, as well as some good quality shorter and online courses. Very generally speaking though, the shorter and less classroom based the course, the more limited your employment options will be if you choose to teach in schools.

You mentioned that the children you're teaching may benefit from you having a qualification. This could well be true - many teachers find that they are more confident and more aware of themselves as teachers after taking a TEFL course, which in turn benefits the students.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

Keith

[emile]

Hi AloraAnn,

You could probably wait and take a course later if you feel the need arises.

Until then you would probably benefit from reading a book that introduces TEFL concepts. Maybe someone here could recommend one.