[Bkduran]

Hi! I recently started teaching ESL at an elementary school (grade 1-6) and it has been a challenge. I informed the principal that although fluent in the English language, I have no training of any kind, and she gave me the job anyhow......
So, I am wondering now if a TEFL certification would be helpful in my situation (not as a means to get a job, but rather a tool to help me gain more confidence) and if so, which one would be recommended? I do not want to invest a whole lot into it......but I am thinking about starting private lessons and I am thinking this sort of training may come in handy?
Any input greatly appreciated!

[tinyteachinthemaking]

Hello Bkduran, and happy Christmas!
I'm currently teaching adults and children (I've no experience teaching the latter).
I've got the Celta that enables you to teach adults. In my opinion, this certificate (along with the TEFL and TESOL), gives you the basics of teaching and allow you to practice in a "safe" environment - I did the semi-intensive course, which lasted about a month and a half, during which I had teaching practices that were assessed by my trainers and colleagues.
It certainly was useful, but it's just a starting point. The best experience is learning by doing and no certificate gives you that.
However, in your case, you could see how it goes without a certificate. Then if you feel you could use some help, there's the CELTYL (an extension of the Celta), which focuses on young learners.
Keep in mind though that it's quite pricey and you will have to invest a lot of time and energy into it.
Hope that was useful. If you have any more questions feel free to contact me.
Emily.

[gideongirl]

Hi and Happy New Year. Having gotten my certTESOL through Trinity College London, I would say that if you take a good quality course, and not the garbage on-line, you will be quite surprised how different the methods are for teaching ESL/TESOL, etc. from regular classroom instruction. And you will find the instruction to extremely valuable. However, you need a good quality course. I know of only two: Trinity College London and Cambridge CELTA. Neither of those are on-line to my knowledge, and I doubt that they will be because of their intensive nature and extensive classroom requirements. Perhaps some others might know of courses available in the States.

[clevermae]

Tefl certification is required in some parts of the world. In Europe it is especially useful - and for new teachers - highly desirable. In other parts of the world it is not as important, but having some form of certification is will give you a competitive advantage when looking for work.

[destinyawaits]

English Teaching is more competitive at the moment and a TEFL certificate can give you the edge sometimes when you apply for a job. Having said that if you teach for 6 months you should figure out enough for yourself to make a TEFL course irrelevant. The courses last only 4 weeks after all and you do some lesson planning, limited grammar and presentation skills but that's about it. If you've already started teaching and are gaining experience it's probably best to learn by doing even if it's "challenging" for a while.

[sirhaydnwallace]

Yes! If you want to get a well-paid job.

Now you can get $12-$25 an hour in Cambodia, just with your TESOL/TEFL Cert.

Finally there is a REAL TESOL/TEFL provider in Cambodia. They are called the American TESOL Institute Cambodia and they are internationally accredited and recognized.
You can do a search for tesolteflcambodia.com and you should be able to find their site.

Their TESOL certificates are issued and notarized directly from the head office in the US, and sent to Cambodia upon completion of the course.

They are well worth checking out. . .

[Bkduran]

Thank you all so much for your replies! I have been gaining experience and feel more confident. It has been almost 6 months since I started teaching.

sirhaydnwallace, thanks for the input. I live in Mexico.....I wonder if there is something like what you mention available in Mexico?