What do people think of this TEFL course?

flutterbyuk25

Hey all

This TEFL Course is being advertised on Groupon for £69 http://www.teflexpress.co.uk/coursedetail/TEFL_120__Advanced_Certificate

I am interested in possibly doing a TEFL for the future so wondered if it was any good. I've searched for some reviews, and some say it's good, some are not so positive...

I know the course is online only so you don't get any of the teaching practise, but I currently teach in my day job (16-25 year olds), and am also about to start year 2 of 2 year part time Post 16 PGCE so have teaching experience.

Thanks

eira

I couldn't find any mention of who accredits this course.Accreditation from a recognised, respected national organisation is essential for any course, otherwise it's a waste of time and money. The two main internationally recognised qualifications are Cambridge TEFL and Trinity College TESOL-various places do this. If you volunteer to do TESOL teaching you will usually get NVQ level training thrown in for free-this will also be nationally accredited. Some Adult Ed places also look for tutors and provide training.

Having said this I paid for my daughter to do a I to I online course (linked in with BUNAC)

I can't stress enough how vital it is (especially now) to check whether courses are accredited by an established body. Also whether any vocational courses lead to membership of a professional body.For example not all Psychology courses lead to membership of the British Psychological Society which you need to have a career in Psychology.

The main reason why I left FE was because I was disgusted by the selling of courses that weren't worth a bean in the long run

Think there's a site called something like Dave's Internet Cafe re TEFL/TESOL. I would also add that in parts of the world there is a demand for English conversation skills. I've had students who have gone through the English classes but lack experience of conversation with native speakers. You don't need qualifications for this

Good luck

flutterbyuk25

Thanks for your reply.

eira wrote: »

I couldn't find any mention of who accredits this course.Accreditation from a recognised, respected national organisation is essential for any course, otherwise it's a waste of time and money. The two main internationally recognised qualifications are Cambridge TEFL and Trinity College TESOL-various places do this. If you volunteer to do TESOL teaching you will usually get NVQ level training thrown in for free-this will also be nationally accredited. Some Adult Ed places also look for tutors and provide training.

This was a query of mine too, I enquired with them and got this response:

'On completion of this course you'll receive an advanced TESOL/TEFL certificate accredited world wide by the Open & Distance Learning Quality Council http://www.odlqc.org.uk/ and Language Link International. It will help you teach English almost anywhere in the world.'

blissfulbabe

I work in FE and looked at this course as my daughter is interested in teaching English but because it's not accredited by Trinity or Cambridge I think it would be a waste of money.

Employers abroad are very 'brand' conscienous and would expect applicants to have a qualification accredited by one of the above boards. The other thing to consider is that you are learning the theory of teaching but actually how to teach - this course is not providing you with any hands on classroom experience, which is actually very important. All reputable teaching qualifications expect a certain number of learner contact hours and every TEFL/ CELTA course we have looked at actually provides supervised teaching practise.

This course might give you an insight into teaching EFL but it probably won't equip you with either the experience or a qualification that will get you a job (at least not without further training, study and expense).

briona

eira wrote: »

I couldn't find any mention of who accredits this course. Accreditation from a recognised, respected national organisation is essential for any course, otherwise it's a waste of time and money.

Online TEFL courses are much of a muchness, in that you can find work with one, but they do you no favours whatsoever (regardless of the accrediting body) if you intend to make a career of teaching.

Interestingly, the course the OP was looking seems to prepare you for the Teaching Knowledge Test (TKT), which is actually Cambridge accredited. For more info see: http://www.cambridgeesol.org/exams/tkt/index.html

To the OP, before you choose a course, you should decide WHERE you want to teach. If you want to teach in Europe (including the UK) a recognised qualification such as the CELTA/Trinity CertTESOL is a must. However, if you are seeking a gap year experience rather than a career change, or you want to spend all your time working in Asia or South America, an online certificate will more than suffice. Note that no matter where in the world you work, the big name schools such as International House (IH), ILA, Language Link, the British Council, etc will NOT accept online certificates. Ever.

blissfulbabe wrote: »

Employers abroad are very 'brand' conscienous and would expect applicants to have a qualification accredited by one of the above boards.

This is not quite true as although they're recognised and accepted worldwide, CELTAs and Trinity CertTESOLs don't carry the same weight in Asia as they do in the Western world. Indeed some employers can't differentiate between these qualifications and a bog-standard online certificate!

No matter what TEFL qualification you have, as long as you are not fussy about where you work, or for whom, you will have no problems finding a job. Nonetheless, I chose to do a CELTA!

Buffythedebtslayer

Thank you OP for asking this question,

I too am debating whether or not to go for the course? The deal seems too good to be true.

I am already a mainstream teacher and just thought this might be a good qualificaction to have on my CV.


any more opinions?

Thanks

Buffy

eira

I should have added that it is worth checking the alleged accreditation bodies as well-there are quite a few accrediting bodies that are meaningless

alyth

I'm doing a TEFL at the moment and looked at the one Groupon are advertising for a friend. I'm doing my TEFL really as a bit of fun, but it's quite hard work, but it's expanding my knowledge as my course includes 20 hours of grammar, and the one I'm doing has quite a lot of lesson-planning on it. I am however planning on doing my CELTA next summer to gain an accredited qualification as I want to go and teach in China.

flutterbyuk25

I don't yet have any plans as to where I may want to teach abroad yet. I adore teaching so figured teaching english abroad may be an option in the future. Think I'll leave this deal today, it apparently comes up on Groupon/similar sites more than once.

Thanks for all the advice

x

Buffythedebtslayer

Well I booked it. I'll let you know what its like!

Wish me luck!

xx

alyth

as I said before, I really enjoy my TEFL, it gets the brain cells working and some of the grammar stuff you will learn I never did at school.

Can you do us a favour and post back and let us know how you find the materials? I study for fun, if it was a decent TEFL I would be tempted to do another one!