Teaching English ESOL

mae

I was wondering if anyone knew anything about this. Celta course ESOL teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.

It sounds interest but are there many jobs and what are the rates of pay?
Any info would be helpful

Thanks

eira

Researching this now for daughter who has plans to travel the world. I -to- I/BUNAC do an online course for about £200. It does have some accreditation (this is the key issue-any course that isn't accredited by one of the large accrediting bodies isn't worth a light). The 'golden key courses' are the Trinity College TESOL Cert -which is geared more towards communication skills, and the range of Cambridge courses. Some TEFL jobs you need to be a graduate to do, others you can do post A levels-minimum age is 20 but some places will take you from 18.

International House do courses in various parts of the world and provide a recruitment service. The Times Ed Supplement forum has a section on teaching overseas which is very useful. Try also the British Council website for links to reputable providers.

Be warned-the price of the courses varies widely-ask if the course fees include the exam fees and materials, who are the tutors, how much teaching practice will you get and with what students . Research your jobs carefully-the pay and conditions vary widely, some schools are distinctly dodgy.Yet again the TES website are useful for this.There is a book by someone called Susan Griffin (?) that outlines all this in detail. Any good bookshop should stock it, she's written a few books on working overseas.

eira

I did TESOL teaching for a Learn Direct centre and got paid £6.50 an hour.This only included actual teaching time and not the travelling from location to location. I've since found out that the centres operate on a franchise basis and pay will vary from place to place. If you get a job as an Adult Community tutor the pay rate is about £10-£12 an hour with extra pay for marking and prep. To do this though you will probably have to do extra training in adult ed.
One more point is that you can get a Career Development Loan to do the TEFL courses as they count as vocational courses. Downside is that you have to re-start the payments after the course iis finished-and the initial TEFL course only takes 4 to 6 weeks

eira

Might be useful update
Daughter now going to do CELTA in South Africa !! Boyfriend lives there but the course is actually cheaper to do there than in the UK.If you have look on the web the amount you pay varies from one part of the world to another. Doing a CELTA with a big organisation seems a better way of travelling and seeing the world than paying for a GAP scheme-which seem incredibly expensive

juno

One of my friends found a job with this website and is now teaching abroad! They advertise jobs from all around the world.

natterz

I am working in Athens after finishing a TEFL course in Greece in June. As has been mentioned there are many different courses and accreditation methods. If you are loking for a job abroad it is possible to find a job without having done a course at all, so long as you have a degree. However I personally wouldn't recommend this as the skills I learnt on my course were invaluable. That being said it is well worth fully researching all the course options open to you before booking on any course. I took my course with Via Lingua in Corinth which was expensive and is not CELTA accredited but is accredited by The University of Birmingham, it all depends where you want to work.

In England the number of jobs available varies massively according to area. In West Yorkshire where I am originally from, there are an increasing number of jobs available in larger cities, including in sixth form colleges. A friend of mine did the course at Leeds University and is now working as a supply teacher, so the options are endless if you land on your feet.

The money abroad also varies hugely. In Greece I am earning enough but in order to live a better lifestyle I am also working for a publishing company and tutoring. I know that China, Korea, Saudi and Dubai are all much better options to make money, but then who goes into teaching for the money? In England it depends who your employer is as to how much they pay you. Council run schemes are quite well paid but in some areas are non existent or extremely difficult to find.

Please don't hesitate to ask me any more questions and also note that what I have said id just my own personal experience.