August 2009 – TEFL Teacher Training

Where to take your TEFL Training

Where is the best TEFL Certification program for you?

People frequently ask me where they should take their TEFL Training. They also ask if it is best to take their EFL teacher training in their home country or in the country in which they intend to teach.

First issue: I usually recommend a TEFL Certification school that I know well and I know the teacher-trainer(s) well. I know the primary trainer is very well educated and has extensive experience in two countries, teaching EFL abroad since 1992 to a wide variety of students.

When I was a teacher trainer I was awakened to just how little experience, training and education many trainers have. One teacher trainer was hired directly from my class to set up and teach a TEFL Cert course for another company.

He had ZERO experience teaching. Wow. I won’t go into any further details, but it wasn’t a pretty picture and that was not a purely unique situation.

Second issue: It is almost always better to take your TEFL Training in or near the country in which you wish to teach. There are many good reasons why.

First, taking your training in your new country gives you some time on the ground to adapt to the culture and get to know your way around, instead of just arriving cold and heading out to look for work.

Also helpful is that TEFL Certification schools usually know the best and biggest employers, who to try first and who to avoid (just as important!).

One of the most helpful aspects of taking your TEFL Training in your new setting is that your observed teaching practice will likely be with students that have similar grammar and pronunciation problems as those you will face on the job. This is important for several reasons.

Every country’s students have different issues with grammar and pronunciation and while this is not a big problem, even well-experienced teachers take some time to get a good grasp of exactly how to solve these problems when they arrive in a new country.

A new EFL teacher, of course, will take much longer. Getting that experience during your training, with an instructor who knows exactly what to do, will make you a much more effective teacher, right out of the box.

It is common in some countries to request a “demonstration lesson” as part of the interviewing process. Don’t you think that lesson will go much better if you already know what kinds of issues are common in the classrooms of that country? Of course!

In countries where demonstration lessons are common, you should have the opportunity to build that lesson and practice it as part of your TEFL Certification training course. You will have plenty of opportunity to build, practice and polish that lesson under the guidance of an experienced teacher-trainer.

How do you think that lesson might go if you are just off the plane and have no idea what the common issues are with local students?

Last but not least, you can job hunt while you are taking your TEFL Certification course and hopefully have something lined up about the time you complete your training.

If you are taking your training in the developing world, TEFL Certification courses are often much cheaper than in developed Western countries are as your accommodation and food costs.

TED’s Tips™ #1: Take your TEFL Certification course in the country where you first intend to teach.

TED’s Tips™ #2: Practice and polish your demonstration lesson during your training.

Website for New TEFL Teachers

Be sure to catch our sister website: TEFL Newbie, a website specifically for Newbies, Wannabes and TEFL Rookies. We discuss all the issues from looking for a job to checking out the reputation of your employer. Get on over and check it out.

Alternatives for TEFL Teacher Training

As we mentioned in the previous post, not everyone can afford to take four to six weeks away from work and pay the costs for a full blown TEFL certification or CELTA.

Following are some options to help you get a better idea about what to do in the classroom – without the “Full Monty” of a TEFL Certification.

First, any kind of training is better than no training. You can often find some free training as a volunteer from organizations like Literacy Volunteers of America [now known as ProLiteracy and working internationally].

There are online courses that are inexpensive. All of them will provide you with some beginnings of the knowledge and skill you need to do a decent job. Will you become a seasoned “pro” with such a class? No, but you will have a good idea of what needs to be done and how to continue to improve.

A free online TEFL course that I wrote is here: TEFL Boot Camp. The course is self study, roughly equivalent to the content for a full course – but no observed teaching practice is offered – nor is a certificate on offer.

What kind of training do employers look for?

Sadly, some employers in some countries, have no expectations that you have any training at all. Others, will have some very specific ideas about what training they would like you to have had. You won’t be able to please everyone in every country, but with a good TEFL training course you will have what 95% of employers will be satisfied with. And, enough training to feel like you are doing a good job and have some real satisfaction about the work you are doing. It’s a great feeling!

On-Line Training versus Full-Blown TEFL Courses

As mentioned above, any training is better than no training. If you don’t have the time or money to do a full course, or if you just want to experiment and see if it might interest you – consider a an online course. They are a good introduction to teaching and can tide you over until you get into a full program with observed teaching practice.

Free TEFL Certification Training?

There are some TEFL certification schools around the world that will offer you “free” certification training if you will work for them for a specified period of time. Approach these programs with caution as things that look too good to be true, often are.

Now . . . to protect myself from liability I am going to say that not all schools do what I am going to suggest – but know that some do.

Some TEFL Cert schools happily enroll you into their certification program and then place you in a job in which you are usually paid less than the going rate. The difference between the wages other people on the job are getting and your wage – will go to the TEFL school.

They, unfortunately, rarely tell you about this little “arrangement” they have going. And month after month, for as long as you work there, you are literally paying for your TEFL course. So . . . know that free things are rarely free.

If you stay at a job for a couple years you will have paid for the certification a couple times over or more.

No free time and no money?

TEFL Boot Camp is as good as it gets online – and it really is free.

Have a little money and want to study on your own? Check out TEFL eBooks for some options.

TED’s Tips™ #1: Get the full four to six week TEFL Training in residence if you have the time and money to do so.
The full course is worth your time, money and effort.

TED’s Tips™ #2: Get some training. Any kind of training to help you along.
You will enjoy yourself more and do a better job. Study a book, take an online course, sit in on classes somewhere.

Take an interest in becoming a quality teacher.

Do I Need TEFL Training?

English teaching wannabes and newbies usually ask several questions here:

Is TEFL training required to get the job I want? Do I have to have it?

Would it make a difference if I had it?

. . . and the answers are: sometimes, sometimes and yes.

Some countries require a TEFL certification before they will approve your legal working papers. Thus – before you can work in Thailand, Indonesia and a few other places, you need to complete a good TEFL course.

Most countries don’t require any TEFL training at all, but the better employers will prefer their new hires to have had some training. So, in fact, TEFL training may be required for a move up the food chain or even give you the ability to start out in a preferred position.

And while many countries and some jobs that don’t require any training at all, it shouldn’t be about just getting by with the minimum and, if you are lucky, just doing a mediocre job.

Will TEFL training really make a difference?

You bet! There are several ways in which you may benefit from TEFL training. First is that many employers will pay a small premium to teachers that have some good training. While often not much on a monthly basis, it adds up across a year and tends to easily pay for itself in only one or two years. Add that to the idea that you can probably land a better job than the one you would get without training and you might be seeing an even better return on your investment.

Those are the good practical reasons for getting yourself some training. There are also some ethical, moral and emotional issues to consider.

The first is that you owe it to your students to get yourself some training. Students, in most foreign countries, pay a lot of money to sit in your class. Wouldn’t it just be fair to know what you are doing?

While teaching English overseas is not “brain surgery” or “rocket science”, it does require some skill to do it well. And as long as you are changing your life and heading overseas – why not do it right and feel good or even GREAT about the service you provide to your students?

The days of just showing up at a TEFL job and “chatting with the students for an hour” are long gone. Language schools these days would like you to provide some real teaching in their classrooms. And students almost intuitively know when a teacher knows what they are doing – or not.

One of the best reasons for getting yourself some training is that you will find preparing your classes much easier and you will enjoy your work more knowing that you are providing a quality service and not just skating by on someone else’s money. Best of all, you will sleep better at night.

It’s about doing it right – and feeling good about it.

Now . . . not everyone can afford four to six weeks of not working and the costs of a full blown TEFL certification program. In the following post we will talk about some good alternatives to the commercially available courses.

TED’s Tips™ #1: Get some training. You will enjoy yourself more and do a better job.
Remember how lousy teachers really turned you off when you were still in school? Yeah, don’t be one of those.

TED’s Tips™ #2: If you can’t afford the “Full Monty” of a four-to-six-week course, check out some of the alternatives we will talk about tomorrow.

TEFL Teacher Training

Teacher Training for EFL TEFL ESL Teachers
Teaching Methods for Teaching English Abroad

We are only a couple days old – please come back soon when we will be up in full force.

Meanwhile – you can check out our sister publication: TEFL Newbie a website for both TEFL Rookies and people just thinking about a life abroad.

Come back soon – you’ll be glad you did . . .