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TEFL International, TESOL Course

TEFL Thailand, TEFL China, TEFL Korea, TEFL London, TEFL Spain, TEFL France
ESL Jobs, Teach English Abroad

TEFL FAQ

TEFL International TESOL Course FAQ

1. What is the difference between TESOL and TEFL?

For all intents and purposes the terms mean the same with TESOL being more common in America and with large state sector colleges in Britain (e.g. the Institute of Education in London) while TEFL is more common in U.K. Language Schools and in the U.K. press. There is a slight technical difference since TESOL refers to all learners whose first language is not English, including ethnic minorities living in this country whereas TEFL refers only to "foreign" students. Potentially, therefore, a TESOL course encompasses more than a more narrowly defined TEFL course.

2. There are so many teacher-training courses advertised. How do I know which to apply for?
There are many good schools out there. Many are professionally managed and have qualified, competent teachers. Unfortunately, there is no law to prevent anyone from setting up as a teacher-training center and there is nothing to prevent you from being "ripped off" by a company offering so-called recognized certificates or diplomas.

Moreover, there are many organizations offering one or two week introductory courses perhaps with the offer of job placements afterwards. These certainly give you a "taster" of TESOL/TEFL and some of these are very professionally conducted courses but what have you got at the end? If you seriously want to become an ESOL/EFL teacher and look for different job opportunities, you are going to need a recognized Certificate qualification validated by an external examination board.

TEFL International is externally validated and moderated by a Board of Academic Advisors. This board includes several internationally recognized experts in the field of English Teaching as well as dozens of local English School managers around the world. TEFL International also voluntarily complies with the standards of the British Association of TESOL Qualifying Institutions (BATQI).

3. I've heard that these courses are really tough. Can I really make it through?
There is no way around it. These courses all contain a great deal of content in only four weeks. Yet the educational philosophy of those providing the course can make a huge difference. We believe in a mentoring, nurturing environment. We do everything within our power to ensure that everyone passes our course, otherwise why accept them onto the course in the first place?.

Similarly, TEFL International courses encourage all native English speakers (or those with near-native abilities) to attend. Our trainers would never discriminate against North Americans, Australians, or British because of different pronunciations or slightly different grammar. All are equally welcome.

4. What is the difference between the TEFL International TESOL Certificate, the Trinity TESOL certificate and the Cambridge/RSA Certificate (CELTA)?
TEFL International began as a Trinity course, and was one of the largest and most popular Trinity courses until December of 1999. As a result, the course content of the Trinity and TEFL International courses are quite similar.

Most importantly, all three are monitored by external examiners that visit each course at least once during each course. These external moderators set these three certificate courses apart from all others.

However, there are a few areas in which we feel the TEFL International certificate and the Trinity College London certificate course hold an advantage. The UCLES/RSA Certificate is specifically designed for teaching groups of adults (hence the "A" at the end of "CELTA"). On the other hand, the TEFL International and the Trinity College Certificate provide for the teaching of younger learners as well as adults;one-to-one students as well as groups/classes of students.

In summary, the TEFL International course gives you the following benefits: one-to-one meetings with learners of English as well as with full classes; experience being a learner of an unfamiliar language in order to make you think about the problems of teaching beginners; the opportunity to create your own teaching material as a form of practical project which you can take away and use in your future teaching career; experience with younger learners as well as with adults (in some of the sessions).

5. Why should I take a TEFL International course?
There are several reasons why you should take the TEFL International TESOL certificate course:
TEFL International trainers make every effort to get you through the TESOL certificate course.

The TEFL International certificate is an international certificate, accepted worldwide.
TEFL International courses conveniently include course fees and accommodations into one very affordable package. And by taking the course in exotic locations, you have a great advantage in finding jobs in those same exotic locals!

TEFL International is much more involved in your job search than other centers are. Our Alumni Job Page gives you direct access to hundreds of course alumni-teachers currently teaching in schools from Thailand to Turkey! Each center is an area expert, with extensive contacts within the country. And we even offer our own "Job Offered" web page!

6. What are the requirements for getting on to the Certificate course? How do I know if I am suitable? What kind of people will be on the course besides myself? Am I too old? What is the success rate and how many people fail?
A lot of questions but all interrelated. We find that courses tend to be taken up by a "mixed bag" of people. For example, we get a lot of people in their early twenties who are recent graduates and want to travel overseas but we also have people in their thirties and forties who either want a career switch, have been made redundant or are moving overseas with their spouse. In addition, we have people either approaching or in retirement and who are looking for something to do in their free time or who have got property on the continent to which they are going to move. Finally, we sometimes have people from other English speaking countries on our courses as well as good non-native speakers from other countries. We had one course where we had a twenty-year-old, a seventy-five year old and two course members from Hungary!

As far as entrance requirements are concerned, if you are to be a teacher of English, a high standard of both spoken and written English is demanded. By this is meant your use of English, not necessarily your knowledge of grammatical terminology: you will be given an introduction to language awareness on the course itself.

As the four week course is very intensive, you should be prepared to work very hard indeed, have no other distractions, and be mentally/emotionally completely fit and well, including having no current domestic worries. You should also be presentable in appearance.

If you are a person of "more mature years" or a senior citizen, do not let this in itself put you off from applying. Providing you are receptive to training you should have no problems. If, however, you are rigid in your ways of thinking and are unwilling to shake off past ways of thinking and behavior, you may have a problem. For instance, we have reluctantly had to fail some experienced teachers and lecturers! On the other hand, our greatest "star" was a retired head teacher - an extremely broad-minded one.

The last examples concern people who have taught before. If you have never taught before, you are "an empty vessel" as far as teaching is concerned and are not "carrying around any baggage"; you may ironically be at an advantage.

7. Do I need knowledge of other languages?

No you do not. TEFL International uses the international standard communicative approach to teaching, where English is the only language used in the classroom.

8. Is there an age limit?
Whilst there is no official upper age limit, you must be at least 19 years of age for your application to be considered. We have successfully trained (and found employment for) graduates of all ages.

9. When is the best time to do a course?

There is really no best or worst time. Jobs are available year round with academic terms varying from continent to continent.

10. What are the chances of finding a job after the course? Does TEFL International help with this?
The chances of finding a job after the course are excellent. Most of our trainees have received a number of interview and job offers before they graduate! TEFL International will assist at all stages of the job search from putting a CV/resume together to interview techniques to arranging interviews. TEFL International has many contacts worldwide who approach us with suitable job vacancies and we even have our own job page on this web-site!!