TEFL Certifications

[bright yoke]

Hi, does anyone have experience with TEFL certifications or applying for teaching English as a foreign language jobs? What was your experience?

[grim shuttle]

You usually need a degree in East Asia, but it's only because you need it to get through the visa process. They're just kind of starving for teachers. They'll even take fake degrees, but I'd say don't risk getting caught. If you care, and want a good job, it's worth going the extra mile.

I'd say get an accredited certification with around 120 hours on it (eg. TEFLOrg) if you want the minimal amount of preparation, and organisations generally look for that. I'd say there's a big difference between knowing a language and knowing how to teach it. A good certification should give you classroom observations, an excellent one (usu. Lv5) should give you teaching practice. Ideally, take a good one, so to not get overwhelmed later.

In interviews, you should usually ask the organisation if it:

• Provides medical insurance (or helps with it)
• Helps with visa applications.
• Provides or helps you look for accommodation.
• Provides or otherwise assists with lesson planning.
  If it doesn't do these, it's not worth your time. Plain and simple. There's plenty of fish in the sea.

Try to work in a private institution, because the students will usually want to be there and thus be much, much easier to handle. Starting with adults is wise.

Memorise Edward Anthony (1963)'s differences between Approach, Method, and Technique if you apply to a higher-level (or otherwise academic) institution, it'll save your ass in the interview. In case you don't know them...

• Approach - A set of correlated assumptions and beliefs dealing with the nature of language teaching and learning.
• Method - An overall plan, your theory and practice, for the orderly presentation of language material, no part of which contradicts, and all of which is based upon the selected approach.
• Technique - An implementational thing that takes place in a classroom, consistent with a method and in harmony with an approach.
  Though, again, this is a matter of whether the organisation cares or not. If they ask, it's a sign of quality. If they don't, assume they don't care.

Depending on the area, you may not need any of this and can just get in on a degree.

Since you're from the UK, you should be pretty much set from the get-go. Coming from a British education system is seen as a gold standard, for better or worse.