Introduction
There are a few main criteria to consider when making a short-list of courses, these are:
- Location
- International recognition
- Job help
- Accommodation help
- Cost
If you follow the following basic guidelines you will end up with the course that best suits your needs.
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Things you won't have to consider when choosing
a course
All accredited courses have been thoroughly checked by a independent, expert 3rd party educational organisation so you won't have to worry about the quality of the course, the course tutors or how internationally accepted your qualification will be. As long as the course is one of the following, you will know that it is a quality course.
- Advanced Certificate in TESOL (The College of Teachers)
- CELTA (Cambridge Assessment)
- CertTESOL (Trinity College London)
- CertTEYL (Trinity College London)
- CETYL (Cambridge Assessment)
- Relsa Certificate in TEFL (MEI-Relsa)
- SIT TESOL Certificate for English Language Teachers (New England Association of Schools and Colleges)
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Finding a course
There are many web portals that list TESOL TEFL courses around the world. ATCC has a
page linking directly to accredited
courses, other portals have lists of both accredited and un-accredited courses. An alternative is to go to a search engine, e.g.
Google, MSN Search etc. and type in a few keywords, for example TEFL course + the location where you would like to work or study. This will give you a list of all courses in the area that you are interested in.
Once you have the list, start making a short-list based on the suggested criteria below.
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Location
Becoming a certified TESOL TEFL teacher is as much about finding work as it is about getting the right qualification. It is often quite difficult to study in your own country and then start looking for work abroad. For precisely this reason there are many accredited TESOL TEFL courses run all around the world. This means that if you are fairly certain of the country that you would like to teach in, go and do your course in that country. As there are many accredited TESOL TEFL training institutions around the world you should have no trouble finding one that best suits your requirements.
Don't forget that all accredited certificates are internationally accepted so it really does not matter which one you choose.
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International acceptance
Every TESOL TEFL course claims to be "internationally recognised", however the reality is that only accredited courses are truly internationally accepted by top quality training institutions. Some may think that it is a play on words but recognition does not always imply acceptance but acceptance does imply recognition.
Accredited course qualifications are internationally accepted which is far more important than mere recognition. I'm sure you would agree that you would want an employer to accept your qualification rather than just recognise it.
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Job help
Ask the schools on your short-list what type of job help they give. This is very important as you don't want to be hanging around without work for weeks after finishing your course. Unfortunately the accreditation process does not currently extend to covering job help. You will get work with an accredited certificate but the more help your training institution can give you the quicker you'll get working. Make sure you don't forget to ask what kind of job help they will give you.
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Accommodation help
It's best to get your accommodation arranged at least 3-4 weeks before you plan on starting the course. Part of your course selection process should include finding out from your short-list of schools whether they provide accommodation or whether they will refer you to reputable accommodation agents, hotels, hostals etc. and that they will also provide some type of advice and assistance. The school that you eventually choose should be sympathetic to the fact that you are moving to a new country to study and therefore need all the help you can get.
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Cost
The cost of a course is relative. In general, accredited courses cost more than un-accredited courses for one simple reason, the course operator has to pay a fee on a per-head basis to the accrediting organisation. You must always check with the accredited schools on your short-list whether the accreditation fees are included in the course fee.
There are cheaper, unaccredited courses but in the long run is it worth it? Would you pay for a cheap, un-accredited degree? If you wouldn't then my advice is that you pay that small amount extra to get an accredited certificate that will open doors to jobs just about anywhere in the world.
There are even some un-accredited courses that are MORE EXPENSIVE than accredited courses in the same area!!
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