ESL Jobs Forum

[dltcker1]

Hello,

I taught ESL in Japan for several years and recently returned to the states to get a BA in English. I decided I would never get as far as I want to go without certification. I am quickly growing impatient and have started looking into TESOL Certification as an alternative means. The Oxford Seminar which is taught at the University of Memphis where I am attending seems to me like a bit of a joke. TESOL dot org seems to be the most legit online TESOL certification. Has anyone ever used TESOL dot org for their certificate? If so was it recognized? I plan on teaching in Sao Paulo, Brazil next. Has anybody ever taught there and if so, what certification would you recommend?

Thank you,

David

[ICAL_Pete]

For most jobs in Brazil almost any decent TEFL Certificate and a degree are required.

If you don't have a degree then a TEFL certificate may well help but you will need to be in place in order to get the job. That means getting down to Brazil and covering all the school there, visiting each one and leaving them your details. Even if you were highly qualified this is also a useful way to do this as many jobs there aren't advertised online.

Unless you're really well qualified it's quite hard to get the appropriate visas. However many English teachers there work on a tourist visa.

See TEFL in Brazil for more on this.

[markc]

I don't think you'll have any special problems with whichever tefl certificate you choose, as many people get work in Brazil without certification. Of course you still want one that can help you as a teacher. If you plan to work in Europe later, then online certification probably won't be recognized.

[Lexicon]

Like almost everyone else online (except for them or the people who work for them who sometimes post) I'd say avoid Oxford Seminars.

Check out Pete's site because it gives you some info about the nature of certification within the industry as well as info on his cert.

Just remember, online certs are really more than anything meant to give you an introductory course and nothing more -- basically just enough to get your feet wet. Some are total scams and some are quite informative. But, remember that no online course, and for that matter, no in-class course, or college degree in TEFL/TESOL is going to actually fully prepare you to teach. Only getting in the classroom and having the plethora of FAIL moments that naturally come to all teachers will show you what all you have to learn to be an effective teacher. SO in choosing a program, keep that in mind.

That said, some countries and some schools require a certificate. So, go out and find one that is a combination of the right price for you, the right accessibility for you, and that has a level of legitimacy you are comfortable with. Ignore things on sites like job guarantees and placement assistance, and all that because those are pretty much universally empty promises.
_________________
The first step to teaching is realizing that you don't know nearly enough yourself.

My Blog: http://calleteach.wordpress.com

[Lucas]

Hello,
Not every online certificate is an introduction to TESOL/TEFL. A 100-hour course will give you the basics (and more depending on the course provider), but Ontesol's 250-hour course is more advanced than the Trinity CertTESOL course offered by Coventry House International in Toronto. You can also check tesl.ca to find online courses that meet (Standard 1) or exceed (Standard 2 and 3) the quality of an on-site course. Many are offered by reputable universities.
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Advertising is not allowed on the forum. UJ

[Lexicon]

I understand some are better than others, but even a full onsite CELTA or DELTA or a full on-campus MA TESOL isn't going to give anyone more than background information and some introductory tools.

The only way to learn what it takes to be a good ESL instructor is to go out into the ESL classroom and repeatedly fail and then learn from your mistakes.

These courses, no matter what they cost or promise, or the intent of their authors, are nothing more than introductions and cannot make anyone a teacher, or a good teacher. They do hopefully provide useful knowledge and an introduction to valuable skills. But really, even the best are only enough to get you started.

And that getting started, regardless of background or training, is pretty much the same for everyone. Stand in front of a group of students, think you are good to go, then fail.

The good teachers are the ones who step back, figure out why they failed and adapt their approach. The truly great teachers are the ones who look for everything that could possibly trip them up, and who every time a student asks them a question that they can't fully 100% explain in terms the student can understand, takes it upon themselves to research that topic until they understand it and can convey that same understanding to their students.

This isn't a taught skill, it's purely intuition, hard work, humility, and desire to improve.

Courses provide a nice introduction, but becoming a teacher (or becoming a better teacher) is all about recognizing the need to always be a student first, to always remember that what you know and what you've been taught is possibly totally wrong, and being willing to continually look for the right (and often not easy) answer.
_________________
The first step to teaching is realizing that you don't know nearly enough yourself.

My Blog: http://calleteach.wordpress.com