Footprints Recruiting

What progam?  What school?  Confused?

So you're trying to prepare yourself to teach overseas and you're interested in taking a course.  Good work.  Though it's not a requirement it will definitely help out.

TESL, TEFL, TESOL, CELTA or any other certification is USUALLY not required for employment, but we highly recommend checking into certification if you want to be good at what you do.

On a personal note, I didn't have certification prior to going.  I thought, "why bother, I don't need it, why waste the money."  I paid for it in other ways.  My classes were terrible, the kids walked all over me and I hated my job.  Two months after arriving in Korea I signed up for a course and it made the next five years of my life infinitely easier!

Benefits of TEFL or TESL Certification

• higher starting salary
• prepares you for the experience of teaching
• prepared you to identify and use teachables
• teaches you how to prepare for units and yearly plans
• teaches you how to lesson plan and have clear teaching objective
• teaches you class management
• class discipline techniques
• teaches you English - most native English speakers do not know grammar - re-educate yourself... I would guess that more than 80% of all first time ESL teachers, WITHOUT certification have no idea what a compound adjective is or a past infinitive. Can you give me a definition without really having to think about it or without looking it up on the net.

Getting certified not only educates you in grammar and planning, it also shows your dedication to the industry and provides a great networking opportunity.

How do you find a good school?

Since there is no regulatory board determining which TESL, TEFL or TESOL programs are good and which are not acceptable we recommend you check out each program thoroughly.

Most large schools will have either RSA, CELTA or Trinity College Certification. These are the most recognized authorities with the best reputation. However due to the expense, many smaller schools cannot afford the name.

What to look for in TESL/TEFL training schools:

• course should be 100 hrs
• should include 20hr practicum
• there needs to be a pass/fail evaluation
• you should evaluate the teachers - how long have they taught, what are their credentials?

Courses will range in price from $350 USD to $3000 USD. Most courses meeting the above requirements hover around $1000 USD and will take you a month to complete.

ONLINE, WEEKEND and SHORT COURSES:  For some people investing a month of time and close to 1000 dollars is simply not feasible and, luckily, there are less involved options out there.  Some are completely online, some have a combination of in-class (weekend) and online components, etc. 

If you are looking into one of these courses make sure that you know what you're getting.  Do your research and find out about the course before you hand over your money.  The most important thing to keep in mind is - if you're interested in a specific job that requires TEFL/TESL/TESOL certification, make sure you know EXACTLY what the requirements are for that opportunity are.  There are a number of jobs posted on our website that require that your certification be a minimum of 100 hours and it must be in-class.

If you are considering taking a course and would like us to check it to make sure it will be recognized, or if you are currently offering the course and would like to be linked here, please contact us.

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