jackytoo

Yes that's what I was getting at! A TEFL alone is a bit like toilet paper. Will get you about 10-15 euro per hour for about 10 hours per week and some of that time is split shifts. Know someone who does it. No contract, holiday pay..nada

elspeth sinclair

Friends of mine with TEFL were directors of Madrid Language schools and also taught at the film studios and ran weekend courses for bankers. I did my Tesol by Eurolink to Sheffield and had to post all my exam papers there for marking. There were three levels and I did the teacher's one which was level 2 which took me six months working three hours a day every afternoon and I achieved the second highest result. I have never met anyone who did it by internet. I only did the course so as not to feel like a fraud as I had been teaching privately for several years.

steviedeluxe

Me neither, and besides I can't understand how it could be done by internet. I've heard of people getting a qualification in just a weekend, which seems absurd to me. The course I did had a set number of hours doing practical teaching of learners of English. Any course that didn't give you some experience of teaching, really doesn't seem much of value to me, regardless of how much it may enforce (for example) the difference between the present perfect and the imperfect.

ross-shire

i taught english in marid in 1967/9. no such thing as tefol then....but it was fun.

lynnxa

google gives lots of options

here's just one http://www.onlinetefl.com/tefl-cours...-tefl-courses/


I in fact do know a couple of people who have done a TEFL online & actually got teaching jobs on the back of it

neither had any previous teaching experience & freely admitted that as soon as they stood in front of a group of kids they were terrified & only lasted a couple of weeks - it was much harder & more stressful than they expected

no way am I advocating an online qualification as a standalone - although as an extra string to an already experienced teachers bow I can see that it would be useful


tbh I can't actually see the difference between studying and getting a qualification online & by post - online is just faster

elspeth sinclair

[QUOTE=lynnxa;8874268]google gives lots of options

here's just one http://www.onlinetefl.com/tefl-cours...-tefl-courses/


I in fact do know a couple of people who have done a TEFL online & actually got teaching jobs on the back of it

neither had any previous teaching experience & freely admitted that as soon as they stood in front of a group of kids they were terrified & only lasted a couple of weeks - it was much harder & more stressful than they expected



I have only had a computer for the last 4 years and am totally hopeless. it would have taken me a year if I'd had to type everything use graphics. write a thesis and several essays. The course was heavily based on phonetics which I wouldn't know how to type and hours of listening to tapes. We had to design teaching games and produce material. It was a very difficult course but taught me discipline and perseverence. I had been a lecturer in the civil Service teaching work skills and communication skills for several years on initial and middle management courses so the classroom held no fears for me.

lynnxa

and that's the big difference - previous teaching/lecturing experience

steviedeluxe

One other important point we've not mentioned here, is that learning the Spanish language is essential. Not all prospective private clients will already have a grasp of English; some (particularly parents) will only be comfortable speaking to you in Spanish as they weigh up whether or not you'll be a good teacher for their child. Moreover, you won't be seen as a competent languages teacher if you are perceived to be unable to learn Spanish.

elspeth sinclair

It certainly helps but I have friends who do very well with little Spanish but I prefer to be fluent as it makes life easier and students learn faster.

lynnxa

yes, although I don't actually think that you need to know Spanish in order to teach English to Spanish speakers - or French to teach the French, or Chinese to teach the Chinese for that matter!!


private clients will certainly need you to have a grasp of Spanish - or else how will you communicate initially as you say

at the academy I worked for I wouldn't have got the job without Spanish - all communications were done in Spanish, both within the school & the termly reports for parents

I actually had a strange situation once where the parents of some kids complained that I was speaking English in the lesson (I was teaching English!), and expected the kids to speak to me in English too - it seems their previous teacher had always only spoken to them in Spanish & they just did the written exercises in English!!

it's also the way they teach English in Spanish state schools

after a chat the parents they agreed to try it my way for a while - & after a few weeks they decided that it was working

I did of course speak to them in Spanish if absolutely necessary - but that became less often as time went on

maybe I should mention that these particular kids had been studying English at that academy for 2 years before I took the class over - and for about 4 years at school

elspeth sinclair

If you taught English to foreigners in England you could have up to 10 different nationalities in your class and are expected to only speak in English. That is a real nightmare and why I don't believe in tne TEFL/TESOL system but give it lip serviuce when required.