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Q: Online TEFL Certifications: Worthwhile or Not?
Online TEFL Certifications: Worthwhile or Not?
Hello everyone! I imagine this question is questioned is asked a lot, but how important is it to get an online TEFL certification prior to teaching english in China? There are no options for me to take an in-person course in my area, so i will have to settle for online. I asked this of one of my friends who is currently teaching english in china and he said it was a bit of a toss-up. He got an online TEFL certification, then found out once he got to china that it was worthless. His school instead paid for him to go to Shanghai to take the in-person course instead. Here's what I would like to know:
1. Are online TEFL certifications worth anything when applying for jobs?
2. Any suggestions on reputable online TEFL certification courses?
3. About how long do online TEFL certification coursese take to complete?
4. Anyone have personal experiences to share regarding getting TEFL certified?
6 years 35 weeks ago in Teaching & Learning - China
I am not sure where you are, but for anyone in America, I always suggest Oxford Seminars. It is three weekends and an online component. It is a simple course actually, but the resulting certificate is accepted in China as legit. I am not aware of any online service that is accepted more than another. In year's past, a fake certification would have been fine. But, China is becoming more and more strict with their requirements lately. To ensure that you do not have any problems with visa processing, i suggest that you have every documents completed legally. Within the last two months, two of my teaching friends had authorities looking at foreign documentation at their schools.
1. No.
2. No.
3. Not worth the time.
4. Do an onsite one.
Shining_brow:
Which sucks downvoted this accurate information???
And, Iron, depends on the qualification... many don't say "Online" on them. My Master's degrees certainly don't mention that!
biggj123:
They do take online TEFL as of at least May this year. Also guy got a work visa with just his 1 year community college certificate, it was stamped by his government and the Chinese consulate, but they accepted it for a work visa in ESL....as of May that is.
Yeah, I got one a few years ago just for fun basically. Just to say I have one. You can get them cheap on the website "Groupon" . The one I did was 160 hour from a UK company. I remember I started at like around 10 am and worked on it all day was finished by 4 that afternoon. I skipped through all the reading and just went straight to the test. You need like an 85% on each test to pass I think. It not too hard, I had to re do a few test but it pretty basic. It gives you a good brush up on your grammar too. And after I had to write a short essay and make a lesson plan and send those in to get graded. After 2 weeks, they send me a PDF file with my certificate. They claim they are accredited...but who knows, I don't think any employer would check anyway.
I think I only paid 20 or 25 US dollars for it. Groupon is the web site. Seem to be one of the cheaper places to get one.
biggj123:
"TEFL Full Circle" was the company I used. google that and check it out....but buy from groupon, not their website, the price on their site is like 200 pounds.
Shining_brow:
And with all you just wrote, you're recommending them... why?
Do you honestly think China needs yet another waste of space, NOT-teacher taking up space in a classroom?
No wonder ESL teachers are looked down on in this country.... (and, quite rightly from this post!)
Glad my country has MUCH stricter requirements.
biggj123:
In a country where over 50% of the ESL schools and not licensed properly and cannot legally hire foreigners anyway....he could have just a fake pdf one online and just put his name on it. At least this way they have to at least do something. Where are all these 4 year BA holders with a legit tefls in china working for a few thousand a month? Those seem to be the idiots.....when some white dude with blue eyes with his grade 10 can make the same money. Dont hate the player, hate the game.
There are alot of shit jobs in china that needs to be filed, and qualified people usually won't take those. So really there is nothing for you to worry about....Just makes someone who is actually legal that much more important. You can hold it over the other loser plebs heads.Shining_brow:
Except... having those added unskilled, unqualified, incompetent - often even in the basics of the language - people lowers my pay packet and additional opportunities (such as private students - who typically pay better than the jobs we're in!)
It also seriously devalues my position here. Teaching used to be a job that was well respected. Now, as we all know, ESL teaching is a joke - not just amongst the locals, but us as well. We all have heard "Are you a teacher, or do you have a real job?"
I, for one, a, glad China has introduced tougher requirements - even if it is a PITA to go through the hassle!
(I do wish, however, that they'd make it easier for NNES with the right qualifcations to teach English here.... If Sweden, Finland, Germany, etc etc don't need NES to teach, why should China?)
biggj123:
I agree, it's good they raised the level of requirements to do the job. ESL will always be a joke in China for the simple fact there are not enough qualified teachers to do the job properly. And until there is they have to settle for unqualified people. Even now the fact you can use ANY BA degree is foolish. I would guess that over 90% of the teachers in China are not "real" teachers. They may be legal to work, but most are in no way qualified to teach anything.
So really as long as the employer and parents and students are happy and benefit from your teaching then all is well that ends well. If not, fire the fuck and move on to the next until you find that person, qualified or not. The demand is too strong to be super picky in most cases.
The shanghai government TEFL is accepted very quickly since it's the government taking your money and running the program. We had to send a teacher down for the program who had good credentials but no teaching experience and the certificate got them approved. The idea that a tefl course in china would make you a good teacher is a nice fairy tale but china is an alternative universe, hope you make it here to the twilight zone, you will absolutely love it. The school paid 3000 rmb for the course plus a hotel for seven days. The 3000 could be a lie since schools have a habit of exaggerating costs and not telling foreign teachers the whole story.
Pretty much what Spider said above.
However, you can do the Cambridge University CELTA course online (have been able to for a couple of years).
Unlike other online courses, you WON'T be able to do it in one day! when it stays 160 hours, it MEANS 160 hours! (and, that won't be including all the preparation work you'll be putting in, nor the time in research and writing of your essays - which are part of the formal assessment! AS WELL as the formally assessed teaching!)
A smarter option would be to get yourself over to Thailand or Vietnam, and do the course face to face. But, trust me, you want the 5 week version... 4 weeks is intense!
As for any other online course.... money grab! Pure, 100% money grab! "Accredited"?? Yeah - by who? (looks like in the US, anyone can be 'accredited' by some 'association'). Sure, they have fancy websites (2 hour web design course there!) They have links to other 'associations' (buy yourself a couple of domain names), and great testimonials (watch while I piss one out in 2 minutes).
ambivalentmace:
I concur with shining, a rare occurrence, but if you are older they seem to frown on you doing the course, over 50, so i was declined in vietnam and thailand. Prague which also turned me down or wait listed me as a way of saying no without saying no, had a late cancellation and wanted the money I suppose, so I got in with 3 days notice to get there, what can I say, I am a persistent asshole and yes the 4 weeks was very intense.
I am not sure where you are, but for anyone in America, I always suggest Oxford Seminars. It is three weekends and an online component. It is a simple course actually, but the resulting certificate is accepted in China as legit. I am not aware of any online service that is accepted more than another. In year's past, a fake certification would have been fine. But, China is becoming more and more strict with their requirements lately. To ensure that you do not have any problems with visa processing, i suggest that you have every documents completed legally. Within the last two months, two of my teaching friends had authorities looking at foreign documentation at their schools.
It's worth getting the CELTA. I did 6 hours teaching on the course and lots of additional hours spent observing the other students on my course teach. I definitely feel like it prepared me for teaching. When I watch sample lessons on YouTube I can now tell you what mistakes the teachers are making.
Despite it being 160 hours and the most universally accepted teaching qualification, I still got asked whether it was 120 hours! Mainly because it only says 160 in small print on the transcript, not the certificate itself.
So maybe you just need to do a TEFL that has a certificate with 120 HOURS in really big letters.
