i-to-i TEFL 
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Choosing the right TEFL course
On this site alone there is enough choice to make even the most determined of people falter, let alone all the other TEFL, TESOL , TESL, ESOL, ELT courses there are out there…and the number of times I have been asked about TEFAL courses! We don’t make saucepans!!
I can only give you help from my own experience and will try to be as unbiased as someone who has i-to-i blood running through his veins can be.
As I have mentioned elsewhere on this blog, I didn’t take a TEFL course and I took the courses I needed in order to achieve what I wanted.
I taught for 3 years in Greece before taking a 4-week CELTA course. I knew I wanted to be in the TEFL game for my career so I felt the investment of time and money was worth it.
You will hear lots of different opinions about what courses you need in different countries etc. The truth is that you can teach anywhere. Some schools will ask for a 4-week course, some will ask for experience. But most schools out there are small privately-owned schools that want you because you are a native English speaker.
It was interesting, I was speaking to one of our tutors who lives in Madrid. I have never taught in Spain, and was under the impression that it was hard to find work in Spain unless you had a 4-week course. He said that only around half the teachers he knew had the 4-week course. So, there you go. I would be careful of anyone who adamantly says: “You can’t teach there, unless you have this or that”. I have a number of teachers who don’t have university degrees and have taught in Greece, Italy and Spain: countries where a degree is needed.
All I can say is the demand for English speakers far outstrips the demand. Training is a good idea since it gives you the confidence to put yourself out there and you can avoid the sort of start I had to teaching. Also, one thing seems quite clear, the more training you can do, the better your CV looks and the better your confidence is.
When choosing the right course, just assess your needs.
- Do you need extra grammar training?
- Do you prefer learning by doing or by theory?
- Do you need the attention of a one-to-one tutor?
- Do you need extra training for specific teaching situations, like teaching young learners, business English or teaching one-to-one?
- Do you prefer learning at your own pace rather than in a classroom?
