So, you’re ready and raring to go on your online TEFL course. You’re all for the flexibility, and you could take three months (or longer!) to complete it… but you just want to finish the thing so you can get out there, start teaching and spend your weekends on the beach, beer in hand! Follow our useful tips and you’ll complete your course in no time.
Prepare yourself
Get your brain in gear, because while you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to do an online TEFL course, completing one certainly won’t be a walk in the park. You’ll have all the information and support you’ll need, but the idea is to prepare you for teaching your own students, and you’ll have to understand each module properly to be ready for whatever they choose to throw at you. So get that grey matter warmed up!
Be disciplined
One of the biggest traps people doing online courses fall into is procrastination. “Oh, I’ll just do it tomorrow”, “I’ve got a big weekend coming up, I’ll just leave it ‘til Monday”. Well, think about how many big weekends you’ll be able to have when you’re living in Bangkok… and get cracking! Make a study schedule and stick to it; make sure the people you live with know when you’re studying and leave you to it. Maybe even enlist their help: your parents might not like the idea of losing you to a foreign country for a few months or more, but if they understand how important it is to you, their support can be invaluable.
Now your study schedule doesn't have to be as detailed as this! Image: (Jurvetson)
Use the interactive tools
The TEFL tutors who designed our courses have been doing this for years and know what they’re doing. Each element is put in there for a reason, so watch the videos, do the quizzes and complete as many of the interactive elements as possible… it’s amazing how much you learn!
Give it a go
Hundreds of thousands of people have completed millions of i-to-i modules over the years, but they haven’t always gotten everything right first time. If a task seems daunting, just give it a shot… you get three goes at each module, so it can’t hurt. At least if you get something wrong, you’ll get detailed feedback from your tutor and you’ll know exactly what to put right.
Ask for help
Communication is a key part of any training, even on an online course. If you can’t seem to find the answers you need within the course, take a look at the ‘Help, I’m Stuck on My TEFL Course Group’ on Chalkboard – there’s loads of hints on there. Or, if you’re totally stuck, just drop our TEFL Helpdesk an email at helpdesk@tefl-training.com. It’s one of the great things about online learning, as there’s none of the pressure of putting your hand up in class: they’ll either point you in the right direction or have a tutor get back to you.
Enjoy it… and use it!
This is a great chance to expand your skills, so enjoy it. You might be learning online, but don’t wait until you hit the classroom to apply your new talents: use them whenever you get a chance and you’ll be amazed how much well prepared you are for teaching your first group of students!
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i think the best advice here is give it ago
so many people are afraid to try incase they get it wrong - of course being wrong is all part of the learning process...the course isnt there to catch you out and the tutors are not there to make you fail...
in fact if you try and get it wrong the comments usually tell you what you need to do - you more or less have to read between the lines and understand what the tutors are hinting at...after all they cant just give you the answer.
So when a tutor says - the lesson plan is good with some interesting points but you need to look at the ordering
This means change the order - not re write the whole things as a new idea because thats starting from scratch
Or if it says - have a look at module 3...even if your on module 6 (or what ever) go have a look at module 3 because the answer you need will probably be there
As i-to-i said - its not rocket science...some people try to hard and then beat themselves up big time - be realistic, dont rush it and read carefully...if you get stuck, take a break - take a day or 2 - and then come back to it with a fresh mind...ask a friends imput or ask for help on here
good luck, keep at it and dont leave it until last minute
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