Post: #1

I used the search function but nothing real good came up.

I was wondering what website you used to get your TEFL certification to teach English abroad and how much should I plan on spending.

I google searched it and seems there are so many different schools and options out there I would like to hear from someone who has done it before and get their opinion.

I'm not 100% sure I will even teach english abroad but it would be a good back up plan if my other venture doesn't work out.

Post: #2

I also read that in alot of areas it is hard to get a English teaching job without a Bachelors Degree.

Which I don't have.

Post: #3

http://www.eslcafe.com more than enough info on the topic there

degree req is true for some countries

online certs aren't very respected

a "real" cert is 1,000 or more...i think. it's been awhile

Post: #4

The CELTA and Trinity ESOL certificates are the most widely recognised. Stay away from the weekend TEFL courses or online distance TEFL courses, wastes of money as both aren't recognised by most schools, even cowboy schools. Many countries (especially the best paying markets like the Middle East, Japan, Korea and maybe Taiwan) won't give you a work permit unless you have a bachelor's, thus reason why many schools require it.

Post: #5

In your opinion is it even worth getting a english teaching certificate without a bachelors degree. I will probably be traveling places like India, SE Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America.

Post: #6

My weekend cert has done wonders for me. In China you need 'some' kind of tesol diploma. I got mine at http://www.globaltesol.com

If a place cares whether you have a CELTA or a TESOL, you DON'T want to work there. Expect Starbucks drinkers, feminists and sissified men, I couldn't get my CELTA after 2 tries cause I kept getting into slow passive aggressive fights with my other fellow 'trainees'...

I've been in this business like 10 years on my weekend TESOL though. You never see people with CELTAs working over here because they can't handle the job. CELTA like Starbucks attracts the liberal pro-alternative lifestyle hippy couchsurfers. They usually can't hack it in the real world more than a few months and go home or retreat to poetry readings in small alternative coffee shops after work.

Post: #7

Usually the more reputable schools will require a minimum of a CELTA, this is coming from 13 years in TEFL. Even that is slowly becoming less and less valuable as more and more are getting their DELTA's. I don't know about China, but it seems that there is such a great demand in China that they'll take anybody, especially native speakers with little or no qualifications. Used to be like that here in Ukraine when I first arrived. Hell, a reputable school I eventually worked for after I had been here a year, even paid for my CELTA. However, those days are long over.

There are schools I believe all over the world that will take any native speaker without a CELTA or even a first degree, but they are usually low paid, not many perks and questionable regarding honoring their agreements, let alone taking care of all the paperwork and proper Visas which allow you to stay.

You could always just take a chance, arrive in-country apply at all the TEFL schools, language schools etc. and see what happens. Take the best offer, especially if they provide you with legalization. Then network and develop a private student base.

Personally, I don't even work for school's anymore since I've gone totally into teaching privately and examining work.

Either way, you're going to have to expect and accept some risk when moving abroad. At least you have forums like this or in TEFL, Dave's ESL cafe, where you can get a ton of information on such a move, a lot more than I had when I moved abroad in 1998!

Post: #8

(09-09-2012 11:52 PM)BadWolf Wrote:  CELTA like Starbucks attracts the liberal pro-alternative lifestyle hippy couchsurfers. They usually can't hack it in the real world more than a few months and go home or retreat to poetry readings in small alternative coffee shops after work.

Awesome

These are also the people that lecture you about China their second day in country after you've for been there for years. Everytime gone within 3 moths.

Bad Wolf, isn't China requiring a bachelors degree now? Thought they went that route a few years ago, but it's China rules don't mean a lot.

Post: #9

If you need a degree just buy a fake one. Go down any Moscow metro station and you'll see advertisements for degrees from Lomonosov University. Some are real,as in if your employer phoned up the university then you would be registered there and some just offer the certificate. I forget the prices. You could also go to somewhere like Kyrgyzstan and buy one direct from the university.

If you're dream is a career in TEFL but your lack of degree is holding you back then it's an option.

Post: #10

haha Where can i fake my way into a teaching spot with a degree in both international/military affairs and German...But have no experience teaching minus playing soccer with middle schools and pointing to countries on a map.

if the job is fun and the pay is decent, I'll try if if i can live outside America for a while again

Post: #11

I'm quite sure that to teach English in China you need a bachelors. Part of the stipulation of the "foreign expertise" they sign off on requires a bachelors degree. I think

Post: #12

I taught in China without a degree ( was a few years back however ) but even if the rule has changed there will be a way around it. Just go to China and find a job on the ground,you can't fail to find work if you are a native speaker from a western country and you look presentable.