TEFL Institute - Get TEFL Certified & Travel the World!

As a brief overview, let me explain a little about the TEFL Institute. The TEFL Institute is a school of sorts that offers TEFL Certification classes online and at specific locations around the world. They offer the basic TEFL certification as well as specific classes like Business English and such. They provide resources to alumni for finding jobs around the world.

When I was thinking about taking the TEFL course online, I contacted an advisor at the home base in Chicago. Her name is Anne, and she is wonderful. She answered all my questions (there were many) and got me signed up for a class.

The class itself was helpful, especially because I have no background in teaching. The best lessons were those focusing on how to create a lesson plan and ones focusing on ESL teaching resources which I still use now as a teacher.

I was frustrated at times taking the class because of my fellow students. Students in the online class are required to comment on other people's posts and lesson plans. I felt the responses from my peers were not critical enough. I expected and wanted more constructive criticism.

As far as job search support, TEFL Institute supplies you with lots of different resources but it is up to you what you do with them. I teach in Korea currently, and to get a job here you have to go through a recruiter. I spoke with a different advisor at TEFL a couple times and she got me in contact with a great recruiter, but I worked with other recruiters to find a job as well.

Overall, the TEFL Institute was an integral part of helping me achieve my goal of teaching in Asia. Without the class and without the reassurance from the advisors I wouldn't have the experiences in Korea that I now have.

Critical Feedback:

If I could change one thing about this program I would like teachers to provide more feedback to students on their work online. I would also like to see students give each other more contructive criticism.

I took the TEFL Certification Course online. It was very convenient for my schedule. My online professor was efficient and answered all of my questions about each chapter. The course was challenge and I am so thankful because it helped me prepare for my teaching experience in South Korea! After completing the certification course the advisers went above and beyond assisting me with resources and recommendations on researching, interviewing, and applying to teach abroad. I couldn't have done it without their support and efforts!

Just after graduating from college, I was extremely lost. The job market was terrible, I had been denied to my graduate program, and it seemed like I was doomed to years of packing clothes or making drinks. Luckily, I decided to take a chance and make a change: I got a job teaching at a local school in Thailand. At first I was nervous because I had never taught before. But, I was lucky enough to enroll in TEFL Institute online course which helped me get the knowledge I needed to be successful in the classroom. (Thanks TEFL Institute!)

When I finally moved to Thailand, I loved everything about it. The food, the beaches, and the people were amazing. However, the most life changing part was the teaching. I had originally signed up for a five month contract, but ended up teaching for over two years! The students were tons of fun and the school was easy going and supportive. The first year I taught over 600 students and loved every minute.

Two and a half years later, I am back in the states getting a masters in teaching with a plan to move back to Asia. I attribute my initial success to TEFL Institute and their awesome courses. I still use techniques I learned in the course to teach today. Thank you TEFL Institute!!!!

I took the online TEFL Professional course. The schedule is broken down in a way that I could easily fit assignments and other course work into my busy schedule.

This course far exceeded my expectations. I really enjoyed getting to know my classmates and learning from them. The teacher was very kind and always provided helpful feedback. I really felt confident about teaching after fulfilling the coursework and the practicum observations.

I've told several friends about the course and three have already enrolled! I'm so excited to move overseas and experience this opportunity of a lifetime!!

I did my class on line, and this was my first on line class. The whole on line thing was a bit new for me, as I graduated college in 1996. While I did miss the interactions of a real class, I did like the ability to study and do my writing assignments on my own time. I thought the book was very good, but did not always take into account cultural differences. While it is true there are way to many differences to take into account, there were times I thought the book was written with only one cultural mindset in mind.

I also have to admit that I did not like not being able to speak with the teacher directly. I did not agree with her grading on more than one occasion, and did not like trying to exchange this disagreement via email, given her slow response time.

All in all, I felt the class was worth what I paid for it, and while there were cheaper classes out there, I did not feel they were worth the discount. Given that many schools look at how many hours your class time was, and compare that to Cambridge ESL classes, the cheaper classes would not have been worth the price difference.