Program Reviews

I found TLH on Google during extensive TEFL research. I decided on them because of their price, teaching time, school location, and the availability to get certified for children and adults. They did a great job of introducing us to the city with tours, pub crawls, weekend trips and an orientation weekend. All were much needed/wanted for my trip. They also offer visa help which for many people is invaluable. TLH has a large online community where alums can trade job openings, get togethers, and apartment rentals. They offer private and shared apartments and organize the check in. For me that was bumpy. The airport lost my luggage but the owner of TLH helped me sort it out and luckily I got my bag within 4 days. The apartment/flat I was in was okay. Not amazing and not super terrible either. Half the lights were blown when I got there. We said something and most of them were fixed. There is no air conditioning in the flat (pretty standard in Prague) but there was only one fan. 1 fan for three girls in three different rooms to share. I was okay at night because I am always cold and most Czechs just create cross breezes with the windows, but my roommates got pretty warm and during the day the flat was like 85 degrees. Most of the time we were at school (which was JUST AS HOT) anyway. The bathroom was so bad though. So. So. Nasty. It's the standard in Prague to have the washer in the bathroom. Virtually no one has dryers, you hang your stuff on a drying rack in the bedroom. That's not what the problem was, because immersion is cool. But the washer drained into the tub. So every time we took a shower you had to clean the tub because it would have dirt and lint residue. A lot of it. It was bad. And the threadbare shower curtain had to be 10 years old with just as much mold and dirt stained on it. Equally as terrible. Now, you might be saying, "What's the big deal? It's just your feet touching the bottom of the tub. Why did you have to wash it every time?" Because my friend our apparent was a traditional Eastern European sitting shower. Very common in CR. You have a handheld sprayer and you sit in the tub to wash yourself. You get wet - turn the water off- bathe yourself/hair - then turn the water back on to rinse off. Some of the other apartments that my classmates where in did have stand up showers, BUT they didn't have washers and had to go to a laundry mat. So really I think having the washer and old tub was better.) So you are sitting in dirty water from yourself and the laundry. Now, I didn't know it at the time but our tub drain was clogged, so it made the drainage much much worse. All 5 of us who passed through that apartment thought, "This is what its supposed to do. Like a shower bath as a kid kinda." So you sat in 4 inches of water or whatever. It wasn't until the last week of class that we realized it was clogged. But as soon as we brought it to TLH attention it was fixed that afternoon! So it only took about 12 hours after we told them that we had a proper working/draining shower. You live and you learn. I just wish we would have asked about it sooner. The location of the apartments is wonderful! Great views and food nearby as well as plenty of grocers and short walk to the tram stop. The instructors were friendly and helpful most of the time and the school house was in an amazing location. If my husband ever gets TEFL certified I will enroll him here.

I participated in The Language House TEFL program in May 2016. Two years later, I am still amazed and grateful for everything I learned during the course and all of the support provided throughout my time in Prague. The staff genuinely care about your wellbeing and success and continue to be supportive long after you finish the course. I’ve now officially started my own English tutoring business here in Prague because of the foundation, knowledge, and support that The Language House provided me.

The assistance provided by the staff of The Language House is unparalleled. Moving abroad can be intimidating, but they make it so easy and stress-free. The school also has a ton of resources - physical materials and also connections around the world!

Finding jobs is easy because of the connections they have and the ever growing community of alums.

The community is a excellent resource for teaching, finding jobs, and whatever you need. It’s been really great having aich a large group of people that I know I can trust and look to for help.

The Language House also offers services to help with visas and finding a place to live!

The course is intense but in a good way! You get actual teaching experience during the course and learn way more than you could in an online course. There are staff members constantly around to help you with grammar and lesson planning.

Overall The Language House is a great program and community!

The program was difficult, but I had adequate support available to me the whole time from teachers, fellow students, and alumni. The program was comprehensive and absolutely prepared me for a successful teaching career. Not only was I prepared with the practical and course material, but the job assistance helped me start working immediately! I would recommend the Language House to anyone looking for a positive experience to obtain their TEFL certification. They also offer an additional Young Learners Certification for those looking to teach children which I have found invaluable.

I attended the Language House March of 2018. To say I was nervous, is an understatement. But as soon as I meet people (staff and students) I couldn’t have felt more at home. Everyone at the TLH is there to help and guide you during your experience here in Prague. They do everything from helping you get a Visa, find jobs, and take you on hikes around the Czech Republic. The course is very intense, but it is 100% worth it because you come out of the course having much more teaching experience than any other TEFL program around. I felt very confident leaving TLH knowing I would be ready to teach English to anyone. The days are long, but the staff is so friendly and funny, they make the days worth while and enjoyable. Even after the course is over, the staff is still there to help if you have any questions and concerns. TLH has a great alumni family which is always a great way to find jobs, social groups, and create great experiences. The alumni family is not only in Prague, but all over the world. So if you wish to teach English elsewhere after the program, they will provide you with connections to do so. I can’t say anything negative about the course. I have zero regrets. I highly recommend this course to anyone looking for a TEFL program.

I enjoyed this course. I met s lot of really cool people who were doing the same things in life as me, teaching and traveling. We didn’t have that much time to explore the city because of the work we had to do. But I liked the housing they arranged and the schedule wasn’t bad. I had s few negative interactions with the staff where I felt they didn’t really care about me. And towards the end of the three weeks a few of the clssses seems pointless. I definitely learned all the grammar from this course and I got really good classroom teaching experience. I’m not sure if I would do this course again as I felt it was overpriced and they wanted to charge you for a lot of extra things. But there is a good support group out there of expats in Prague and I did have fun while I was there. So not the best decision of my life but certainly not the worst.

At The Language House you will get a very thorough, high quality teaching education. The course is intensive, and rather difficult, because the tutors prepare you for teaching at varying levels, and help you create organic lesson plans. The practicums are an essential part of this; the opportunity to teach small groups of students each day, and to receive individualized feedback is incredibly helpful. I remain very satisfied with the level of education that TLH provided. In my experience, they provide a more comprehensive education that other language houses, which makes the transition to the job market much easier.

Where TLH absolutely blew me away was with community support. The network you become part of as a TLH alum is an amazing resource, for teachers working in or outside of Prague. TLH alum can give guidance and aid in getting a job anywhere in the world.

In Prague, the TLH staff are incredible, and the lengths TLH owner Chris Westergaard goes to are amazing. For example, during my time in Prague (2015-2016) people were finding it difficult to get apartments once the course ended. Chris realized this was becoming a problem, and created a network within TLH to help new teachers find accommodation more easily. Since then, he's also communicated with several of the large language schools in Prague regarding raising their base teaching wage, because he feels it has not increased enough in recent years. These are both things well beyond his purview as a TELF teaching school owner, but Chris cares about the community and does what he can to support his alum. The social network is also great, with alum hosting day trips around CZ, meeting for beers once per month, etc. The expat community in Prague is pretty great generally, but the TLH community is amazing, and Chris Westergaard will have your back long after you finish the course.

TL;DR: If you want to teach ESL abroad, study at The Language House. You won't regret it.

Definitely well worth the time and money. Based in a fantastic city, this program offered not only teaching instruction but help with visas, apartment searches, and applying for jobs. I didn’t stay in Prague after but many of my classmates did and they got all the help they needed transitioning into their life there. They were very helpful for me while I applied for the EPIK program in Korea and I’m currently here teaching! It was a great experience and I worked hard but it was worth it.

The Language House was definitely the best decision/move I have ever made. It made me find out who I really am, and how strong I can be by pushing myself to do things I wouldn’t normally do. It’s a great program to start if you don’t really know what you’re doing in life after college and I honestly believe that it prepares you for real world situations. I had a lot of good memories but the best one was probably seeing everyone perform in front of the class for the first time to get a grasp of how everyone’s personality was like and I feel like that brought us together in a strange way. I would highly recommend anyone of all ages past 21 to come to Prague and experience the TLH. Especially if you can afford all the extra expenses they don’t tell you about. ;) I recently recommended this program to one of my best friends and she will be joining me in Prague in October and I couldn’t be happier!

Prague is worth a visit, so why not come here and get your TEFL certificate while you're here?

I must say, when I first came to Prague, I was a little nervous. I didn't know anything about the culture, I didn't know any other city in the Czech Republic besides Prague, I didn't know Czech (I still don't but I know a lot more than when I first arrived), so you can imagine how terrifying it must have been to move to a country when you don't know much about it.

However, the community of The Language House (TLH) alums is quite large, and I've met a lot of awesome expats from taking the course, as well as different events TLH puts on for the alums.

The course work is hard work, but it's totally worth it. You get some nice quality experience teaching in a classroom setting in 3 different levels of English. A1 and A2 are for beginners, B1 and B2 are for intermediate, and finally C1 is for advanced. You'll be put into one of these for the first week, teach 3 lessons to a class of maybe 5-10 students, and then the next week move on to a different level, and repeat the process over, and finally one more week of the same (a total of 3 weeks of teaching, each week with a new level). Additionally, you'll be required to find a one-on-one student to have 2 private lessons. This is awesome because you really get the full experience of teaching in both a classroom setting and with private lessons.

Most students are 20-somethings, fresh out of university, but don't let your age stop you from coming to TLH and getting your TEFL certification. I know several people who went through TLH who are older, so really age doesn't matter here, people of all ages, religions, sexual orientations, and whatever are welcome without any bigotry or bias. You'll find the community to be very supportive when you have questions relating to anything and everything. TLH will help you find housing (ultimately it's your responsibility, but they'll point you in the right direction if you're having trouble finding it on your own), find a job, get a visa, and stay legal to work in the Czech Republic.

Health care in the Czech Republic is great, the culture and food are amazing, really you'll have a blast coming here. Additionally, the Czech Republic is located in Central Europe, so anywhere you want to go in Europe will be relatively cheap. I've made affordable trips to Italy, Germany, UK, Hungary, Holland, Poland, Austria, and many more places since I've moved here, and I plan on going to many more places before I leave (whenever that will be).