Trusted Online TEFL Courses with Teaching Practice

This has been one colossal, unacceptable hassle and waste.
I paid for a course with online teaching practice, an upgrade from a previous certificate I had. 83% of the material and assignments are the exact same between the courses. INTESOL further didn’t tell me about all the extra equipment I would need for the teaching practice. So, I ordered everything late, in the midst of this pandemic and experienced huge mailing delays. Everything took weeks to arrive and none of it was covered in my fees. In the meantime, I did all the affiliated school’s extra (surprise) training and fulfilled all their other high standards despite not being warned, an employee, nor destined to be paid for my two weeks’ worth of free work for them. I even had to print up a giant poster piece by piece and line it up perfectly, wait and wait to get ultimately useless help with their buggy programs, etc.
I offered to accept the certificate without the teaching practice for a partial refund, even though I wouldn’t have attempted an upgrade at all if I knew that the teaching practice wouldn’t actually be included. Once again, I have gone ignored. I’ve had enough. This isn’t worth the effort and hasn’t been such for a long time.

After deciding to do a TEFL course, I came across ACT in Bangkok (online). They responded quickly with information and made the enrollment process simple, their cost was also very competitive. After completing the course today, I can recommend this to others looking to complete a 120hr TEFL "in-class" course. The trainers, support staff and fellow students were great. I can thoroughly recommend this course.

I really enjoyed the course as both the theory and teaching practice elements were interesting and challenging. I chose the online course as I wanted to do it at my own pace and could not make myself available for an intensive 4-week course. As I was also able to complete 2-weeks teaching practice at the end of the course, I definitely think I had the best of both worlds. My course tutor for the theory part was very encouraging and supportive and the tutors on the teaching practice element (in Barcelona) were a valuable source of good advice and recommendations. The Course director, Lynda, was also very helpful in answering all my questions prior to booking the course.
This course really sets you up well for entering the world of ESOL teaching and I believe the teaching practice is a vital part of this in order to gain in confidence. I taught "authentic" students (not peers as in some courses) and it was a real eye opener as I experienced at first hand the importance of being well-prepared, patient and adaptable as students do not always immediately understand instructions/explanations so we have to find different ways of getting our point across. And there is nothing better than seeing a happy student when they have finally grasped a new grammar point! You aren't thrown in at the deep end either as you first observe lessons and receive guidance from the tutors before doing any teaching. At the same time, you are also expected to be autonomous and take responsibility for your lesson planning, which is good preparation for after the course.
As regards job placement assistance, this is not really applicable to me as I'm based in France but I have still rated it as 8/10 given that my tutors in Spain did their best to help by putting me in contact with the owner of a language school nearby who has kindly provided me with job guidance and tips. If you want a course that is both rewarding and challenging and that is capable of helping you to reach your full potential so that you are adequately prepared for the world of teaching, then do not hesitate. This is the one for you!

I studied the 120 hour course with INTESOL back in 2013 prior to travelling to South Korea. I chose them because it was really important to me to go with a company that was accredited and that schools had heard of, and Lynda was kind and helpful at answering my many questions. I really enjoyed the course. It was more in-depth and challenging than I was expecting to be honest, so I felt I got a lot out of it. The course materials were engaging, and I found my tutor to be very supportive and professional. He offered me some great feedback that really helped my learning process. The team at INTESOL were helpful in assisting me to find a job after the course and although I didn't participate in the onsite teaching practice they offer I felt well enough prepared for teaching in Korea. I've referred INTESOL to friends I've met on my travels since and will continue to do so.