ITTT TEFL Courses in Greece

Highlights:Teaching and traveling were the highlights of TEFL Corinth. The variety of age groups and language levels provided me with a diverse teaching experience. I loved the cross-cultural aspect as well. When I wasn’t teaching, I was traveling throughout Greece. Each weekend, the program director drove us to different modern and ancient sites: the domineering Acrocorinth, peaceful Nemea, heraldic Mycenae, picturesque Nafplio. One weekend, my mother and I traveled on our own to Sparta. We explored Ancient Sparta’s amphitheater, ate gyros for less than a euro, and saluted a towering bronze statue of Leonidas. TEFL Corinth is a cultural, culinary, educational experience. Moreover, its exceptional certification program shaped me into a competent, confident, well-trained ESL instructor.

Morning: I woke up each morning around 8am in the lovely home provided by the TEFL program. We lived in the small village of Vrahati, just outside of Corinth. I would walk towards the beach to get fresh bread at my favorite bakery. On the way home, I usually plucked a few ripe oranges to make orange juice. After breakfast on the porch, I literally walked across the street to the training center. Class began at 10am, and covered a range of useful topics, from phonetics to grammar, language acquisition theories to present perfect progressive.

Afternoon: Afternoons began with a lunch break. Sometimes I walked the three blocks to the main street for hot Greek dishes, other times I had a light lunch of feta and tomatoes while soaking up the Mediterranean sun. After lunch, I convened at the training center to prepare for the classes we would be teaching that evening. We made detailed lesson plans with the collaboration of our knowledgeable trainers. I prepped for classes—made flashcards, colored photocopies, and grammar activities. My trainers encouraged me to be creative, to think outside the box when conducting a lesson.

Evening: Around 4:30pm, we would leave in the bus provided by TEFL, which drove us to Kiato, a nearby seaside village. Sometimes I taught back-to-back classes, other times I had a free hour before teaching. The private English school in Kiato was located in the square, so I rambled down the streets, ate honey-drenched baklava, or relaxed at a café and drank frappes. Despite the charming square, teaching was the reward of the evening.

I taught young learners, pre-adolescents, and high school students. The first two weeks, the trainers observed our classes. The students were inquisitive, charming, opinionated, and self-assured speakers of English. The pre-adolescents challenged me the most; incidentally, my classroom management skills improved. After teaching, we were driven back to the training center and given feedback on our teaching effectiveness for the day. By the end of the second week, I felt confident and competent in teaching a class on my own.

Tell us a little about yourself. What position do you hold there?

Peter: I’m the Director of TEFL Training for Greece, so I have overall responsibility for all aspects of the course, particularly materials development, assessment and moderation. I oversee all the courses in all three of our locations, and try to spend at least one week working personally with each group of trainees.

What makes Greece a unique destination to obtain TEFL Certification?

Peter: Greece is unique because there’s such a huge demand for teachers of English, and through the partnerships that we have built up during the past twenty years we’re able to guarantee job placements on completion of the course. We offer teaching practice with Greek children, teenagers and adults, giving you the practical experience and confidence to be effective in the classroom when you start your first job.

What are some extracurricular activities students participate in during this course?

Peter: In Corinth, trainees live together in accommodation that we provide, so there are lots of extracurricular activities available. Our most popular trip is the tour of the archaeological sites of Nemea and Mycenae, and in the summer we often go to see plays at the ancient theatre of Epidaurus. Ancient Corinth is just a few minutes drive from the school, and the beach is just a short walk.

In Athens, the sights and facilities are all around us, so it’s easy to visit the archaeological sites and museums. Athens is great for nightlife, and a lot of our social activities involve taverns, bars and clubs. Our trainees usually also take the opportunity to visit some of the nearby islands.

Santorini is incredibly spectacular. It’s a small island with good transportation links, and our trainees can get together to hire a car or ATV at the weekend in order to reach some of the less accessible spots. It’s also very close to Mykonos, the essential party island, so a weekend trip there is a must.

Do students generally stay in Greece to teach after completing this course? What are some other popular destinations?

Peter: Around half of our trainees stay in Greece, as we place them in jobs in the schools that we work with all over the country. One reason that people choose to take the course here is because we provide a job guarantee. But many others come here just to spend a few weeks living in Greece and visiting other nearby countries. It’s a great way to spend a summer travelling around Europe. Our certification is recognised worldwide, and we have a great network of job contacts, so our graduates are working all over the world: Spain, Italy, Turkey, Morocco, Dubai, and many countries in Eastern Europe, South America and Asia.

What is one piece of advice you would offer someone considering obtaining TEFL Certification in Greece?

Peter: Do it!