If you’re thinking about doing a weekend TEFL course, you may want to reconsider.
There are countless numbers of ‘TEFL-certified language teachers’ unable to get employment because their ‘qualifcation’ isn’t enough.
Or in some cases, it’s not even real at all.
Here’s the thing, we will be very upfront with you.
We are one of the best well-known language schools here in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Our small team has a combined 150+ years of language teaching experience in over 50 different countries.
We want you to come and do our course instead, but not because it makes a quick quid for us, but because it’s the best decision for your career.
If you give us a couple of minutes, we’ll explain what we mean and hopefully show why you should never do a weekend TEFL course.
Why you should stay away from a weekend TEFL Course
Here are a few quickfire reasons to bring you up to speed.
1. Qualifications could be bogus
TEFL stands for ‘Teaching English as a Foreign Language’ and is the name of the industry itself rather than a qualification.
This means that ‘TEFL qualifications’ can be unaccredited and generic.
Anyone can decide to run a TEFL weekend course, hire a room in a hotel and charge whatever they want.
Unfortunately, many people end up spending time and money on qualifications that are just made up and not really worth anything.
2. Trainers could be unaccountable and unreliable
Because there’s no governing body in the world of TEFL qualifications, just about anyone can put an ad on Gumtree and declare themselves as language experts.
Unlike a college, university or registered language school, there’s no accountability and no guarantee that the person who is delivering the training is actually qualified.
3. Content could be low-quality
This means that there’s no consistency in the quality of the teaching.
Sure, there are probably good courses out there, but you’ve no way of knowing if you’ve picked a good one or a bad one.
4. There’s no real-life teaching experience
Unlike other properly certified language teaching courses, there usually isn’t any real-life teaching involved in a TEFL weekend course beyond group exercises.
But these group exercises typically take place with OTHER English speakers and provide no real-life experience of what it’s like to teach someone who doesn’t know English in the real world.
5. They’re too short to make a difference
Even the most talented trainee in the world can’t learn all the essentials to language teaching in just one weekend.
Plus no international school would ever employ someone as a paid teacher because they ‘did a TEFL weekend course a few years ago.’
Unfortunately, it just doesn’t work that way.
What to do instead: introducing the CELTA course
CELTA stands for ‘Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages’ and is issued by Cambridge: the prestigious, worldwide renowned university in the UK.
Schools all over the world require a CELTA to even apply for a job.
That’s because a CELTA is the world-class qualification when it comes to a teaching English and is the most recognised all over the world.
So before you even think about applying for a weekend TEFL course, it’s vital that you understand the difference between a CELTA and a TEFL course.
The fate of your teaching career could depend on it.
