TEFL or TESOL in Vietnam

thecyclist wrote:

With nothing to do during the lockdown I was considering getting my online TEFL certificate, and do some online teaching. A couple of questions about this. Is an online course equivalent to an in-class acquired certificate, in that most schools and online teaching platforms will accept it? I suppose that right now with schools closed nationwide online is the only option anyway.
What are reputable schools, whose certificates are recognized worldwide, and among those which one would be the cheapest?

In general, no; an online certificate is better than nothing, but because it has no teaching practice component it is usually just considered an introductory-level qualification.  The CELTA is the preferred certificate for many schools:

https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/teachi … ons/celta/

(Actually, they mention "online – a blended learning course, combining online self-study with hands-on teaching practice" but I imagine the teaching practice part would have to be completed later.)

However, not all schools, both brick-and-mortar and online, require a certificate. Obviously, these schools will not be the top-level ones with the highest salary but demand is significant, so go ahead and look into it with or without your certificate, Unfortunately, with a large portion of the world sitting at home now, there's also an awful lot of supply in the form of idle/unemployed teachers.

Anyway, this site has an extensive and detailed list of most if not all online teaching companies:

http://www.goodairlanguage.com

They also have a page about "How to Become an Online English Teacher":
https://www.goodairlanguage.com/how-to- … h-teacher/

Thanks a lot John for this very helpful reply.

The CELTA is a world renowned program but it is serious overkill for most people's needs here in Asia.

There are lots of on-line TEFL courses.
There are sales sometimes. You should google it.

The minimum requirement around Asia is a bachelors degree in any subject.
Some countries require a teaching certificate as well for a work permit.
An online TEFL certificate is considered a teaching certificate.

CELTA is very expensive, demanding and there is the good possibility of failing.

Online TEFL certificates OTOH proceed at a slower pace and give you lots of time to utilize the WWW so that you can study topics in more depth in your own time. It's pretty hard to fail a TEFL as most people would just stop doing the course and eat the fee.

There is no country in Asia that requires a CELTA for a work permit.
Some schools may require it but they will require that you have a university degree as well and maybe even some teaching experience post-CELTA in the host country.

A CELTA doesn't require a university degree but it doesn't replace one either.

Most students are children. CELTA is for adults. That's what the 'A' stands for.

TEFL certs are usually more general covering aspects of students age and levels with respect to teaching.

A degree does not make the teacher.
Being good at explaining things sure is useful but teaching is more than that.
It is difficult to teach without knowing more than your students, let alone having some idea as to how to teach.

You need to have knowledge of the teaching material and some skill at making, presenting and assessing lessons. Classroom management can take up 40-60% of a teacher's time. Teaching to student's needs.

The CELTA is a world renowned program but it is serious overkill for most people's needs here in Asia.

You don't need a CELTA to teach a bunch of 5 and 6 year olds to say 'puppet, robot, doll, ball and plane' but you do need to know how to run a classroom full of kids and a grounding in phonics can help you teach the words more efficiently. TEFLs cover this but as I said CELTA is for adults.

Experience- knowing what the challenges are for the students in your region comes with experience and can make your lessons more efficient and effective.

Here are some examples:
Koreans and 'r', 'f' and 'p'.
Japanese and 'l'.
Chinese and short vowels 'a and e', long vowel 'i'.
Vietnamese and final sounds.

I hope this helps.

One last note. Years ago I considered taking a CELTA. A pre-course requirement at that time was to read the book 'Practical English Usage' by Michael Swan. If you search you may find a downloadable version. It's about 650 pages and it's a terrific reference book for any EFL teacher.

Hi
heres a list of the books I needed when I did my CELTA course
1/ Learning Teaching .... Jim Scrivener
2/ The practice of English language teaching.....Jeremy Harmer
3/ How to teach English.... Jeremy Harmer
4/ English grammar in use.... Raymond Murphy
5/ Teaching tenses....Rosemary Aitkin
6/ Practical English usage.... Michael Swan
7/ About Language.... Scot Thornbury

Number 6 is more of a reference book, bit like a dictionary. The other books are great, full of info. Book 4 was my favourite. I think I paid around $300AUD from Amazon online. 3mth course part time in class with a total of 8hrs teacher training and 8hrs teacher observations. A friend did the TESOL course and gave me his study books etc to read through but I decided to do the CELTA. Comparing the two TESOL is a walk in the park, CELTA is like climbing Everest.

Cheers

TEFL self paced online is pretty easy and often find really good deals for the course and end test.

I did mine in my spare time purely for something to do because the course back in the UK was heavily discounted.

Like anything if you shop around can find some good deals on distance learning.

I did mine 20 years ago when I started teaching. Lost the paper because I never needed it in Asia until...

About four years ago I think. The language centre I worked at informed all of us that public schools in HCMC had to see a teacher's certificate in order for them to teach there. A dictate from the MOE in HCMC I think.

20 years ago PPP. 4 Years ago ESA and boomerangs. This was a more realistic approach than the old straight arrow PPP. IMHO

I have been teaching without any of these certifications in Thailand and Vietnam for close to 30 years at language schools, tutoring services and privately, so not so sure what an  on site or online TEFL could substantively  still do for me. Since I know nothing about the actual content of these courses they might conceivably improve my teaching or they might not. I am considering it now, because the vast majority of online teaching providers seem to require a TEFL or equivalent certification. In this respect online 'schools' seem to be even more stringent than a lot of proper language schools are. At many language schools experience, competence, and especially likeability with the students far outweigh a certificate.

You'll probably ace it. As someone else said these certs are really for newbs.

I got 97% on my second one. that was experience.

I've got a lot of emails from online schools. I can't say I'm impressed with any of them.

Classes are too short, pay relies on student feedback, lesson plans are provided.

A company sent me a power point to do a demo. It was awful. It was so boring I felt a sudden urge to research anti-depressants, no attempt whatsoever to actually teach anything. No wonder they rely on teachers entertaining the student.

Trying to find a serious school that lets experienced teachers do their job is difficult at the best of times but these online cookie cutters must be driving that industry to extinction.

No wonder kids are down voting everything to do with it. I'm with them.

Hire experienced teachers and let them do their job. Save the fast food lessons for the newbs. It can help them get off to a running start.

My HO, my rant for the day.