Anybody ever taken the course from Online TEFL, which certifies you to teach English as a foreign language abroad? If so, how was it? Did you get a job? Please offer any other opinions that you may think interesting. Here is their website.
For what it’s worth, there are people in Asia making tons of money teaching English who are not certified by these guys, or by anyone else. I wouldn’t bother if you’re Asia-bound.
Most of the foreign teachers at my international school had no teaching degrees.
That’s a good price. Do you have experience teaching? The TEFL Cert. helps but experience is equally as good in most places.
If you don’t have experience then I think it’s much more beneficial to go to a school where they can help you with your classroom presence. Although the free lesson plans are a nice bonus. You don’t want to spend your life preparing for classes.
I would say look for a job in the place you want. Write a letter of inquiry to the school you want to work out. Highlight your relevant experience and ask what qualifications they’re looking for.
Also, in the meantime go to your local library or cultural center and sign up for volunteer tutoring. Lot’s of immigrants need free English lessons and it will help you to see what you need to learn.
Is there a particular country you’re looking at working in? There are a bunch of ESL dopers. Someone’s bound to know about the location you want. good luck
I haven’t done it, but I can’t imagine that an online teaching course would do much to prepare you for the realities of the classroom. Don’t some language schools run TEFL courses that involve actual classroom observation and teaching practice? I’d go for one of those instead.
Thanks, all, for the info. Now for the important part, Doghouse Reilly: what do you mean by tons of money? 
Japan: $1,500 to $2,000 per month
South Korea: $1,000 to $1,300 per month
Taiwain: $900 to $1,500 a month
Hong Kong: $900 to $1,200 a month
Thailand: less than $500 a month
Indonesia: local currency
China: $200 to $400 per month (some places offer $2500)
Vietnam: $250 to $1,000 a month
These figures vary between learning centres and international schools. Some include living expenses and air-tickets back home. The higher salaries may not necessarily be better, as living standards are often higher as well.
You might be interested in this forum for ESL teachers around the world.
I taught English in Villnius, Lithuania in 1996. I had a Cambridge certificate from a college in Edinburgh. I would have to agree that the practical experience of actually being up in front of a class is the most important. I didn’t get that at the college because there were too many people and only one month in class. It actually was kind of a scam; they “taught” English to students from all over the world and used us to teach them. So, they had tuition coming from both sides. The school was grossly overcrowded. I was mislead as to the type and extent of experience required for the course and found out after I got there I was almost in over my head. It was a difficult course. I’m telling you this because if you do decide to pay $1500 or whatever it is now for a cerificate, make sure you check it out first. I think that if I could have observed and helped out in an ESL class stateside it would have better prepared me. On the job I used pre-prepared lesson plans, so all time I spent on lesson plans was a waste of time.
If you really hustle–teaching, say, 35 hours a week–I’d say that you could easily gross $2000 per month. If you can target a more specialized niche, like teaching business English to adults, you might be able to make up to $4000 per month. Of course, getting the hours, and finding the more specialized jobs, is 90% of the challenge.
And back in the days when the exchange rate was NT$27 to the dollar, instead of NT$35, making money was even easier . . .
I taught English in the Czech Republic with no experience and no TEFL. It had its drawbacks – I felt my methodology was flawed and I often found myself fumbling for answers when students asked questions.
Still, the TEFL’s expensive (beginning at $1000 and jumping way up from there, depending on the school), and you’ll pick a lot up from just standing in front of the classroom.
If you want the certificate, I’d stay away from the online course and go for the real, in-person, thing. If you’re seeking the experience, there’s plenty of places that’ll hire you TEFL-free, depending on where you go. From there, you can do the learn-on-the-job thing.
The best times to look for jobs are usually September and January, when classes begin.
Good luck!
'Fess up, Doghouse. When were you in the ROC? Mid-90’s I’m guessing from those exchange rates. 98/99 for me, when it was 33/1. I was in Korea during the meltdown in 97 …
To the OP: certification is nice, but the reality of the marketplace is that warm native-speaking bodies are all they want/need/get. If all you’re looking to do is go for a year or three to make some money and see the world, don’t bother. It’d be like becoming a certified mechanic to get a job changing oil.
Some schools in some countries will hire you because you’re white and are competent in your own language, (though I’m disgusted to say the latter often doesn’t matter; the amount of badly spelled and worded enquiries about TEFL I see make me want to puke) but others are wising up somewhat and will generally want TEFL if they’re going to give you plane tickets, housing, and a visa. I didn’t get certified, so cannot get a visa to work where I am. I am therefore limited to under-the-table jobs that are, strictly speaking, grounds for deportation. The money is still very good; at the center I work at (though only a couple hours a week) I make about US $30 an hour. For private tuition I make maybe $18-25 an hour, and believe it or not, that is my “undercut the competition” price that I give because I just can’t bear to go much higher.
I personally think TEFL is a bum racket most of the time, and I have a good boss and am somewhat competent in the native language of those I’m teaching. Since the latter doesn’t apply to most and the former doesn’t apply to many, there is a significant chance of not being very happy with what you’re doing. Especially in Asia, where you’re most likely to be hired with few qualificaions, you’re more likely to run into bad materials, unsupportive staff, or worse. I have a boss who thinks I’m a bright guy, and since I’ve told her the lousy materials provided were boring the kids to death and pitched them, things have picked up. I even enjoy myself sometimes, now, and to be honest, I probaby improve my Cantonese more than the students improve your English. But if you end up with kids who are uncooperative, don’t understand you, and speak a language you don’t understand a word of, you may feel frustrated at your lack of success, and guilty for accepting such large wads of cash, if you’re human.
So, what’s my point… I guess I’d just say, shop around and think carefully, don’t be blinded by the big money. Your TEFL experience depends hugely on luck of the draw as far as bosses, schools and students go, but it also depends on whether or not you’re somebody with the brains, chutzpah and perseverence for it. If you’re going to be working with kids (which, if you pick Asia, you probably will be) especially those at a relatively low level (which again, you will, that’s why they’re being sent to tutorial centers after school, which is where you can work if you don’t have experience and/or TEFL.) it is absolutely invaluable to at least know enough of their language to give them definitions of simple vocab, and to know if someone’s giving you crap. I don’t know how I could win the respect of students without that.
Sorry, obviously in some places I use TEFL to refer to “TEFL certification” and in others as just what the acronym stands for.
Herwono, since those figures aren’t your personal estimates, I hope you won’t mind if I call them bullshit. The upper limit for China is lower than what I’ve heard referred to as the absolute bottom line. And I know for a fact that even with only a 20 hour work-week, the hourly rate for the upper wage in HK works out to about HK $120 an hour, which while certainly adequate by my standards (I spent $140 today and felt bad about it) is $30 below what I’ve heard of anybody accepting, and $80 below what most people would call their bottom line. Fortunately, most teachers are such greedy bastards that I can give people a “deal” while still making what I consider a very neat wage.
The other figures may be similarly pessemistic.
Maybe I should’ve read carefully as those are ballpark averages, not upper and lower limits, but HK $9,360 a month is not average if you’re working anything even approaching full-time.
Re: “tons 'o money in Asia”
I can only speak for Japan, but in the five years or so I’ve been here, I’ve seen advertised salaries for ESL teaching jobs go down and the market become more competitive.
A lot more places now ask for experience (!) and some sort of qualification (!!). A course might not help you much once you get a job, but it might help you get a better one.
All things considered getting a teaching job here is still very easy and teachers are still grossly over-paid, however it’s not quite the free-for-all that it once was.