Best TESOL certification program?

[Janitor]

mteacher, it depends on what pay level you are already at.  A TESOL only puts you to pay level 2 so if you are at that level or above it would be a waste.  Honestly TESOL doesn't teach you that much, nothing that life experience doesn't and you already have that and a degree in Education.  The only other thing TESOL gives you is credability here in ROK.  My teachers for some reason love that I have my TESOL and think it makes me so much more qualified because it is a certification that they understand.

I did the ITTT one as well and got the pay increase. It was cheap and the pay raise was worth it. To be honest, if you are looking for basic ESl teaching skills and a pay raise an online course is all you need. Having a certificate gives you credibility in Korea. I had one part-time teacher try to give me a "you are an unqualified foreign teacher" line I showed her my folder of certificates i.e. TEFL, TOPIK, degrees etc. she backed off after that.

The Daegu course and also one that is held from time to time in Ulsan (same people) will give you credit with masters programs in TESOL and is internationally recognized. So if you are looking at continuing on, then you may want to drop the 690,000 plus the hotel and and get that one.

[mteacher]

I will be level 2+ from Feb 2011.  Just checked the epik website and if I understand correctly it wont make a difference... I will go from 2 to 2+ because I have the one year experience (after this contract) with a degree in education... the year after (Feb 2012) i will be bumped up to level 1 since I'll have 2 years exp with bachelors in education as well as renewal within the same POE.. and 2 years later i will be 1+ anyways... so unless it's for credibility I don't seem to need it...     i wish the uni back home wasnt so useless.. I really would like to do my honors degree in special needs education and then my masters... maybe I should send them an email, since phoning definitely doesn't seem to work.. Thanks everyone!

[hankmcmasters]

just  to be sure that i'm not missing out on extra money....  with epik any pay increase from a certificate wont begin until the next contract year, right?

[mteacher]

I'm not sure, but I believe so yes.  Cause your pay is stipulated on the first pay of your contract.. so I think that is fixed until you sign a new (next) one.

[mrsamandab]

Try the 100 hour i-to-i online course.  http://www.i-to-i.com/tefl/  If you call to register and tell them you are with Reach to Teach recruiting, you get a major discount (You don't actually have to be).  I actually think I got something out of the course.  Hope this helps.

[andyfoggy]

i have been teaching here for 7 years and at the start of this academic year i started a course with teflonline.com.
I did the 120 hrs course and mostly did it in my spare time at work
great course, and i did actually learn a lot and had the opportunity to try all my lessons on my unwitting students.
will i get a pay rise? not sure, but doing this course was better than farmville and other useless facebook applications and i feel my teaching has improved as a result
if i do get a pay rise it will be a pleasant bonus
looking to do an on line MA now
i would advise anyone to a tefl online course
my coworker was really impressed too!!!

[peasgoodnonsuch]

I did the i-to-i tefl course with the Korvia Recruiting discount. It was affordable and gave me a good brush up on grammar that I managed to retain in my memory for all of 3 months. Still, it helped me get my job and my pay level!

If you really want job flexibility and to actually learn something, you may want to look into getting your CELTA. It's through Cambridge and seems to mean more across the board than a TEFL/TESOL cert. from online or even a real school.

[Davey]

I'm not sure, but I believe so yes.  Cause your pay is stipulated on the first pay of your contract.. so I think that is fixed until you sign a new (next) one.

you're right--it's fixed, so if you get certified during your contract, it won't take into effect until you re-sign. so, if you ain't re-signing and don't expect to teach English again, don't do it!

[K04]

My pay did change after getting the TESOL.  All I had to do was give the school a photocopy of my TESOL certificate and they scanned it and sent it to my school board and my pay grade has gone up.  I didn't have to wait until the end of the year.  It went up on the next months salary.

[hankmcmasters]

Kimberly, WOW.  What MOE are you with?

I'm in Daegu.  I wonder if this will work for me~

[RufusW]

I've also heard of it changing mid-contract.  Contact head-office!

[togetbex]

Just a recommendation -

You should make sure to take a classroom course (as opposed to one online.) Some schools don't recognize certification unless it was earned during a classroom course.

From what I understand, if you already have experience teaching (which I believe is the case here), then an online course is just fine. The inline course would be the way to go if you had no experience, but since we all do, there is no reason to pay the extra money for something you already have-the experience.

[K04]

I`m with IMOE, they knew when I was flying over that I did the TESOL certification I was just waiting for the certificate to be mailed.  That was actually part of the deal when I got my job that I had to have my TESOL and the company I had previously done it with had gone out of business so at the last moment I had to do another course.  So they told me that it would just change when the certificate arrived.  I`m not the only one they did this for, many more teachers with IMOE have changed their status mid contract also.

[taeyang]

do i have this right...?

TEFL is good for teaching abroad, while TESOL is the same, but also fine if you want to teach in your own country.

is it as simple as that?

[Paul]

TEFL = foreign language, so say teaching in Asia
TESOL = second or other language, so say teaching to migrants in the USA or teaching in Asia (hence the "other")

In practice, the terms tend to be used interchangeably, although TESOL is also often used as an abbreviation for Trinity TESOL Certificate, the widely regarded Trinity equivalent to the full-on Cambridge CELTA (Certificate).

[taeyang]

got it. so tesol is really just a "catch all"?

anybody know anything about this course: http://www.tesolonline.com/courses/without-tutor.php

seems to be the cheapest. it's a little strange to me that it has the exact same website layout as the TEFL course... (which was mentioned above). i guess they're the same company?

[Paul]

There's a good blog thats started reviewing the online courses critically, wish I could find it again. Stands in stark contrast to the likely-paid-for fluff at teflcoursereview.com, tefl.com etc etc. Not a fancy page, literally just some longterm EFL dude taking these courses and reviewing them in his spare time. Long story short, there's no official accrediting body for these courses, so any that advertise that you should view with suspicion. Backed by a reputable university (not an online paper mill) is perhaps a better thing to keep an eye out for.

The two big "highly-recommended" online ones you'll see on most review sites both regularly troll forums with "3rd party" advertising, so whilst not to say they're not good, take any advice that's not from someone trusted with a pinch of salt. I took one of them and the course notes were I'd wager 75% padding and weaselwords and wouldn't even pass a MS Word spelling and grammar check leaving you paying strictly for (the more professionally presented) assessments.

[teacher_del]

you're right--it's fixed, so if you get certified during your contract, it won't take into effect until you re-sign. so, if you ain't re-signing and don't expect to teach English again, don't do it!

Really?  At an EPIK orientation in August 2009, Jon Park said you COULD apply mid-contract for a pay grade bump upon receiving TEFL certification.  It just wouldn't take effect for two months after you applied (so if you submitted your papers on April 12, you wouldn't see any new money until your May 24 paycheque). When was that changed?

[cassie]

Jeollanamdo seems to be a province that doesn't take online-only certificates for a pay bump. That's what I was told by a recruiter.

[K04]

Quote from teacher_del:
"Really?  At an EPIK orientation in August 2009, Jon Park said you COULD apply mid-contract for a pay grade bump upon receiving TEFL certification.  It just wouldn't take effect for two months after you applied (so if you submitted your papers on April 12, you wouldn't see any new money until your May 24 paycheque). When was that changed?"

Don't worry teacher_del I along with several other teachers had the pay change take place mid-contract.  I am with IMOE and they changed it.  When my certificate arrived my co-teacher just scanned the certificate and sent it to IMOE and then she had the VP and Principle sign some paperwork just confirming the certificate and then the pay bump showed on my next paycheque.