How Do You Find a TEFL Course You Can Trust? Top 9 Things to Consider Before Signing A TEFL Course

Want to know how to evaluate a TEFL program and what to look for before taking a TEFL course abroad? There are some tips and strategies that can help to access the legitimacy of any TEFL program abroad. For example, connecting with the TEFL academy, finding their standards and accreditation and reviews on the internet posted by the alumni members. Find out more that how you can check if your TEFL academy is Legitimate or not. 

Are you thinking to shift or move abroad as a TEFL teacher in Spain, Argentina or China? Then you need to invest in the TEFL course at first. But, wait! Have you checked your TEFL abroad course legitimacy? I know that it’s quite hard to find a legit course when there are huge options out there for TEFL certification. In this article, we’ll tell some valuable tips to check that either TEFL certification is legitimate or not?

Connect with TEFL Schools by Asking Maximum Questions

Keep sending emails to ask things regarding TEFL course, their criteria, job placement guidance, training hours, etc. If they give a positive response without getting annoyed, then they are legit. You can also ask them to provide the contact of some past graduates. So, you can find about the program validity in a better way. 

Every TEFL course has social media networking Facebook page. Make sure that you joined TEFL official Facebook page to get in touch with TEFL Madrid activities, connect with people who are taking that course and graduates to gain more information about TEFL in Spain program. 

Don’t blindly trust those people who are claiming that they are accredited members of the TEFL program association. For this, you should cross-check by researching on the internet, ask from an official website about members of an association to check either their claims are true or false-based. Similarly, the forum’s information can be inaccurate as they are posted by people who own the courses. Be careful and ask official members by sending emails directly to them.  

 Research

If you are planning to move abroad for taking a TEFL course, then hold on. Don’t lavishly spend your $1000 USD and your valuable time in a scammed course. Firstly, research about your chosen TEFL Institute, TEFL certification, ESL job boards, and other job markets of TEFL course across the globe. Read online reviews of past students, blogs, articles, and research papers as much as you can to know insights, legitimacy, benefits, market value and challenges there. 

If you have any relative or somebody who went abroad as an ESL teacher, then connect with them by asking their experiences i.e. what they gained, and learned? No doubt, they can provide better insight into the best possible TEFL certification course and live abroad aspects. 

Check Training Hours

Is TEFL certification course outlined of 120 hours? It’s the best way to determine either TEFL certification is legit or not.  This delineated course is divided into two parts; where the first part consists of 75-85% hours of academic training and 15-25% hours of live teaching practice. 

If any TEFL/TESOL training course is giving less than 100 hours and/or no practical application, then you should reconsider the decision about either to select a course or not. It may be a legitimate course, but it doesn’t qualify you for job opportunities in all countries. As the employers in this industry are only hunting for those TEFL certified applicants whose certificates meet with international standards and the most basic requirement is that an applicant must complete 100+ hours of training. 

A student teaching practicum is a necessary skill to become an effective teacher in the future. Plus, most world hiring schools ignore those TEFL applications that do not incorporate at least 6-20 hours of live practice teaching. Make sure that your TEFL course provides a 100+ hours combination of live practice teaching and academic training. 

TEFL Madrid academy provides a great opportunity to earn international level TEFL certificate with 120-hour-long course where 6 hours are dedicated to the practical application.

Check Accreditation

 

 

 

Is your selected TEFL certification accredited or internationally recognized? Well, it seems hard about verifying process of accreditation as there is no single independent accrediting body for all TEFL courses. 

Accreditation involves a rigorous and formal process where professional (recognized accrediting body) has reviewed the TEFL course and examined either course meet professional standards of academia or not.

For this, you can research online accrediting body’s website, read international standards and verify by comparing it with your TEFL course either it is accredited or not. Similarly, research about how long the institution has existed, its independence, other professional-level certifications and courses it has offered.

Check Instructor Qualification

Is your TEFL course taught by a professional, highly experienced professor or not? For becoming a professional English teacher in the future, you should not accept anything below the top-notch level. You must check the instructor’s qualification and experience before signing up for a TEFL course. An instructor must be a university-level professor with advanced degrees (Ph.D. or MA in education or DELTA) and have 4-8 years’ experience of TEFL or ESL endorsement.

If you find any TEFL course cheaper than other courses; then you should draw attention to instructor professional background. There are high chances that your instructor is not highly qualified as he should be on this post. Usually, in this scenario, a course is taken by a tutor who took a 4-6-week TEFL certification course and has 1-2 years’ teaching experience abroad. 

Assistance from Professional Advisors

 

Are professional advisors providing information about courses and critical situations that you face while working abroad prior to registration? 

Well, straightforward and honest advisors cover all critical issues before you commit your money and time to a particular TESOL/TEFL certification program. They give a complete understanding of critical issues related to hiring seasons abroad, skills that you required while working and moving in certain markets, startup money that you need while moving abroad, visa regulations and the salary that you should expect to receive in starting months. As time and money investment in TESOL/TEFL certification is not an easy task in this fast-globalized world. 

Contact Information

Crosscheck the email addresses that you find on the Facebook page and website. If email address on the Facebook page is recuritbluelamp@gmail.com while email on the website contact page is info@bluelamp.com, then it’s a warning flag. For this, you need to connect with TEFL course or school via telephone number given on the website and confirm that either they use Facebook email address for recruitment or not. If they negate a Facebook email address, then you better know about your next step!

Email addresses of genuine TEFL course look similar in all platforms i.e.  info@tefl-madrid.com on Facebook, Twitter and website address tefl-madrid.com.  

Free job search guidance or not:

 Well, this is a question that you should ask bluntly with TEFL admin before registration. Either they will give job placement assistance for free or ask you to pay “extra costs” for job guidance. Some cheap TEFL courses use a strategy by saying that they are giving services or tuition below market-level prices. Beware! They are hiding extra costs at the entry level.  They will end up with equivalent charges of other market-level TEFL courses as they charge applicants later for job placement guidance etc. 

A TEFL course must provide all-inclusive job placement assistance from experienced career advisors. Career advisors that provide all information and insights regarding how to find an appropriate job that matches your skill set. They must aid in writing an impressive cover letter and resume’ of international standards. Give access to millions of job opportunities around the globe. Guidance regarding how to give outclass interviews, visa regulations, hiring seasons, contact information and referrals of top-notch recruiters, language institutes, individual schools, government programs in Spain, France, China, Japan, and Korea.  

In whole, advisors assist TEFL course applicants from scratch (writing professional resume’) to the top cherry of the cake (negotiating a contract in an impressive way).

Price:

Ask yourself a few questions before signing up in any course. Is this course capable enough to endorse and is the education provided by them will help you to become a professional English teacher? Does its prices, and claims sound too worthy to be true? Does it provide all knowledge and personal guidance to navigate job markets all around the globe? Usually, a professional 120-hour TEFL course ranges $1500-$3000 USD where it includes all operating costs of qualified instructors, real estate cost and job placement assistance. 

While, a short-cut in the form of cheap TEFL course ($500-$1300 USD) involves no practical application of student teaching, school-level instructor and negligible job placement assistance. It ultimately won’t fulfill your potential as a qualified English teacher and many other jobs. You can’t help students in Vietnam, Madrid, Spain, Chile, or Russia to achieve their life dreams or goals effectively. Therefore, I personally recommend that you should fully invest in your TEFL training rather than going for shortcuts. 

TEFL Madrid academy provides you a complete package of highly qualified instructors, guaranteed job interviews and practical application of student teaching hours. Then, what are you waiting for! Book your TEFL in Spain today to avail professional advancement, self-satisfaction, and prospects of decent living in abroad for an extended time period. 

Final Verdict:

No doubt, TEFL abroad gives most exciting educational adventures as it offers millions of opportunities for TEFL certified and English speakers to explore, work and earn a decent living overseas but the decision to select a TEFL school can make or break your career abroad. That is why some initial research to find out the legitimate and most appropriate institution is the first step to develop a rewarding career abroad.