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theface

I am looking for a tefl course , heard adout Ban Phe ,Pattaya and Chiang mai .
I met a dude that did it in Ban phe , said it was good .
Is there a better course or do you think i should do it there ?

dirtydog

Ban Phe sounds like the best choice, can nip over to Koh Samet for the week ends, obviously if you want to become a whore mongering teacher then you can't beat Pattaya, learn in the day and go out drinking and whoring in the evenings.

BobR

I went to TEFL Intercontinental in Pattaya. They were decent people and they placed me in a job 2 years ago that I like and am still working. It was worth every baht I paid. I still had to find my own method of teaching, but their course was pretty good and it fulfilled the requirement.

notanameleft

anywhere is good if it makes you know it's called TOEFL

mao say dung

... well, given that TOEFL is TOEFL and TEFL is TEFL and that they are utterly different from each other I'd say you must be a tefler, which is similar to TEFLON only more seems to stick to that...

notanameleft

why not IELTS?

Spitfire

Don't bother with TELF etc, these are mickey mouse now, do a CELTA, it's given more credit internationally and you can teach all over the world with. If you're a real smart arse then do a DELTA (it's hard though) and land a really decent job someplace like the British Council or international school etc.

You can do a CELTA in Bangkok, Chiang Mai or Phuket, it's a one month course, 9am-5pm, lots to do and lots of observed teaching. The reason it's (CELTA) given more credit internationally is because you can fail it, can't fail a TEFL.

Google them both and compare but it is worth mentioning that the CELTA is Cambridge's teacher training certificate and all over Asia "Cambridge" is a magic word that opens all sorts of doors. Oxford do one as well but it isn't known so well.

Do a CELTA.

majid

celta

Vientianeboy

Disagree totally. The CELTA does not really teach you how to teach. Depending on where you do your TEFL certification, you will end up being a much more rounded teacher.
Personally I have not found that the acronym CELTA opens any more doors than a decent TEFL.

mtone9317

It seems as thought the Brits are acronym crazy and the Americans are making up new words as they go along. Had birthday dinner last night with my two daughters and was continually suprised at the number of new words that they made up during the conversation. If it sounds good and meets the syntax criterion--they use it. Example: Julie's parties are
"funner" than Jim's parties.
Went out fishing for "carpin"on Saturday night. (means they smoked weed)
Look up--funner and carpin in the Oxford dictionary.

Spitfire

What a load of bullshit! What are your motivations for that stupid comment? You obviously know Jack shit about teaching qualifications or are pushing an agenda, perhaps a conflict of interests maybe. The TEFL is a non-fail load of wank that has had it's day!

cyrille

You've 'personally found' that?

So you did a CELTA, and applied for jobs.

Then you did a TEFL and applied for jobs, not mentioning your CELTA.

Your dedication to research is admirable. Tell us more.

In particular, can you give more details about the weaknesses of the CELTA course that you took.

Vientianeboy

Fatuous comments Cyrille.

I have a BA. Dip Ed. Grad Dip Work ed. Grad Dip Comp and a TEFL. I think with over 30 years teaching, (how many do you have?) that I am qualified to discuss the validity or otherwise of a language course. The CELTA does NOT teach you methodolgy on how to teach kids. It is a British based, conservative course which does not use modern teaching methodologies. I have sat in on a number of CELTA classes and have trained a number of CELTA teachers. So, have I told you enough?

Of course, it depends WHERE and WHO your TEFL teacher is; but then again, the same rider applies to CELTA.

Comment to spitfire: a CELTA or a DELTA on its own will Not get you a job at an international school!

Mister Fixit

He's known for them on Ajarn. It's just one of many. The word 'misanthropist' was coined for Cyrille.

__________________
Still a Pink Floyd space cadet

Vientianeboy

"Non fail"? That shows you how little you know. As someone who has been a principal in Thailand, and has taught for over 30 years in Australia, Germany and Laos, I guess "yes", I know "jack shit" about teaching qualifications. Tell me, what do you know about the CELTA? Are you a Brit by any chance that you support a poorly designed, archaic course because it is British? I would gather from your limited use of vocabulary and your incorrect usage of grammar that you are not a teacher? Or maybe your vocabulary is limited because you did a CELTA?

kingwilly

I love these ajarn fights about is a 3 week TEFL as good as a 1 month CELTA??

DrAndy

CELTA has more letters, but TEFL is neater

bruceveld

I LOVE THESE THREADS. Oh yearning for the days of ajarn.com lol

Vientianeboy

"I love these ajarn fights about is a 3 week TEFL as good as a 1 month CELTA??"

Most TEFLs are at least 4 weeks these days. Some are 6.
I notice Spitfire did not address any of the points I made. CELTAs are good for teaching you grammar and how to create lesson plans; they are weak when it comes to addressing classroom technique - how to cope with kids, how to teach in mixed ability classes etc. Also the courses are very set in terms of curriculum; there is very little initiative available for the trainer to tailor the course to the participants. All in all, it comes down to who is teaching the course.

Spitfire

No sense starting a pissing match VB, we just disagree. BTW, not true about classroom technique, it's one of the most important parts of the CELTA, well, the one I was on anyhow. Depends where you do them (CELTA and TEFL), not all the places are the same, ECC does a decent CELTA course and are given more credit internationally than TEFL, look it up dude, Ajarn.com will tell you. Don't get me wrong though, TEFL is OK as well, depends on the individual and how competent they are in the first place. Maybe I was a bit damning in the first post, it was 12:54 am . Enough from me as this is a subject with no conclusion as those with a TEFL will defend the TEFL and those with a CELTA will defend the CELTA, it's a case of opinions are like arseholes, everyone has got one, that's why I didn't bother replying swiftly, however, having thought about it then decided to reply as no harm can be done and the truth is an elusive concept, as always. Another sideline benefit of a CELTA is the magic words of "Cambridge" on the paper and we all know how hopelessly brainwashed the Thais/Asians are to institutional names etc, regardless of how silly that is. These extra qualifications do little other than open doors for you as many/most places will not allow you to really use the ESOL skills properly due to class size/management interference/Thai educational dogma and practice etc, the list goes on. So actually, it's all bollox because most places you work in, with the exception of real international schools in Bangkok etc, will not give you a conducive environment to practice these skills effectively anyhow as most schools are run as businesses rather than educational facilities. I could go on but won't insult everyone's experience and intelligence etc.