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Dave's ESL Cafe's Teacher Training Forum
Re: Volunteer ESL tutor looking for best certifica
Posted By: nomad soul In Response To: Volunteer ESL tutor looking for best certificate (M. Leigh)
Date: Friday, 21 December 2012, at 12:52 p.m.
I am currently teaching a small ESL class of 5 adult students from China and Japan for 4 hours a week. I have taken a 12-hour training course through my city's literacy council. Through this I've already gained over a 100 hours of experience - would this count as an "equivalent" to getting an ESL certification online or through say, Oxford or CELTA? Or what course would you recommend to someone who already has a grasp of teaching ESL, but wants to improve her teaching skills and job competitiveness?
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Kudos to you for volunteer tutoring; it's how I got my first taste of TESL and was a great way to do something rewarding. As for your training question, the answer is no, 12 hours of training doesn't compare to the 120 hours of instruction the CELTA and similar TEFL certs entail. It's also important to have at least 6 hours of supervised teaching practice with real students, which the CELTA includes. (A 'no' for Oxford Seminars as well; their teacher trainees practice using their peers as students.)
Go for a CELTA or equivalent on-site TEFL cert (some colleges and unis offer something similar) if you're interested in making TEFL a career and increasing your odds at getting the better jobs overseas. A relevant master's degree can wait until you've built experience. By the way, volunteer tutoring a small group of students isn't considered teaching experience; employers generally want to see (paid) classroom teaching experience with a full group of students. (I personally teach a class of 30 in Saudi Arabia.) However, a BA + solid TEFL cert is enough to get you an entry-level position in many overseas locations.
Also, I see you're in Pennsylvania. You might consider becoming a member of PennTESOL, an affiliate of TESOL International. They can be a great resource and they offer networking opportunities as well as workshops and seminars.
Lastly, although you didn't say where you wanted to teach---what your plans were, I suggest you check out the job discussion forums on this site.
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