Our very own Little book of TEFL is now available in Careers Services
up and down the country (UK). If you would like to order a copy for yourself,
simply email
us your name and address, and we'll pop one in the post!
If you're working in an information centre, and you'd like multiple copies,
please download this form and fax it back to us with your request.
siIf you can't obtain a copy there, This might be of use if you are planning
to get into Teaching English as a Foreign Language, but you need to know
a bit more before taking the plunge. No time
now? Printer
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Contents
:: What
is TEFL?
If you've ever popped the word
TEFL into an internet search engine, you'll know that it is confusingly
portrayed as many things - a job, a career, an industry, a course and
a certificate. At Cactus, we understand TEFL to be the industry of Teaching
English as a Foreign Language.
Whether you're interested in teaching English for a
few months or for the rest of your life, as a break between jobs or a
career in its own right, the entry point into TEFL will usually be via
a 'TEFL' course. Again, the internet offers a confusion of courses, from
those giving you a widely accepted ticket to ride, to others which tie
you down to one individual school or scheme.
Cactus Teachers and the TEFL Admissions Service was
created in 2001 to provide better access to those quality courses which
lead to an internationally recognised qualification, and which
give you the professional start you need for both short- and longer term
English Language Teaching projects.
Once you're qualified, you still have to secure yourself
a job - although some gap-year teaching schemes exist (see later). Compared
with backpacking around the world, the TEFL route is a structured way
of breaking free approved of by parents and corporate entities alike.
It will also take you on an amazing journey of new languages, cultures
and civilisations.
:: Can you
do it?
Being an English Language Teacher is essentially about working with fellow
human beings and you need to be interested in people from other cultures.
Learning a language can be tough too - so an amount of empathy with language
learners is useful. You don't need a degree to take the course (A-levels
or equivalent are OK), but you might find that certain countries prefer
teachers to be graduates. If you're not a native English speaker, you need
a good advanced level of English and this may be tested before you're accepted.
Age is no real issue. 20 is the working minimum to get on a course with
no upper limit. Exceptions can be made to some of these conditions, so it's
worth asking if you're unsure. Whether you're extrovert or introvert, a
recent graduates or weighed down with life experience, you'll have a unique
contribution to give to the course and the job beyond.
The course and the job require motivation, energy,
and the ability to absorb new information and adapt quickly to new circumstances.
Teaching English is a real job where people will have expectations about
your performance - so you need to want to do TEFL as much as you want
to leave whatever it is you're doing at the moment.
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:: Mind
the Gap!
TEFL is increasingly seen as
a great gap year option, whether you're just out of uni or you're having
a career break. We think this is a brilliant option and what better way
to get to know a country from the inside, and earn some money on the way?
It can all happen very quickly too - around 6 weeks from now, you could
be qualified, and literally anywhere in the world ready to start your
first job!
There are a number of pre-packaged 'TEFL experience'
schemes out there consisting of a short intro course and the guarantee
of voluntary or paid humanitarian-flavoured work abroad. These offer a
quick route to an eye-opening experience. Too good to be true? The flip-side
is that if you get to your location and all goes pear-shaped, you can't
jump ship to another school as the course you did won't be recognised.
You may also find that, in the eyes of your "underprivileged"
students, you're just another under-qualified teacher who only stays for
a couple of months before whizzing back home never to be seen again.
By following a structured, approved and internationally
recognised certificate course you can still head for your dream location
- but you'll also have the skills and knowledge to give genuine help.
You'll also feel proud of what you can contribute. And if you should arrive
at the 'school from hell', you'll have the flexibility to move elsewhere.
:: Learn to
drive
Two qualifications are truly internationally recognised as official, entry-level
"TEFL" certificates:
The Cambridge CELTA (Certificate of English Language Teaching to
Adults) is one. The other is the Trinity CertTESOL (Certificate
in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages). Both can be found
as full-time, 4-week intensive courses or their part-time equivalents.
Both follow a set syllabus designed to cover all aspects of ELT and are
externally moderated and assessed.
These qualifications (equivalent to a BTEC) involve
a lot of hard work, but you'll be amazed at the feeling of achievement
afterwards. Frequently we hear that completing the course was more intensive
than A-levels or finals! Much like passing your driving test, you're still
something of a beginner when it's over. But the experience will flood
in with your first job.
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:: On course
Courses last 110 to 140 hours and take you from speaking English to teaching
English. All input is directed to improving your performance in the classroom.
Lively input sessions and discussions, observation and activities will
cram your head with the theories and juicy practical bits you'll need
for your 6 to 8 hours of teaching practice.
You'll cover elements such as language awareness (grammar),
linguistics, phonetics, foreign language acquisition, materials, classroom
management and lesson planning. The global aim is to apply all these new-found
techniques to your Teaching Practice (TP) which is observed by your trainer,
your course colleagues and occasionally, an external assessor. Your TP
starts with a 5-minute lesson as early as Day 2 of the course, and increases
steadily to conclude in week 4 with around an hour of teaching. TP is
with real live wriggling language students brought in specially for your
lessons.
Outside the typical 9-5 day, you can expect to spend 3 or 4 hours in the
evenings and time at weekends immersed in reading up, planning and preparing
lessons.
:: Go away!
Before you know it, the course will all be over. Yesterday you were sitting
up till 4 am practising your lessons on the cat. Today you'll be slightly
dazed and probably in need a couple of days to refocus before going in
search of your first job. This is generally considered to be easier than
getting through the course!
You can do a groovy gap year in Guatemala, or a summer
school in Southampton. You can pay to become a volunteer, or answer the
abundant job ads to earn a regular salary. Totally up to you.
The course will give you ideas and suggestions on how
and where to find work and the Cactus Teachers site has good links too.
A lot of contracts begin in the autumn - ideal if you're qualifying in
the summer. In the UK and other English speaking countries, you have better
chances just before the start of the summer season. In more competitive
countries like Spain and Italy, it can be useful to get an extra qualification
in teaching Younger Learners or Business English. It is also worth considering
taking the course in the country where you'd like to teach, possibly staying
on to do a couple of weeks' tuition in the local language (this gets you
a few more weeks of accommodation), giving you free time to look for work.
Many organisations also interview in the UK for positions abroad. Feel
free to ask us what sort of questions you should put to a potential employer.
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:: Apply
yourself
So you've decided you want to take the Cambridge CELTA or the Trinity
CertTESOL and enter the world of TEFL. The next step is to complete and
submit an application form. On our site you can choose a location in the
UK or overseas, read all about each school & course, speak to past
students and download the all-important application form.
We check your completed form and forward it to the
school you've chosen. They contact you for an interview, face-to-face
or over the phone. At the end you'll be told if you're suitable, and they'll
offer you a place (all being well). You have a few days to decide and
last of all, you pay your money and start working on your pre-course materials.
You may have a couple of books to buy, but many can be borrowed or consulted
during the course.
Allow about 4-5 weeks for the whole process outside
the busy summer months, or 6-8 weeks for June, July & August courses.
If you can't find what you're looking for online, give
us a call and we'll do our best to locate a course for you which might
not appear on the site.
:: Why
Cactus?
At Cactus Teachers, we're passionate about language learning and teaching,
travelling and mixing with new cultures and civilisations. When you phone
or write, we will be supportive and positive about your plans and aspirations.
We'll be enthusiastic about what you want to do, and try to make it happen
for you. We spend a lot of every day helping people to plan an escape
route, be it for a couple of months, or for a lifetime.
Cactus Teachers is independent. Our admissions service
is free, confidential, and impartial. We do have our favourite schools
though - we'll tell you about them when you call.
Cactus Teachers is the only central admissions service
for Cambridge CELTA and Trinity CertTESOL. We could offer every type of
TEFL qualification available, but we've chosen the two internationally
recognised TEFL qualifications we believe you need before you meet your
paying public.
We hope this has helped you get a better picture of
TEFL, and what it's all about. If you feel a sense of excitement at the
idea of going abroad to teach English, it could just be you've got that
passion too. Give us a call before it subsides. It could be the best thing
you ever do.
Good luck!!
Richard Bradford, Cactus Teachers
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Email
us with more questions
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Please note:
Cactus Teachers is a private organisation, working independently to help
raise the profile of the TEFL industry, with the objective of promoting
high quality courses which are professionally delivered, and provide the
participant with a solid grounding prior to embarking on a teaching career.
Cactus Teachers acts as an admissions service for selected Cambridge CELTA
& Trinity TESOL providers only, but is happy to provide course information
on all existing Cambridge & Trinity courses. Differences may exist
in entrance requirements, application procedures and course content and
duration from school to school. Course prices quoted on the Cactus Teachers
website are always identical to those offered by each provider.
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