I am looking for some feedback from people that have taken different TEFL programs in Thailand. I am hoping to find a program that is well located, well run, etc.. Can anyone help? Thanks!
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Liz,
The most widely recognised TEFL programmes are those certified by Cambridge and Trinity, namely the CELTA and the Trinity certTESOL.
After that, the minimum you need is 120 hours of taught course and 6 hours of observed teaching practice, teaching real students, not your peers pretending to be students.
Make sure the course provider is licensed by the Thai Ministry of Education. Since there are many fake TEFL certificates going around Thailand (you can buy them on Khao San Road), you sometimes need your certificate authenticating in Thailand to get a work permit. This is the case for jobs in Vietnam.
As for location, it depends what you want. There are some courses run by the beach in Phuket and Ban Phe, others run in Chiang Mai and Bangkok. What sort of place do you want to stay in for a month?
Hope this helps.
Kate
Reply to this Thanks Kate and Mel-
I would like to be in the Southwest of Thailand. I have looked a great deal into the TEFL International course in Phuket which seems to be the most widely recognized in the area with the most students per course. I am not too thrilled with the location and would prefer to be closer to the water.
While I completely understand that I am taking the course not to be on 'vacation' but to be learning and preparing to teach english, I simply enjoy being by the water and would prefer to have this be part of my experience.
There are other courses (Anna's language school in Kamala Beach, Island TEFL in Koh Samui, TEFL Krabi in Krabi...etc. I just want to be part of a good program and have the opportunity to meet others in the process. Any insight?
Thanks!
Liz
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Hi
Then you have to trade off whether you want the better programme or to be by the sea. Are the ones by the sea internationally recognised?
Are you planning to work after you do the course and if so, where? Which course will help you get a job? If you want to teach outside Thailand afterwards I would recommend you look more closely into the courses. If you don't, then perhaps just choose based on where you want to be.
Reply to this A fairly decent site for information is ajarn.com although there is a lot of advertising on the site there are some useful 'real life' stories/tips/hints etc from people that already live and work in Thailand
Reply to this Yes, Gord is right, ajarn.com is a very good place to find out about teaching in Thailand.
Kate
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