What is TEFL

What is TEFL?

TEFL or Teaching English as a Foreign Language refers to teaching English to students who are not native speakers. TEFL has no governing body so there are a number of interchangeable terms that all relate TEFL. Here are two of the more common examples:

TESL - Teaching English as a Second Language
ELT - English Language Teaching

Qualifications

It is important to sign up for the course that will help get you the best jobs. There are many organizations that run TEFL courses and offer various types of certification. Some are well known and have international recognition, but some lesser known courses can lack international recognition or credibility. Amongst others, some of the ever popular online courses fall into this category.

Two of the most recognized and well established courses are:

UCLES CELTA - University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults
Trinity Cert TESOL - Trinity College Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

There are many other well known courses to choose from, but as a general rule of thumb you should find a course that offers at least 100 hours of instruction and 6 hours of observed teaching practice.

Getting a recognized qualification greatly increases your chances of finding the best jobs. In a perfect world every TEFL teacher would be trained and hold a recognized certificate before they entered the classroom. However, in reality this is not always possible and many teachers actually prefer to get some real teaching experience under their belt before they embark on a TEFL course.

Many of the schools we work with are looking for teachers with potential (with or without a certificate) and offer in-house training to those that don't yet hold a recognized certificate. This offers new teachers an affordable way into the profession.

Teacher Training Centers

TEFLOne has a good working relationship with the following centers and they all offer 100+ hour on-site courses. NB: This list is not exhaustive.

Greece

Via Lingua (Crete and Corinth): Via Lingua Greece offers internationally recognised TEFL training and extensive job guidance. Courses run year-round in two beautiful locations.
Intesol (Crete)