Category Archives: Teaching English in Europe

A London summer school with no classroom

Posted on 09/04/2012 by alexcase

The always stimulating English Out There newsletter had an interesting tidbit this month – a summer school in London taught entirely in public places. I wrote to the founder of EOT for more details: Can you describe the group of … Continue reading →

Posted in TEFL in the UK | Tagged | 2 Comments

Substandard TEFL tied to another international sporting event

Posted on 29/10/2011 by alexcase

That’s right, EF (“EF English Frenchfries – the world’s most notorious ‘educational’ group”) have proven that they are indeed the Macdonalds of TEFL by being signed up to teach the entire population of Tatarstan before the Sochi Winter Olympic Games … Continue reading →

Posted in EF, Teaching English in Russia | Leave a comment

The English language in Iceland

Posted on 17/10/2011 by alexcase

92% of PhD theses are in English, most university textbooks are in English, all lecturers must think about doing their classes in English if someone asks them to, and they use English more than any other Scandinavian country. All that, … Continue reading →

Posted in TEFL in Iceland | Leave a comment

Hungary to both weaken and strengthen the influence of English?

Posted on 29/08/2011 by alexcase

A few rather “interesting” proposals from the “interesting” sounding Hungarian minister of education: – Have all students studying three foreign languages, with Latin as the compulsory third one – Encourage people to study Romance languages before English – Demand an … Continue reading →

Posted in Teaching English in Hungary | Leave a comment

TEFLspain.org – Even more b.s. than usual!

Posted on 08/01/2011 by alexcase

Oh, where to start with this one? Well, they’ve got some of the usual suspects: Typos and grammar mistakes “Our goal is to be among the Worlds best in English language teaching and training;” Completely incoherent sentences: “Designed around established … Continue reading →

Posted in Teaching English in Spain, TEFL, TEFL scams | 3 Comments

TEFL job FAQs – The honest answers

Posted on 21/12/2010 by alexcase

I’ve just finished expanding the TEFL employment FAQs for TEFL.net and tried to be as fair and balanced as I could. That was a bit of a strain for me, as you can imagine, so I’ve decided to let it all … Continue reading →

Posted in Teaching English Abroad, Teaching English in Europe | Tagged | 9 Comments

British Council accredited schools

Posted on 28/11/2010 by alexcase

Being British Council accredited is the basic standard that a school in the UK should have, but the British Council does not accredit schools outside the UK. If the British Council certified a school in, for example, Madrid, British Council Madrid … Continue reading →

Posted in Accreditation UK, British Council accreditation, TEFL, TEFL in the UK | Leave a comment

Even celebrities hate TEFLers

Posted on 12/08/2010 by alexcase

“The year before was a bloody disaster – I was rambling around the streets of Los Angeles, drinking way too many frappucinos and wondering what the hell I was doing here. I had no work and my mother was threatening … Continue reading →

Posted in Teaching English in Spain, TEFL certificate | Tagged , | Leave a comment

EL Gazette campaign to save UK TEFL

Posted on 25/07/2010 by alexcase

As usual, I can find little to add to what the ever fabulous Melanie Butler has to say here, except that if you think this doesn’t concern you, just think about TEFLers fleeing the UK and further flooding the teaching … Continue reading →

Posted in EL Gazette, TEFL heroes- Melanie Butler, TEFL in the UK | 3 Comments

The Financial Times on EFL in Brighton

Posted on 17/07/2010 by alexcase

Reasonably good read, but as little as I know about ESL/ ESOL in the UK, this sounds like complete crap to me: ‘One is “English as a Foreign Language” (EFL), aimed at people who need a modicum of knowledge to … Continue reading →

Posted in ESOL in the UK, TEFL in the UK | Leave a comment