Category Archives: Teaching English in Europe

The other side of Oxford Street

Posted on 16/06/2009 by alexcase

A guest piece by “Holden Coalfield” “‘No thanks’, I said to the leafleter who offered me and everyone else a flyer for an English school as I walked out of Oxford Circus tube into this crowded and surprisingly tacky centre … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternative teaching techniques, Cambridge Delta, CELTA, Dodgy TEFL school owners, ELT management, finding good TEFL jobs, first TEFL job, Job security, Learner motivation, Oxford Street schools, Teacher training, TEFL, TEFL career planning, TEFL certificate, TEFL in the UK, TEFL qualifications, TEFL scams, TEFL working conditions | Tagged | 6 Comments

Maybe British host families aren't the worst

Posted on 20/05/2009 by alexcase

This American family borrowed 1000 dollars off their Norweigan exchange student and then he got booted out of the country! Still, I still think host families in London win the prize. One Brazilian student told a hilarious story of rushing … Continue reading →

Posted in Cultural differences/ cultural training, EF, links, TEFL, TEFL chains, TEFL in the UK | Tagged | 2 Comments

Prices of EFL textbooks to drop?

Posted on 10/05/2009 by alexcase

There are strong rumours that, perhaps due to the 100 day sit in and short hunger strike of students on London’s Oxford Street protesting the price of books, the latest edition of the Headway series of textbooks (official title “Latest … Continue reading →

Posted in ELT publishing, Oxford Street schools, Oxford University Press (OUP), TEFL, TEFL in the UK, textbooks | Tagged , | 3 Comments

A bit of TEFL justice

Posted on 08/05/2009 by alexcase

Paul Lowe and his former sidekick Ashley Arnold have been given fines, community service and (for Paul) a suspended sentence for the notorious time when Windsor Schools took money off students for a Trinity TESOL course knowing full well that … Continue reading →

Posted in British Council accreditation, Cambridge ESOL, CELTA, Dodgy TEFL courses, Dodgy TEFL school owners, Teacher training, TEFL, TEFL certificate, TEFL in the UK, TEFL qualifications, TEFL scams, TEFL villains- Paul Lowe, Trinity, Trinity CertTESOL, Windsor Schools, Windsor TEFL | 7 Comments

How to really improve the standard of TEFL courses

Posted on 01/05/2009 by alexcase

The Guardian reports (uncritically, as ever when it comes to TEFL) on the setting up of yet another organisation meant to, apparently, boost the standards of TEFL in the UK- this one called The Association for the Promotion of Quality … Continue reading →

Posted in British Council, British Council accreditation, Cambridge ESOL, CELTA, Dodgy TEFL courses, Guardian TEFL, links, Teacher training, TEFL, TEFL certificate, TEFL in the UK, TEFL qualifications, TEFL scams, TESOL, Trinity, Trinity CertTESOL | 6 Comments

Why are EFL classes so cheap?

Posted on 24/03/2009 by alexcase

Not something I’d ever thought about, so instead of giving my usual instant opinions I am going to yet again break copyright law to quote the fabulous Melanie Butler, editor of EL Gazette, at length: “David Graddol argues that the … Continue reading →

Posted in Accreditation UK, British Council accreditation, EL Gazette, links, Oxford Street schools, TEFL celebs/ TEFL heroes and villains, TEFL heroes- Melanie Butler, TEFL in the UK | 16 Comments

Is TEFL recession proof?

Posted on 22/03/2009 by alexcase

March’s EL Gazette (electronic edition) leads with the story “Crunch is good for UK TEFL” and then there’s Private English Education Cost Rises 12 Percent in very much recession (and devaluation) hit Korea. And if we can just get into teacher … Continue reading →

Posted in becoming a teacher trainer, EL Gazette, links, Teacher training, Teaching English in Korea, TEFL, TEFL career planning, TEFL certificate, TEFL in the UK | 5 Comments

It’s all down to us, guys

Posted on 07/03/2009 by alexcase

If I heard correctly, last week’s edition of Law in Action included the statistic that 43 of 44 police authorities in the UK do not investigate or prosecute fraud. There are other bodies that do, but they focus very much … Continue reading →

Posted in Dave Sperling's ESL Cafe, EL Gazette, Guardian TEFL, links, Teacher forums, Teaching English Abroad, TEFL, TEFL blacklist, TEFL blogs, TEFL in the UK, TEFL scams, TEFL School Reviews, Windsor Schools | 2 Comments

Six things to do as soon as you finish your TEFL course

Posted on 08/02/2009 by alexcase

A bit of that SixThings magic on TEFLtastic with a guest piece from the author of  that blog, Lindsay Clandfield: “1. Celebrate and decompress Especially true if you’ve done an intensive course in English language teaching. It’s probably been a … Continue reading →

Posted in first TEFL job, links, Teaching English in Spain, TEFL career planning, TEFL certificate, TEFL qualifications | Tagged | 26 Comments

TEFL by numbers Feb 2008

Posted on 05/02/2009 by alexcase

78 pounds How much capital you need to set up an English school in Ho Chi Minh City. Wouldn’t rush out there to set up your own, though, as there are already 474 (!) registered language schools there. At least … Continue reading →

Posted in British Council accreditation, EL Gazette, Guardian TEFL, Oxford Street schools, Teaching English in Korea, Teaching English in Saudi Arabia, Teaching English in Vietnam, TEFL in the UK | Tagged | Leave a comment