Category Archives: TEFL qualifications

And the Certificate in Money for Nothing Teacher Training goes to…

Posted on 18/10/2008 by alexcase

… Trinity, surprisingly. Details from Guardian TEFL here Including such motivational gems as: “Once people sit down and look seriously at the time and cost that will be involved, that will focus their minds wonderfully,” “we can’t say that it … Continue reading →

Posted in CPD, Guardian TEFL, links, Teacher training, Teaching English Abroad, TEFL, TEFL qualifications, Trinity | Tagged | 3 Comments

New anti-TEFL scam Facebook group

Posted on 17/10/2008 by alexcase

Nice to see some kind of variation on the TEFL blacklist model- the change in technology makes the repetition of the same old complaints slightly less tedious for a while. I predict it will all end in tears. You can … Continue reading →

Posted in Dodgy TEFL courses, Dodgy TEFL school owners, links, Online TEFL certificate, Teacher training, Teaching English Abroad, TEFL career planning, TEFL certificate, TEFL chains, TEFL qualifications, TEFL scams | 5 Comments

The greatest TEFL soap opera?

Posted on 02/10/2008 by alexcase

Candidate number one Involves me, and Paul Lowe’s threats to sue me for never mentioning him on my blog (!?) or something, still can’t quite work it out. “Bizarro!” as TESall.com put it. I thought, what the hell if I’m going … Continue reading →

Posted in Bruce Veldhuisen, Dodgy TEFL courses, Dodgy TEFL school owners, ELT World, Grammar games, IATQUO, links, Teacher forums, Teaching English in Thailand, TEFL blogs, TEFL celebs/ TEFL heroes and villains, TEFL certificate, TEFL heroes- Sandy McManus, TEFL in the UK, TEFL International, TEFL qualifications, TEFL scams, TEFL School Reviews, TEFL villains- Paul Lowe, TEFLtrade, TEFLwatch, Usingenglish, Windsor TEFL | Tagged | 8 Comments

The CELTA as seen by an outsider

Posted on 22/09/2008 by alexcase

“CELTA is a faraway planet populated by descendants of space travelers. Paranormal ‘gifts’ are called Flair here and vary by… type and strength. A caste system based on those strengths has come about over the centuries…”

Posted in Cambridge ESOL, CELTA, links, Teacher training, Teaching English Abroad, TEFL, TEFL qualifications | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Do you want the temporary buzz of moving on and/ or up too?

Posted on 21/09/2008 by alexcase

Doesn’t last of course, especially the initial thrill of being in the chaos of a third world city or in the chaos left for you by the last person who had that DoS job, but if having some kind of … Continue reading →

Posted in Becoming a Director of Studies, becoming a teacher trainer, Business English and ESP, CPD, EFL exams, ELT management, ELT publishing, finding good TEFL jobs, getting into ELT publishing, Lesson observations, links, Materials, Peer observations, Teacher training, Teaching English in Asia, TEFL, TEFL career planning, TEFL CV/ TESOL resume, TEFL qualifications, TEFL reviews, TEFL working conditions, TEFL workshops, TESOL, Usingenglish | Tagged | 2 Comments

An alternative A to Z of ELT Part 15

Posted on 14/09/2008 by alexcase

Innateness hypothesis- The theory that studying English is inherently boring, so why bother with games. See also “Inaneness hypothesis”* Input- The theory that the language we expose students to should be as carefully chosen as when programming a computer or … Continue reading →

Posted in Cambridge Delta, Linguistics, applied linguistics and SLA, Teaching English in Spain, TEFL heroes- Scott Thornbury | Tagged , | Leave a comment

How to spot a TEFL advertorial

Posted on 05/09/2008 by alexcase

Look for lines like this: “I got a real buzz working with some of the teenagers who didn’t really want to be there” Newspapers are full of PR releases repackaged as “journalism” nowadays, and I don’t just mean rags like … Continue reading →

Posted in links, Teacher training, Teaching English Abroad, TEFL, TEFL certificate | Tagged | Leave a comment

New TEFL articles etc August 08

Posted on 01/09/2008 by alexcase

It was a quiet month (if you don’t count the sound of the cicadas), but that will just give you the chance to read all of them for once, starting with a new series of “well balanced…” articles on Usingenglish.com: … Continue reading →

Posted in Business English and ESP, CELTA, ELT publishing, ELTgames.com, English for Academic Purposes, Error correction, Error correction games, links, Materials, Needs analysis, Self-study materials, TEFL, TEFL career planning, TEFL certificate, TEFL games, TEFL heroes- Jon Marks, Using L1 in class, Usingenglish | Leave a comment

All CELTA courses are not the same

Posted on 23/07/2008 by alexcase

Some courses, for example, demand a non-refundable interview/ application fee for the pleasure of being asked questions about grammar. Other courses, however, just say this: “I understand and accept that should I be offered a place on the course I … Continue reading →

Posted in Cambridge ESOL, CELTA, EL Gazette, interview fee/ application fee, Teacher training, TEFL certificate, TEFL qualifications | 2 Comments

TEFL International's Bruce Velhuisen- Interview Part Two

Posted on 20/07/2008 by alexcase

TEFL International is not only often quoted as one of the largest TEFL training organisations (see the stats below), it is also almost certainly the one most likely to set off a firestorm by mentioning it on the internet- hence … Continue reading →

Posted in ARELS, Bell, British Council accreditation, Bruce Veldhuisen, Cambridge ESOL, CELTA, IATEFL, IATQUO, MA TESOL, Teacher associations, Teacher training, Teaching English Abroad, TEFL, TEFL career planning, TEFL certificate, TEFL in the UK, TEFL International, TEFL qualifications, TESOL | Tagged | 100 Comments