Qualified. I’m now TEFL certified.
CONGRATULATIONS TO ME! 🥳🥳🥳
Getting TEFL certified has been a mission of mine for a few years, so when lockdown for COVID happened back in March 2020, I decided this was the perfect opportunity to get my certificate.
A teaching certificate would offer new opportunities to me, whether on contracted placement or self-employed from the comfort of my kitchen table, it provided me opportunities of income while I travel around the world.
TEFL and TESOL accreditations are recognised internationally to teach English as a foreign language. This means I can travel to any country anywhere in the World, and teach students ranging from kindergarten to full adults, tailoring the lessons appropriately, or simply meeting with new people in a cafe to support their current learning.
When picking a location for my certificate, I was bombarded with options online. After some research and recommendations, I landed with TEFL.org* and I registered with them as a student. Not only did they offer the correct course for my needs (most countries require a minimum of a 120-hour accreditation) but they’re also an Internationally accredited and market-leading TEFL course provider.
TEFL.org was my chosen platform to get my TEFL accreditation.
Luckily for me, this school is recognised around the globe, offers plenty of alumni support by recommendation of job postings listed by country and dial-in conferences to brush up on new techniques and skills. The courses available range from 10-hour simple top-up classes, such as telephone lessons or introductions, to a 198-hour full course that teaches lesson planning, grammar methodologies as well as how to conduct your new teaching business.
Motivation during quarantine was no doubt hard. It’s hard enough educating yourself through a “self-teach” program let alone having the mental struggles of a pandemic to deal with. It required a lot of discipline to stay focussed, not procrastinate and complete your assignments on top of your usual everyday working schedule, however, the results are worth it.
I chose a course that didn’t require any location-specific classes (although these were down due to COVID anyway) so all my lessons and tutorials were available remotely at any time that suited me. The classes were varied between videos, reading material and resource links as well as textbook-based, making the content digestible for your own learning methods. I did find some areas of the course I would need to reach out to other students or other areas of the web for further breakdown, however, the forums within TEFL.org website really helped for this. I had a course teacher available to send questions to but if all else failed, a quick search in YouTube solved any trouble.
With a large range of courses to suit your learning methods and requirements, you can soon be a teacher too!
The assignments were challenging but the feedback was always clear and useful. Many of the assignments on the 120-hour course required writing lesson plans or describing grammar principles, which considering I’m a copywriter, many were brand new to me. These were all principles I use day in day out, however, the terminology was completely new. I also now have a Phonemic Chart downloaded onto my laptop!
I graduated in July 2020, meaning I am now registered and qualified for teaching for the rest of my life. Of course, I would need to keep up with the latest techniques and brush up on new skills to bring into my lesson plans, but ultimately, I have an opportunity now to travel and work at the same time.
Once I’ve settled a few tools, I will be offering online classes for those that want to learn English remotely or to meet in cafes and libraries in the destinations I find myself living in.
If this is something you’re interested, send me a message.
Kiki 🙂
Notes:
*Links within this article to TEFL.org are affiliate links that I will earn commission from should you complete a purchase.
