TEFL courses in Thailand

[Maailmanmatti]

What are the prospects of a non-native speaker finding a job teaching English in Thailand? I'm not looking to make a career in teaching or a lot of money, I'm more interested in the experience, getting to know the local culture and to share my own experience of the world - and to make enough money to support my nomadic lifestyle.

As I've understood, CELTA and at least a B. Ed. is needed for the 'real' teaching jobs, but there's also plenty of jobs you can get with just a TEFL course or even without any qualifications, if you're willing to go for less prestigious schools and lower salaries.

I'm a Finnish native speaker, but fluent in English, with a decade of schooling and another of travel - and who knows English isn't Finland's first language, anyway .

I spent a couple of months in Thailand and now I'm on a Working Holiday in Australia. I looked around for a way to start teaching English and came up with a few options:

Online TEFL. Some of these have programs geared for Thailand, offering a job placement after the course and arrangements for visa and work permit. The going rate for "120 hours" course seems to be around 500 dollars.

TEFL in Thailand. These are around 1500 dollars, 3-4 weeks, accommodation included. These too come with a job placement and help with visa & work permit.

CELTA. Clearly the way to go for those looking for a "real" job. Too expensive and demanding for me, now. If I love teaching, maybe will do this later.

Edited February 1, 2015 by Maailmanmatti

[Loaded]

If you possess a degree, TEFL and/or experience, TOEIC (600+), fair skin and flexibility, it's almost certain you will find legal work.

Even without any of these qualifications, work is available; but you will probably be working 'illegally' - many do though.

TA in CELTA stands for Teaching Adults. You won't be trained to teach and manage young learner classes in formal schools. A reputable Thai TEFL course includes teaching practices at local formal schools. I'm not sure it makes a great deal of difference in Thailand whether you have a reputable TEFL or a CELTA when looking for work.

Few teachers have a BEd. Most long-term teachers have degrees in any subject and are working towards post-graduate qualifications in order to meet TCT teacher license requirements. If you are looking at a stay of under 4 years, you can obtain waivers to avoid the the teacher license requirements.

You can take an online course but you won't gain any practical classroom skills. Buy a book instead as it's cheaper and just as effective.

Edited February 1, 2015 by Loaded

[Maailmanmatti]

Sorry for that, pushed the submit by accident

Fair skin and blonde hair, check.

Passport from Finland (which many assume is an English speaking country), check.

Flexibility? I'm a certified Yoga teacher, does that count ?

TEFL, looks like I'll get one.

So coming to the subject matter, which one would you recommend, an online TEFL for around 500 bucks or TEFL in Thailand for three times the money? To me the latter seems a better way to go;

-Three weeks in Phuket

-Two dozen classmates

-Contact teaching vs staring at a screen

-Training in front of a real class

And more specifically, does anyone have experience with the TEFL Heaven ? Theirs seems like a good course. www.experienceteachingabroad.com/

What's the policy here about posting names and links of specific companies? All I want is to find out if they're OK, do they deliver on the job placement and visa, is their training good etc.

E: and how much can I expect to make? I remember seeing a figure of 25-30k per month on the TEFL Heaven site, is this ok? I got the feeling maybe they get their cut off the salary on top of what I pay for the course, but I'm OK with that as long as I'm left with a reasonable amount.

E2: Is not having a degree going to hold me back from getting a legal job? How would they check for a degree anyway, suppose I print my own or order one from the Internet? Illegal work doesn't appeal to me since if things go wrong there's nobody to turn to - and if they cheat the govt, they might just as well do the same to me.

Edited February 1, 2015 by Maailmanmatti

[Loaded]

I also recommend choosing a CELTA/TEFL training school that has a permanent location. Some of the beach places rent a temporary location only when they run courses. This is illegal as they are required to operate training/teaching courses from licensed premises.

Scroll down this list of Thai-based TEFL courses for reviews of TEFL heaven.

http://www.teflcoursereview.com/courses/location/thailand/

Edited February 1, 2015 by Loaded

[EmptyHead]

I did a CELTA. It is brilliant for learning methodology, how to stage lesson and create a communicative activity , but it doesn't prepare you for young learners, which i am now teaching (Prathom of all levels...I had intended on teaching at university, lol).

They do give you one class on young learners, but they could do with giving more, i think.

I am now having to figure out child psychology and their motivations. As well as classroom management and discipline, which isn't touched on the CELTA (of course, it isn't really relevant when teaching adults in a language school setting anyway).

I do, however, recommend it. It's very intense and it does prepare you for a huge chunk of what your job requires, just minus the classroom management and discipline, which children need otherwise they won't do your activity, regardless of how fun you try to make it.

Most of the stuff they teach you on a CELTA course can be slightly adapted to fit a classroom of young learners.

Edited February 1, 2015 by EmptyHead

[Cletus]

Sorry for that, pushed the submit by accident

Fair skin and blonde hair, check.

Passport from Finland (which many assume is an English speaking country), check.

Flexibility? I'm a certified Yoga teacher, does that count ?

TEFL, looks like I'll get one.

So coming to the subject matter, which one would you recommend, an online TEFL for around 500 bucks or TEFL in Thailand for three times the money? To me the latter seems a better way to go;

-Three weeks in Phuket

-Two dozen classmates

-Contact teaching vs staring at a screen

-Training in front of a real class

And more specifically, does anyone have experience with the TEFL Heaven ? Theirs seems like a good course. www.experienceteachingabroad.com/

What's the policy here about posting names and links of specific companies? All I want is to find out if they're OK, do they deliver on the job placement and visa, is their training good etc.

E: and how much can I expect to make? I remember seeing a figure of 25-30k per month on the TEFL Heaven site, is this ok? I got the feeling maybe they get their cut off the salary on top of what I pay for the course, but I'm OK with that as long as I'm left with a reasonable amount.

E2: Is not having a degree going to hold me back from getting a legal job? How would they check for a degree anyway, suppose I print my own or order one from the Internet? Illegal work doesn't appeal to me since if things go wrong there's nobody to turn to - and if they cheat the govt, they might just as well do the same to me.

Passport from Finland (which many assume is an English speaking country)

??? You're still not NES

Is not having a degree going to hold me back from getting a legal job? How would they check for a degree anyway, suppose I print my own or order one from the Internet? Illegal work doesn't appeal to me

??? It doesn't appeal to you to work illegally but still you want to "print or order from the internet" a fake degree???

That's coherence!

[WhamBam]

I notice that on-line TEFL courses are available. Are these every bit as good as those where you attend class?

There seems to be a big difference in cost compared to those you physically attend.

For example

http://www.lovetefl.com/tefl-course/?utm_source=advertisement&utm_medium=ad&utm_campaign=TCR

This would be for someone who holds a TOIEC and has previously held a TEFL certificate with a 90% + pass. Who has let the certificate lapse / no longer has the certificate.

Any input would be welcome.

Thanks.

p.s.

This would be for someone who has

Bachelor of Science in nursing from Manilla Doctors University (Now Tytana Uni.)

Post Grad of Masters of Science in Nursing. Major in maternal and child health care.

U.S. registered nurse exams passed @ Saipan a U.S. colony.

Currently teaching English in3 schools in Phan Thong for 1 year.

Previously worked in China 2 years.

Edited February 1, 2015 by WhamBam

[Maailmanmatti]

My gut feeling is the online courses can't be as good as onsite - and most of them (120h courses) cost around 500 bucks anyway. If I was hiring, an onsite course with even just a couple of hours of teaching practice is worth much more than any online course. As for someone with a degree and teaching experience, the online courses seem even less relevant. Maybe go for CELTA or CertTEFL, the two 'really' accredited and recognized certifications. Googling around I also found a 'free' online TEFL, download ebook for free and later pay for exam and cert if you want. The ebook might be worth a look, even if maybe not 500 bucks.

Cletus: Not wanting to get screwed by an employer, but willing to dodgy up things a bit if it's a must for getting a work permit. Human, not coherent - and see, how good I've assimilated the Asian culture about things like this already .

[SlyAnimal]

If you want to legally teach at schools in Thailand you need to have:

1/ A bachelor degree in any subject

2/ As a non-NES, you need a TOEIC score of 600+

If you have those, then it's likely that you'd be able to find work as a teacher (Or even if you don't have them, you will likely still find work, but will find visas etc more difficult as you'd be working illegally).

If you want to teach at a language school though, you can (Although many don't offer work permits, as they often have a high turnover of staff).

A TESOL or CELTA course isn't legally required, however if it's a course which you do in class (As opposed to just online), then it'll likely make you a better teacher and anyone who actually takes the time to look at your CV (as opposed to just checking whether your photo looks nice) would likely recognise this..

[angelbat]

My advice is to do your TEFL in Thailand, in the city where you want to live. I did mine in Chiang Mai, at SEE TEFL on Kaew Nawarat Road. In my class were several non-NES and they all got work through SEE TEFL. Not only was it a terrific course but the school does a great job of finding work for their graduates. I can't recommend them highly enough.

Angela

[Mencken]

Nomadic

Ugh

I'm beginning to loathe that word

[kennypowers]

My cousin is currently looking at courses and found this information here really useful is terms of what to look for in a course and tips and advice from a teacher who has been there and done it. She's undecided as to whether or not to do the course from home or travel to Thailand to do it. I think the advantage of doing it here is acclimatizing to the people, heat and environment in general, and then being able to walk straight into a job if you need it.

Edited April 7, 2016 by kennypowers