What TEFL course is needed to teach in Thailand?

[2road]

Hi,

 

I am considering taking a TEFL course and, since there are many courses available online, I wonder which one is enough and accepted

by Thailand authorities in order to teach English in Thailand: is a 60 hours online certificate enough? or do I need a 120 hour course?

 

Thank you for your advice

[aidenai]

No TEFL/ TESOL/ CELTA or equivalent course certificate is enough or accepted by Thailand authorities in order to teach English in Thailand.

[tonray]

TEFL course is not required but a 4 year Bachelor's degree is. If you are going to take a TEFL course for the experience, do NOT waste money on an online course. Take a 120 hour course with practical teaching hours in Thailand when you get here. But you must have a 4 year degree to get a work permit and extension based upon work.

[KhonKaenKowboy]

TEFL course....living expenses for a month, cost of course, not working for a month....a very expensive grammar lesson...but, don't forget the four hours (or 2) of observed practice teaching you will get, in a controlled environment that will be nothing like getting thrown to the wolves.  The TEFL training industry has turned into a pay to work scheme for non NES, but you still need a degree.

[quandow]

16 hours ago, aidenai said:

No TEFL/ TESOL/ CELTA or equivalent course certificate is enough or accepted by Thailand authorities in order to teach English in Thailand.

To be clear, there are schools whose requirements are "Do you have a pulse?" It is NOT legal and I am not advocating doing such things, I am merely reporting the truth.

[lostinisaan]

17 hours ago, aidenai said:

No TEFL/ TESOL/ CELTA or equivalent course certificate is enough or accepted by Thailand authorities in order to teach English in Thailand.

 

 Not even a TOEIC would open you the door. 

[TEFLKrabi]

8 hours ago, KhonKaenKowboy said:

TEFL course....living expenses for a month, cost of course, not working for a month....a very expensive grammar lesson...but, don't forget the four hours (or 2) of observed practice teaching you will get, in a controlled environment that will be nothing like getting thrown to the wolves.  The TEFL training industry has turned into a pay to work scheme for non NES, but you still need a degree.

 

A tad unfair, I think, but then you'd expect me to say that.  Not all providers are the same.

[KhonKaenKowboy]

Some actually border on kidnapping, agreed.  Perhaps you can tell us how many hours of observed practice teaching is the norm for a 120 hour course.  We might also value your comments on the proliferation of degreed non NES at the TEFL courses,

[nongsangcity]

TEFL...if you fancy doing any of the courses well why not.......but having a TEFL certificate in Thailand is like having A beatles cd..an Elvis video and a Frank Sinatra autograph.....nobody here is aware of any of the previous mentioned...A teacher friend of mine proudly handed in his TEFL cert along with his other paper work to the labour office when trying to obtain his work permit...the person dealing with his paper work spotted the TEFL cert and asked my friend what it was ?..after a brief word or 2 the person  placed  the cert in the bin..until my friend said what are you doing...the reply was i have never heard of TEFL , what is it and you dont need it to gain employment....the cert was handed back to my friend from the bin...

[tonray]

30 minutes ago, nongsangcity said:

TEFL...if you fancy doing any of the courses well why not.......but having a TEFL certificate in Thailand is like having A beatles cd..an Elvis video and a Frank Sinatra autograph.....nobody here is aware of any of the previous mentioned...A teacher friend of mine proudly handed in his TEFL cert along with his other paper work to the labour office when trying to obtain his work permit...the person dealing with his paper work spotted the TEFL cert and asked my friend what it was ?..after a brief word or 2 the person  placed  the cert in the bin..until my friend said what are you doing...the reply was i have never heard of TEFL , what is it and you dont need it to gain employment....the cert was handed back to my friend from the bin...

Utter nonsense... 

[nongsangcity]

3 hours ago, tonray said:

Utter nonsense... 

tonray....good evening to you....what is nonsence ?? a 100% true situation....TEFL is not recognised in Thailand...and no legal employment in Thailand will be gained with a TEFL alone for teaching......regarding the beatles.elvis and frank sinatra ask any 99 % of thais who they are ...99% wont know....i live in a catholic village in the deepest jungle and when the pope died in around 2004/5...i was giving my best regards to the local catholic villagers...on the death of the head of the catholic church...not one person knew of the pope or knew who the pope was....have a nice weekend...

[muzmurray]

18 hours ago, lostinisaan said:

 

 Not even a TOEIC would open you the door. 

 

What does this comment mean? TEFL and TOEIC are two totally different things.

[2road]

The recuiter just replied

'

"TEFL certificate is required"

Since the cost of TEFL is quite high (around $800 I estimate), and  will absorb many week ends, at this point I will evaluate offer from Vietnam that do not necessarily require a  TEFL in order to obtain a working visa

 

What is your opinion about this?

 

[Fithman]

7 minutes ago, 2road said:

The recuiter just replied

'

"TEFL certificate is required"

Since the cost of TEFL is quite high (around $800 I estimate), and  will absorb many week ends, at this point I will evaluate offer from Vietnam that do not necessarily require a  TEFL in order to obtain a working visa

 

What is your opinion about this?

 

 

May I ask?   What qualifies you to teach English ? 

[KhonKaenKowboy]

well, if you have a pulse, a degree, and are willing to work for four USD per hour....you are certainly qualified to teach English in LOS.

[Fithman]

3 minutes ago, KhonKaenKowboy said:

well, if you have a pulse, a degree, and are willing to work for four USD per hour....you are certainly qualified to teach English in LOS.

 

Unfortunately any old degree will not enable a teaching licence to be issued even if someone has pulse and is fool enough to work for $4/hour. They would be better off staying home flipping burgers for $10/hour ! 

[KhonKaenKowboy]

Bachelor's degree gets you waivers...but it is part of a very painful process to attempt to work legally.

[2road]

I forgot to mention, I am an American and I have a degree in Economics, I worked in Accounting

 

 

[KhonKaenKowboy]

2 minutes ago, 2road said:

I forgot to mention, I am an American and I have a degree in Economics, I worked in Accounting

 

 

BBA Management for me, minor in Econ.  I think they give a re-hash of Maslow in the TEFL courses...must have been through that <deleted> 5 times in Business School.

[2road]

So what is simpler, get a TEFL here in Thailand and teach here or look for work where TEFL is not actually necessary to obtain legal employment?

[tonray]

5 hours ago, 2road said:

So what is simpler, get a TEFL here in Thailand and teach here or look for work where TEFL is not actually necessary to obtain legal employment?

TEFL is NOT necessary to obtain legal employment in Thailand.

[DavisH]

7 hours ago, 2road said:

The recuiter just replied

'

"TEFL certificate is required"

Since the cost of TEFL is quite high (around $800 I estimate), and  will absorb many week ends, at this point I will evaluate offer from Vietnam that do not necessarily require a  TEFL in order to obtain a working visa

 

What is your opinion about this?

 

Your recruiter is lying. A TEFL certificate is not a requirement for you to teach in Thailand. A bachelor's degree (in anything) is required' preferably in Education, or a BA/BSc + graduate diploma. 

 

Some recruitment agencies get you to pay for their course then ''guarantee" you employment in a school....then you will be disheartened to find the teacher sitting next to you walked into the school off the street and gets 10K more a month than you. Yes many schools use recruiters and also advertise on their own. 

 

Look on www.ajarn.com or hit the ground and visit a number of schools and see what's available. You will learn in a month of teaching far more than what any book and a couple of demo classes will teach you.   

[brewsterbudgen]

 
May I ask?   What qualifies you to teach English ? 

A decent TEFL qualification like a CELTA or Trinity TESOL qualifies you. Good language schools will insist on one, together with a degree.