Advice on best quality serious TEFL qualification please in EU?

[Veranowhere887]

Thanks to Brexit, I've retired early, and to fill my time, I currently hold casual English conversation classes on a voluntary basis in an EU country where there is a lot of demand.

The classes have gone so well, and the demand is so high, that I have decided to start teaching English for money. And this is where I need help please, as there is so much information out there, that it's hard to know where to start!

My former job required a high level of English grammar and punctuation, but, in order to boost my confidence and knowledge of the subject before I start, I want to take the most serious and demanding TEFL qualification out there, so that I can build on a legitimate, current, serious qualification.

Like many students of the late seventies and early eighties, I was not taught grammar at school, and everything I know, I learned in my former professional role.

Please can anyone help?

Just to add, I am very much aware btw, that there is a whole lot more to being a good teacher than formal qualifications, and that a world of "classroom craft" skills are required too! But I want to start with the correct qualifications please and build slowly from there.

Can anyone please advise? Thank you!

Anyone please?

My daughter did the celta qualification which was a good mixture of grammar and teaching skills

CELTA or Trinity CertTESOL are the only two that were worth doing a decade ago - they're the two recognised by the British Council and they're both solid and rigorous. Landscape might have changed though so double check.

Thank you Buzzer!

Thank you ThatOpenSwan much appreciated!

Sounds like checking with the British Council would be a good idea.

I did the CELTA recently (part time, online) because research showed me that it is a widely accepted qualification. It was a lot of work but I learnt loads and enjoyed it and am now using those skills daily.

Thank you very much Tadpoles that’s really helpful.

Can I ask please, what is the balance between grammar v “learning to teach” on the CELTA course?

CELTA is the way to go. My daughter’s doing this in France and the government are funding it.

Do CELTA here and you’ll never look back. It will be hard work, but they’re the best, a charity with schools all over the world, heavily involved in teacher improvement.
https://www.ihlondon.com/course/celta-online?gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAAD2ZUl5axFx6mE1DDHZjBtM4jony6&gclid=CjwKCAjwx4O4BhAnEiwA42SbVMZfr7Vh7cE79Vm40LAeHza2vF93sIdRY2VviOVnqyYUyrhgxfvSkhoCQRMQAvD_BwE

You need to have a native English level, so they assume you know grammar. The course is to teach you how to teach English as a foreign language. They give you book recommendations for brushing up on grammar. They teach you how to teach grammar, reading, writing, listening etc. How to structure a lesson.

I was never taught grammar (though I learnt all the terms when learning 2 foreign languages) and it was fine. Occasionally I need to refer to a grammar book to help me properly explain the rules but its not a problem.

Thank you very much Sgtmajormummy and Aydel!

Thank you so much Tadpoles that’s very helpful indeed.

Ditto to CELTA - well respected everywhere.

BTW, though, the sort of grammar you need to get to grips with, is a bit different from the kind used if say you’re teaching a foreign language in the students’ mother tongue. There are so many things you don’t even have to think about as a native speaker.

My ‘Bible’ was the Thomson and Martinet Grammar for TEFL, absolutely invaluable.

Thank you very much GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER.

That’s a brilliant tip! I have ordered! 😀👍

Totally agree with this. I did the Trinity cert (20+ years ago) you do actually learn useful things that you need to develop as a teacher. It was full time for a month and quiet intense.

Ditto to intense! My CELTA course was p/t over 3 months, but when a newly graduated dd decided to do the same in a month, I warned her that she wouldn’t have time to be going out every night! Even as a very able linguist herself, she found it extremely time consuming.

But well worth it, since while she was ‘travelling’ for nearly 2 years, she usually found fairly well paid work along the way.