Do you TEFL?

[rainbowsandcloudyskies]

Do you enjoy it? What are the best bits? The worst? Does it pay enough? I’m trying to decide whether to go ahead and get the qualification. I’d want to teach online from home. I’d be grateful for any thoughts or experiences.

which qualification are you looking at doing?

I need to do more research but 120 hours online. Is this worth it? I have 30 years teaching experience (primary age) too.

you should be looking at a CELTA. That is the one that most language schools will be looking for.

There are those who offer "120 hours of training" who are trying to emulate the CELTA with that, but they are not.

I would look around where you think you might get work before you decide which TEFL qualification to do (warning: the CELTA nearly broke me)

I do know a few people who TEFL online, mostly to people in Asia. None of them uses it as their family's main source of income.

Thank you for replying. That is helpful.

Good luck! (what the CELTA - which i did in person on the intensive 1 month course - taught me is: i don't like teaching...)

You are not selling it to me! 😂
I think I quite like teaching but the qualification nearly broke you two so not sounding great! Is it just too intense?

OK it is very intense, but i really really loved doing it. I was not prepared enough for the sheer amount of homework, written work that it required.

I can highly recommend it though - if you are already a teacher you have a head start on me. Not sure how they do it with the online courses, but we spent mornings in the classroom learning how to TEFL, and the afternoons teaching actual students.

For us we were divided into 2 arbitrary groups of 6 (max 12 on the course) and we spent 2 weeks teaching the beginners, and 2 weeks teaching the intermediates. Starting at about a 10 minute lesson each. Then we were graded on our skills. (so preparation, engagement with students, and as little Teacher Talking Time as possible)

I am still great friends with the people i did my course with too. So - all in all, deffo worth a try, but as i said beware of those online courses that advertise "120 hours" because they are deffo making out they are as good as the CELTA, and they deffo are not.

But as i said up there, i would first look around language schools and see what they are looking for in a teacher? tbh the first time i taught English was a side hustle on Maternity Leave - and i had no qualifications at all aside of being a native speaker and not entirely dim. You never know, they may take you on and sponsor your CELTA to some degree?

TEFL was a great experience in my 20s when all I wanted to do was travel and meet people but I would not do it now, either online or in person. If you are used to a decent salary, one you can actually live on in the UK, then don’t bother. If you’re doing it to top up an existing salary then maybe it would be worth it. How much is a CELTA course these days anyway?

Edited to say: the course was intensive but not particularly arduous. I wouldn’t let that part of it put you off, it was largely fun and a lot easier than a full time job!

Thank you for your replies. It looks like a no for the 120 hour course then but thinking CELTA will be expensive.

Are jobs usually with online platforms? I’m realising how little I know about all this…

There is very little in EFL teaching these days. Especially online.

Do a proper CELTA in person if you can rather than any online certification as they are often not really worth the paper they are written on.

I think there was another one but not sure if it still runs - Trinity TESOL was it?

I did it because I was moving to Germany and didn't want to be a trailing spouse. It served me well and I have really enjoyed it and would probably go back to it, but the pay is low and because I'm abroad and a native speaker, there is more demand for my skills compared with a lot of other applicants. I would imagine finding clients online is tough because there must be lots of people offering the same thing, although British English is sometimes seen as an advantage over American English.

And yes I agree with the idea to look at local language schools and see whether they are hiring, whether it's to teach online or in person.

I did a CELTA course in 1996 - 4 v v intensive weeks and £950
I travelled using it and am still TEFLing - in UK now though - my students from the 90s could be my current students’ parents!!

I did the 12 week part time CELTA course and it was really a lot less stressful that way from what I can gather talking to others. I'd recommend it; I really enjoyed it and loved meeting the other people on my course.

I was pretty nervous about the teaching practice parts (especially at first) but benefited from the written assignments being spaced out and were done when I had that much more knowledge. Compared to writing essays for my English/classics degree they were a doddle.

@MrsM2025Do you teach online or in person?

Thank you everyone for replying. This would be a side hustle for me but paying for the course seems a big investment / gamble if the jobs aren’t there. I will take the advice to look at language schools first. I would be looking for about ten hours of work per week. Maybe more later on.

I did the celta intensive way back in the early 2000's. It was fun, but often terrifying. Most of us were reduced to tears at one point or other.

Got a summer gig at a local language school teaching sullen French teenagers who didn't give a shit. Realised I despise teaching (and French teenagers) so quit and never looked back!

I’m hoping that because I teach already, it might not be so terrifying, but I’m not convinced! Being observed teaching is shit even years down the line…

It really isn’t that tough. The hours are long and if you’ve come straight from University then yeah, it does seem very intensive but if you’re already a teacher or have worked a full-time job before, it will be fine.

And to add: if you’re looking for a side hustle, maybe online tutoring is more straightforward. As a teacher, you wouldn’t need to fork out for any extra qualifications and it would be easier to find clients (agencies)

@BeekmanThank you. I’m beginning to think the same. Guess I thought I could do a bit of tutoring, a bit of supply and a bit of tefl but you might be right…

I’ve always taught in person, never online - in various places including prisons.

I ended up teaching EAL in a state school and did my QTS but realised (quickly!) that international students are easier to teach than teaching English Lit to the average English teenager!

I did the online CELTA part time course a couple of years ago. It was a fair bit of work but nothing like as hard as my masters (which I did abroad in a foreign language to be fair).

I work exclusively online, from home.

I wouldn't want to rely on the work if I was the breadwinner (you do have to keep finding more students cos their courses last a limited time) but I'm a trailing spouse so it's perfect for me. I get to set my hours and have found a permanent job with a training centre.

It doesn't pay as well as my previous career but the flexibility and WFH is priceless to our family.

As PP says though, it really helps that I'm a native speaker living abroad. My students love the fact that I understand their language, culture and country.

It is true that the industry isn't in the best shape right now. AI is a threat and big internet based corporations who pay low and hire from across the world, obviously including places with very low average salaries. I wonder if you were thinking you'd be teaching adults or kids/teenagers? The CELTA actually only covers teaching adults but it is true that it is widely respected and recognised and "TEFL" has no official standards so any old company can offer their own course, some not worth what you would pay for them. As a highly experienced teacher though you do have unique skills to offer so you wouldn't be just another newly qualified ESL teacher. You could probably find work without any TEFL qualification so you could try that before going for a TEFL/CELTA. China is a big market and there are positions which are more or less online tutoring, including on Saturdays etc.

@rainbowsandcloudyskies I teach mostly on Preply and the best bit is that my students are such nice, interesting people. On my last day of the CELTA course (if you do a course I would recommend a part-time one that teaches you how to teach online, given that that's your end goal) the tutor said that he loves his job because he always gets to meet people at an interesting point in their lives, and that is certainly my experience. You could always try setting up a Preply tutor profile without doing any further study (CELTA, for example, is not compulsory) and see if anyone bites. Happy to answer any questions you might have, or you're welcome to message me.

Thank you everyone. All of your replies are really useful. I am not the main breadwinner and I really want more flexibility in my job and would love to work from home. I was originally thinking it would be children I would teach but I’m open to teaching adults. I can only speak English which could be a disadvantage.

@SitwithitThank you for your offer of more information. I’m going to have a proper think over half term and will get back to you with any questions. 😊