Varsity Tutors can place you in supplemental TEFL certification training courses to help you further your career in education. TEFL stands for Teaching English as a Foreign Language. It's a professional certification used by educators to verify their proficiency in teaching English as a foreign language. Holding a TEFL certification can open a lot of professional doors for aspiring English teachers, and is typically one of the qualifications required when applying to many international English academies.
If you're looking to earn your TEFL certificate, you'll first need to complete a Teaching English as a Foreign Language course from one of the accredited groups offering a TEFL certificate program. These courses usually have a practical component that assesses your ability to teach, design curricula, and manage a classroom. If you'd like some help sharpening your teaching skills, we'll place you in a TEFL certification course that supplements your teaching lessons. Let's take a look at a small sampling of the many benefits you can experience from enrolling in one of our supplemental TEFL programs.
Is There Anything I Need to Know Before Taking a TEFL Certificate Course?
Unlike other foreign English teaching certifications, TEFL isn't overseen by any one group. As such, there are a number of different companies offering TEFL certification. For this reason, it's important that you receive your TEFL through a credible organization that's recognized around the world. You can do this by enrolling in programs that adhere to the internationally recognized standards for TEFL certificates. These standards stipulate one should participate in 100 hours of coursework over the course of their Teaching English as a Foreign Language training, in addition to accumulating between 6-20 hours of teaching non-native English speakers.
While earning your TEFL certification can be time-consuming, it's not a difficult process. You don't need to be a certified teacher, nor do you need teaching experience or a college degree to qualify. The only prerequisites you need to satisfy are being able to speak English fluently, possessing a high school diploma or GED, and having a basic understanding of teaching skills.
What Are Some of the Benefits That Come With Possessing a TEFL Certificate?
If you're interested in teaching English overseas, you may be required to get a TEFL certification before you can be hired. A number of countries require English teachers to possess a certificate in TEFL or another similar program as part of visa requirements. In some cases, you may even need a TEFL certificate and a teaching certification. Of course, whether you're required to have a TEFL or any other credentials depends on the country you're working in, as well as the institution where you'd like to teach.
Regardless of whether you're required to have a TEFL certificate or not, it isn't a bad idea to get one anyway. That way, you won't be negatively impacted if a country changes its policy to make TEFL mandatory for English teachers in the future. Also, as a professional certification, TEFL is useful for advancing your career in teaching English to non-native speakers. Holding a TEFL certification can increase your chances of getting hired at a language school, give you more leverage when negotiating higher pay, and validate your skills when working privately with language students in a one-on-one setting.
What Are Some Advantages That Come With Enrolling in a TEFL Certification Class?
Most TEFL programs evaluate participants based on their classroom performance rather than having a comprehensive assessment test. You may think that there's no real reason to enroll in a TEFL certification class since there's no final exam to study for, but that doesn't mean our TEFL certification training program can't help you in other ways.
For starters, participating in our TEFL certification course can give you the chance to sharpen your professional skills in an interactive and collaborative environment. The course is designed to supplement your in-class TEFL program by reviewing the various concepts covered in your lessons. You can expand on various concepts related to English, like teaching grammar and pronunciation, as well as other pedagogical subjects like classroom management, lesson planning, and evaluating student performance.
The goal of our TEFL certification class is to help you gain the skills necessary to be an effective teacher. Our classes can help facilitate this by giving you the opportunity to work with an experienced instructor who's familiar with the process of becoming TEFL certified. These supplemental lessons will enable you to ask questions, share resources, and solve problems with the help of your instructor and your classmates.
Can I Fit a TEFL Certification Training Course Into My Busy Schedule?
You might be wondering if it's even possible to squeeze a TEFL certification course into your current schedule without making some drastic changes. If you're like most people, you're probably busy enough as it is. We understand that you've got other responsibilities, which is why we designed our TEFL certification courses to be as flexible as possible so you can participate in a program that accommodates you.
When you first register for a certification training course, you'll have the option of choosing a two- or four-week section. This gives more control over when and how you study, which is great if you're short on time and unable to commit to intensive lessons. Some opt for the four-week option when they're juggling multiple tasks at once, like work, school, family responsibilities, and other commitments. This gives you the ability to study at a slower pace, which can make the experience less overwhelming. If you're looking to finish the training course as soon as possible, on the other hand, the two-week program offers condensed lessons that cover more material in a single study session. Regardless of which option you choose, you'll still cover the same topics. Both courses offer the same class hours. The only difference is the length of the section.
You'll also be happy to know that we provide multiple TEFL certification training courses throughout the term. Each course meets at a different time or different day of the week, so choose the one that works best with your timetable. That way, you don't have to worry about organizing your schedule so you can attend lessons. Just make sure that the course you register for is the one that works best for you, because that's the time you'll be meeting throughout the duration of the program. Can't find a way to squeeze in lessons right now? No problem. New courses launch at the beginning of every month, so you've always got time to study when it's most convenient for you.
Most people spend a lot of time sitting in traffic throughout the week. We don't want to add to that, which is why our courses are offered in a virtual classroom. With our TEFL certification training course, you never have to worry about rushing across town to attend your study session. You can participate in the learning experience from anywhere. Some people prefer to study at home or in their favorite coffee shop, while others like to go to a library for their lessons. It's up to you where you want to study. All you need is reliable internet access and a computer or mobile device.
What Topics Are Covered During a TEFL Certification Training Program?
Because there's no standardized test you must take, each TEFL certification program is slightly different depending on who's offering the course. For this reason, our TEFL certification training course isn't structured to prepare students for one specific type of TEFL program. Instead, your instructor will cover all of the essential skills necessary to be an effective teacher. Let's take a closer look at some of the material you may encounter when working through your TEFL certificate program.
Good classroom management is a must for any educator, but it's especially important for instructors who are teaching English to non-native speakers. Regardless of whether you're teaching adults or kindergarten, primary, or secondary students, you'll probably encounter disruptive behavior from time to time. How you resolve these disruptions is important and plays a specific role in setting the tone of your subsequent lessons. If you're too relaxed, there's a chance that students won't follow instructions or participate in your classroom activities. But if you're too strict, you could intimidate or discourage students, dissuading them from engaging in your lessons. A TEFL certification training instructor can go over effective classroom management techniques that show you how to gain control over your classroom without escalating the situation. You can learn how to be mindful of cultural norms when interacting with students, or how to discern disruptive students from those who are simply confused. In fact, many of the students you encounter who initially seem disruptive because they refuse to speak English are actually shy, confused, or simply don't have the language skills to participate in your activities.
Another important topic covered in TEFL certification classes is lesson planning. This is one of the most important skills you need to have as an educator. If you can't plan engaging lessons, your students can become bored and disconnected. Our certification lessons are a great place to learn how to sharpen your lesson planning skills. Your instructor can give you ideas for coming up with new activities, tips on how to engage students from different age groups, and how you can turn real-world material like video clips and magazine articles into study material. Since you'll be studying alongside other professionals pursuing the same TEFL certification, you can share ideas and tips when it comes to planning lessons. Some of your peers may be certified teachers or they could already have experience teaching EFL and can share some of their own wisdom and experiences with you and the rest of the class.
An effective EFL teacher should be able to help students improve their reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. If you're working for a school or language academy, you'll probably have a textbook to teach from. While this can serve as the general outline of your classes, providing you with the topics to cover when teaching grammar and language skills, it's not enough to simply teach from the textbook. People learn differently, so there's no guarantee that everyone in your classes will understand or enjoy the explanations, examples, and activities in your textbook. This is why many teachers introduce supplemental material and plan additional activities outside of the curriculum. But if you're new to teaching, you may not know how to adapt supplemental material to your existing lessons. That's where our training courses can help. Your instructor can provide you with places to find supplemental material, as well as show you how you can introduce that material in a way that doesn't disrupt the flow of your lessons. They can also teach you how to incorporate a number of different teaching styles into your lessons, so you can appeal to different types of learning styles.
If you ask EFL teachers which topic is the most complex to teach, a lot of them will say grammar. Native English speakers tend to learn grammar differently than EFL students. More often than not, we don't go as in-depth when learning grammar rules. We seem to inherently know when something sounds grammatically correct. If you're not a certified English teacher or you didn't major in English at college, there's a good chance that you don't know all of the major grammar rules either. So, how do you teach them to a student who doesn't understand the difference between past simple and present perfect tenses? It's actually not as difficult as it sounds, provided you know how to give meaningful examples and diagrams when needed. You can learn how to do all of this in a TEFL certification training course. Your instructor can go over some of the most challenging aspects of teaching grammar to basic, intermediate, and advanced students. They can show you how to anticipate problems when teaching grammar, as well as how you can help your students overcome those challenges without confusing them. Best of all, your instructor can recommend grammar books to refer to when you're stumped by an EFL student who wants to know why a certain rule exists.
The goal of our certification program is to help you succeed in your TEFL course. In order for that to happen, you need to have more than English proficiency and basic teaching skills. You also need to know how to build rapport with students, how to demystify and explain difficult concepts, and how to manage your time effectively. All of these concepts will be covered in our program that focuses on giving you the tools needed to excel at teaching English.
What's the Benefit of Studying in a Collaborative Learning Environment?
Many people who register for the TEFL certification training program are doing so because they're seeking a level of engagement that isn't offered through self-study. To meet those demands, we've designed the course to be as interactive as possible by encouraging students to collaborate with each other and the instructor whenever possible. Being able to work productively with others is an important skill to have, especially as an educator. There's probably going to come a time when you're required to attend teaching workshops where you're required to participate in group activities. Our lessons can prepare you for that type of collaboration by giving you the opportunity to solve problems with your peers.
What's more, collaborative learning opens you up to fresh ideas and different perspectives. You can learn how other English teachers have approached topics like teaching pronunciation, explaining grammar, or grading assignments. You can share some of the challenges you've faced as a teacher and learn how others may have solved those problems differently. Many people who've completed this course admit that collaborative learning is one of the most effective ways to understand new concepts. It can give you the chance to dig deeper into topics covered in class by looking at how you can apply what you've learned in a professional setting.
Best of all, since lessons are conducted online, you've got the opportunity to collaborate with peers from different walks of life. Our Live Learning Platform uses smart tools like video chat and virtual whiteboards to maximize engagement, creating an online classroom environment that makes you feel like you're in the middle of every lesson.
How Do I Get Started?
If you're interested in sharpening your teaching skills through an interactive TEFL training program, we can help. All you have to do is contact Varsity Tutors and speak with an educational consultant about enrolling in a TEFL certification training course. We can answer any questions you have about the program, and when you want to move forward, we'll place you in the next available course that aligns with your schedule. It's that simple! Don't place your future on hold. Let Varsity Tutors help you reach for your goals as you pursue a career in Teaching English as a Foreign Language.