Graduate Prospects - January 9, 2008 - (Page 20) 20 PROSPECTS GRADUATE Issue 58 · 09 January 2008 · Fortnightly www.prospects.ac.uk POSTGRAD BLOGGER ‘You have to be brazen about getting research materials, and not scared to ask.’ GRAHAM FOSTER ON HUNTING AND GATHERING Another word of warning: a short course will limit your choice of countries; as some of Anna’s friends in Italy found; ‘without a CELTA you can still get teaching jobs but you will always be at a disadvantage to those who have a CELTA and may not end up with a job at one of the better schools.’ PACKAGE DEAL If TICKET TO TRAVEL WHICH OF MANY COURSES WILL SET YOU UP TO TEACH ABROAD? DESPITE THE GENERAL OBSESSION WITH GRADUATE SCHEMES AND GETTING ON THE PROPERTY LADDER, THE CHANCE TO LIVE IN A FAR-FLUNG COUNTRY FOR A YEAR OR SO CAN BE TOO ENTICING TO MISS. ENTER ELT (ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING); IT OFFERS THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY TO LIVE ABROAD AND EARN MONEY. But the EFL (English as a Foreign Language) market has grown exponentially over the last twenty years or so, with a corresponding increase in teacher training courses on offer: online, weekend, month-long, intensive, parttime, MAs and BEds – courses come in every conceivable format. How on earth can one untangle the good from the bad? The simple answer is that there isn’t a ‘right’ course. It all depends on your budget and destination. Cambridge CELTA (Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults) and Trinity CertTESOL (Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) are often seen as the crème-de-lacrème of introductory ELT courses; both courses last four weeks full time, are intensive, exhausting and certainly not for the faint-hearted. They are also expensive, costing around £1,000 in the UK. TOP OF THE CLASSES The Anna Faulkner, a University of Sussex graduate, enrolled on a Cambridge CELTA course at International House, Rome: ‘I had heard that CELTA was the most recognised TEFL qualification and, although it cost more than the average TEFL course, I thought it was worth it. The CELTA definitely teaches some very valuable teaching skills and, more than anything, breaks you into teaching.’ FAST LANE But you don’t fancy going it alone, there is another option. Some companies offer ELT training and a guaranteed job at the end of it. After finishing his Geography degree at Hull University, Stephen Pereira decided he wanted some time out so he did some research and found that Hess, a chain of schools in Taiwan, offered training and guaranteed work. He found Hess’s training to be excellent, and met lots of other budding English Language Teachers in the area, which helped him settle in. The disadvantage of a big chain school, such as Hess in Taiwan and Shane English Schools in Japan, is that you could find yourself being placed in an area that would not have been your first choice, but this can be an excellent option if you’re not ready to take the leap into the great unknown without a helping hand. DECISIONS There’s after years of university, investing an additional four weeks of your life in education can seem too much, especially if you only plan to get on the ELT bandwagon for a year or so. Many companies claim to offer an accredited qualification after just a weekend of study, and at a fraction of the price. no doubt about it, choosing which course to do (if any at all) isn’t easy. It’s really all down to what you want out of your ELT experience - do you have a particular country in mind? Are you bothered about the quality of the school you’ll be teaching in or is it just a stop-gap to earn some cash and move on? One last thing to keep in mind though; while TEFLing may be a chance for you to have the Katherine Child chose to do a short course time of your life, ultimately you will be before heading out to Taiwan. Although she responsible for helping your students learn found that it was a great way of making her another language. You are lucky enough to be CV more desirable, she felt that ‘it didn’t a native English speaker with a British teach me anything with regard to teaching passport, but you should be responsible kids, which is most of what happens in Taiwan… forget about doing a grammar ESL enough to ensure that you have gained the (English as a second language) course for that skills needed to be an effective teacher. LAURA CARR part of the world!’ INFORMATION AND ADVICE www.prospects.ac.uk/findcourses www.prospects.ac.uk/links/fundstudy LATEST POSTGRAD COURSE OPPORTUNITIES www.prospects.ac.uk/links/latestcourses SEARCH THE POSTGRAD DATABASE POSTGRAD FUNDING FACTS SEND US YOUR COMMENTS ABOUT TEFL AND POSTGRAD STUDY editorial@prospects.ac.uk http://www.prospects.ac.uk http://www.prospects.ac.uk/cms/ShowPage/Home_page/Feature_Articles/Feature_articles_2008/PhD_blog__4/p!eiFgFfm http://www.prospects.ac.uk/findcourses http://www.prospects.ac.uk/links/fundstudy http://www.prospects.ac.uk/links/latestcourses
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