TESOL certificate

[Drinnie]

I'm interested to teach English in the near future so I took up a certificate course in TESOL at a teaching school/university in the Philippines(i.e.Philippine Normal University) and have taken up 12 units already , i still have 12 units away before completing the course. What are the benefits of taking TESOL certificate course? I want to teach Thai, Chinese, Indonesian, Malaysian, Japanese students someday, will i be able to teach with a TESOL certificate.I was a Communication Arts graduate.

[dricha17]

It sounds like you really have a clear direction; congrats.

I have only taught English as a Second Language, but it seems that the methodology training that you are getting in your TESOL course will lend itself to virtually any language training. (Others, please correct me if I'm wrong.)

In my opinion, your knowledge of languages, your Communications degree and your TESOL course will put you in a very marketable position in the ESL field. Good luck to you.

[Drinnie]

Thanks for the info. :)

[jcblued]

Originally Posted by Drinnie

I'm interested to teach English in the near future so I took up a certificate course in TESOL at a teaching school/university in the Philippines(i.e.Philippine Normal University) and have taken up 12 units already , i still have 12 units away before completing the course. What are the benefits of taking TESOL certificate course? I want to teach Thai, Chinese, Indonesian, Malaysian, Japanese students someday, will i be able to teach with a TESOL certificate.I was a Communication Arts graduate.

hi, glad to hear about your plans. im also leaning towards tesol and im a communications graduate as well. would appreciate some info about your tesol course in pnu... how long does it usualy take to finish the course and what particular course? thanks a lot drinnie!

[Heads Up English]

Congrats. You have a clear direction and clear goal.

The benefit of doing a TEFL or CELTA is the experience. You know why students struggle or succeed. You know how to best maximize talk time, present the target language, and provide real/relevant content. Unfortunately, too many people think that possessing the language ability makes one a good teacher.

In terms of the job market, I can only speak about Japan. The market continues to shrink as the economy struggles along, so a lot of schools have closed. Unemployed and experienced teachers are looking for work here. Hence any additional credit to add to your resume can get you in the door. After that, it comes down to demonstrating you know your stuff.

Don't just limit yourself to the TEFL course, though. Join PLNs, read other blogs, and ask questions. There are a lot of top-level professionals in this field willing to share ideas and information. Teaching is first and foremost about helping others succeed and realize their dreams/potential.

Good luck.

Chris Cotter
Teach better lessons with Better Language Teaching.