There are TESOL courses and there are TESOL courses. Some TESOL courses are available by mail, over the Internet, etc. I invite readers to look over the requirements for a TESOL certificate at the University of California - Riverside. It takes about a year to complete if the student is attending full time. It is my understanding that a full-time CELTA course can be completed in five weeks. One year versus five weeks.
Degree Offered: Certificate in TESOL.
Length of Program: 4 quarters. Students mat be full-time or part-time and may begin their study in the fall, winter, spring or summer semester.
Program Requirements: 25 quarter units. Competence in a language other than English is not required. 50 hours of practice teaching is required. Neither a comprehensive examination nor a thesis is required.
Courses Offered: (*required) *History and Survey of TESOL Methodologies; *Lesson Planning for the ESL Classroom; *Introduction to Linguistics; *Language Development and Acquisition; *Grammar Methodologies for ESL/EFL Teachers A and B; *Methods and Techniques for Teaching ESL: Student Teaching; Core Courses (each class 2 units, 8 total units of core courses required): TESOL Reading Methodologies, TESOL Writing Methodologies, TESOL Vocabulary Methodologies, TESOL Conversation Methodologies, TESOL Listening Methodologies, TESOL Pronunciation Methodologies, Teaching American Idioms in the ESL/EFL Classroom, elective units, various courses for a total of 3 units. (Prerequisites may be passed by exam: *Orientation to TESOL; *Standard English Usage; *Fundamentals of Writing).