How to Get a TEFL Certificate To Teach English Online

One of the most important tools you need to teach English online is a TEFL certificate from an accredited provider. Let me break things down a bit. So after I shared the hardware you need to teach online, let me say you still need the skills side of it.

As a teacher, your students expect to achieve their goals through your help. This means to need to gain competent skills to help your students. TEFL means Teaching of English as a Foreign language. It is the same with TESOL: Teaching of English as a Second Language. You need to get your teaching online certification from the best.

6 things to look out for when getting your TEFL certificate

1.  The first and important aspect to look out for is to check if the course provider is accredited by the International TEFL/TESOL Accreditation Council.  The standard certificate accepted by most schools is the 120 hour TEFL or TESOL certificate. your provider should offer this and other certificates with more hours like the 160 and 210 hours. Getting one signals the start of your teaching online career.

2. The course provider you choose must be able to provide you with notarized hard copy which enables you to get work permits in countries that require a notarized certificate. This is important mainly when you want to go abroad and teach. Teaching certification doesn’t end with teaching online but also teaching in-person in brick and motor schools. A TEFL goes beyond preparing you to teach online.

3. Your TEFL certificate provider should have a flexible schedule for you. In most cases, teaching online is a part-time hustle, therefore, you may need to have more time to finish the course. You can do the course at your own pace, so there is no pressure on you to finish.

4. there is nothing as fulfilling as getting tutor feedback in all modules when doing your teaching online certification. Tutor feedback helps you to see if you getting it right and where you need to improve. I have seen TEFL providers that just give you work and you do and submit, then you just get a mark. There is no feedback at all to see where you did well or what you need to work on. That sucks. Getting feedback is so cool.

5.  live support during the course is so helpful. Where ever you are in the world, you will always need to have a live tutor for support, career coaching, and a well-rounded curriculum. Where I got my TEFL, they provided all these including free tutoring via email, chat or Skype ensuring I get the best advice and tips from a dedicated TEFL trainer. I realised this was crucial to get me going through the entire course.

6. The TEFL course should include all or more of the following. Help with Essay writing done maybe through assignments. The course should teach you lesson planning, classroom management, pronunciation, grammar and live online teaching. Reading, writing, listening, and speaking and to design effective lesson plans. Introductory training in Teaching Young Learners as well as introductory training in Teaching Business English. I always find teachers overlooking these last two, but they equally important. These are resume writing and how to get a job.

A bonus to these 6, when getting your TEFL, is having a provider who will help you find a job after you have completed the course. A provider with a lot of connections with online and offline English companies. You need to be confident you will find work once you have completed the course.

The ESL industry is a competitive one and you have higher chances of getting a job when you get help from those who have been in the industry for some time.

You can get your TEFL today from as little as $139. I took my TEFL with International TEFL and  TESOL. They provided all the above. The bonus was I got my first job immediately.