These are the people I've spent the last month with. Actually, there are a few missing - Pete, the big boss, is taking the photo, and three had left two weeks earlier as they had already done half of the course online. Scattered in amongst the group are our 4 trainers, Greg, Clare, Simon and Urica. Great people. Anyway, I've been getting lots of questions about the course so I figured I'd do a review and try to cover as much as I can. If you're not interested in English teaching then just move along folks. Nothing more to see here....

Technorati Tags: TESOL, teachingenglish, TEFLInternational, thailand, travel

TeflInternational is a big company that operates English teaching training course franchises in - at the time of writing - 18 schools around the world, with locations ranging from the EU through to Asia and the Americas. Each franchise offers a range of course options, including online courses up to Bachelor of TESOL Education and Masters Degree levels. Pretty cool. I am definitely considering the next step up - an online TESOL Diploma.

I took the one month 120 hour Certificate of TESOL at the TEFLInternational school in Phuket in August 2006, and I'm really happy with what I got. It was intensive to a degree I wasn't expecting, but I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge and - first day back back in the classroom (today!), I found myself using things I learned in the course. Good stuff. I'm just going to ramble on about things as I think of them - I'll try not to let it get too disjointed but I should warn you I'm drinking beer and really tired.

Anyway, so the Phuket branch seems to be heavily involved in the overall, global management of the company. I think that the Phuket franchise owners also own quite a few of the other schools, and the company websites are managed out of the Phuket school. I can confidently say that the guys running the school in Phuket (and a lot of the other schools) are the loveliest, most competent and inspirational people I've met in a long time. Pete (The Academic Director) and Mark are the two administrators - they both have truckloads of experience in education. They have a team of four other trainers, all with varying degrees of experience and training and who efficiently, effectively and surprisingly jovially (considering the dry topics) taught their subjects. It felt like we laughed in every class. They were warm, relaxed, laid back people, and offered a lot of support every step of the way.

We studied from this massive white folder of material that the school compiled, it covered pretty much all points of grammar and phonology and a nice general methodology section. I carried that heavy motherf*cker all the way back to Tokyo with me because it will be absolutely invaluable to me in the future.

The test at the beginning of week four was terrifying. 3 hours of a serious, closed book grammar (conditionals, passive voice, reported speech, tenses, usage and teaching idea's) and phonics exam! Of course, the trainers all want you to pass and do their utmost to prepare you fully for the test - even down to preparing a couple of mock exams to practice with.

A really important aspect of the course was the real teaching practice with real students. The majority of trainees had never taught before and were totally panic-stricken when it came to their prac. sessions. But by the end of the course they had almost all overcome their fears and had competently planned and executed their lessons reasonably effortlessly. It was also useful for the more experienced teachers for us to practice the particular methodology the course used: ESA (engage, study, activate).

I really enjoyed the projects we had to do - a couple of “journals” and a research article.

The cover letter I got that came with my Certificate explains that the course components include:

Teaching Practice - 10 hours (with a grade - mine said excellent which gave me that warm inner glow I love so)
Classroom Management
Teaching Skills
Language Awareness (including grammar test & my final test result which was 98%)
Phonology (including test)
Unknown Language Journal
Materials Project
Student profile
Research Article

and then a nice little reference along the lines of “Martine is a very competent EFL teacher and will be a credit to any future employer. If you would like any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me. Pete Ticehurst, Academic Director”.

Um, what else? Location. The school in Phuket is nowhere near a beach and is in fact in the really busy town of Phuket. Yes folks, Phuket town is the capital of Phuket Province. It's busy. Lots of traffic. And it's a bit of a trek to get to any beaches, particularly since you'll be so damn busy with the demands of the course. Weekends are good though and overall, I did get to enjoy a fair bit of beach time (mostly Naiharn and Kata Beach) and even found the time to get up to Khao Sok for a weekend of trekking.

The accommodation was OK. I was in the hotel (Roongrawee Mansion) with about 20 other trainees from the course. Air con, hot water, TVs and fridges. The school's accom is way more basic but you do get 24/7 access to the schools computers, internet, printers and photocopiers which is really useful as the course heats up. There are lots of good restaurants and bars in the area between the school and the hotel where most people stay, but you'll be pretty damn sick of all of them by about week three... I do recommend that you get out and about as much as you can or you'll go stir crazy. Escape Yaowarat Rd!!!! And make friends with your classmates - they are your constant companions for 4 weeks and most likely will be your good friends for much longer than that - particularly if you plan to stay in the area.

Finally, job stuff. The school do NOT place you directly into a job, but they will help you every step of the way to find jobs. I left the Monday after the course finished and I know for a fact that 4 of my classmates started new jobs THAT day in and around Phuket.

Right, I've had enough of sitting in front of this damn computer.

Final thoughts: Money well spent. Lots learned. Enjoyable. Challenging. Thinking about tackling their TESOL Diploma next.

I'm out.

frangipani wrote this on September 7, 2006 12:43 AM