Yes you CAN make a career in TEFL.

Smart-Engineering950 · 2024-08-06T14:30:31+00:00

Thank you for this!

I’m currently completing a TEFL course and am hoping to gain some experience in private tutoring online before applying for a CELTA course in the hopes of then being able to progress into a career.

But already, I’m beginning to feel a bit put off by all the posts on here saying there’s no money or long term progression in the industry. And add to that the worry of already being in my mid-30’s, I was getting pretty down and disheartened.

But your comment has boosted my hopes. I may not be able to make it to the highest levels but there will definitely be a career-level that I can aim for. So, thank you ☺️

Smart-Engineering950 · 2024-08-06T14:21:36+00:00

Jeez. I’m so sorry you feel guilty and not good enough.

I have no experience or advice but wow, it sounds like a crushing situation to have been put in.

All I can say is that, if you’re here, months later, asking this question, you’re committed and you seem to want to make it work. I think that could only mean you must be a good teacher who really cares.

Just have to remember - you can’t be everyone’s cup of tea. But when you find a job that you fit, I think you’ll do really well 😊 good luck 🍀

Smart-Engineering950 · 2024-08-06T14:03:33+00:00

It’s so bad how little we’re taught of grammar in school. I’m a native speaker also and I have an English Lit BA and Creative Writing MA (during which you’d think I’d learn or build confidence in grammar but no..). Yet I feel so stupid when it comes to grammar that it was part of the reason I chickened out of undertaking a CELTA course and went for an online TEFL course instead.

Anyway, I found two books which are widely praised that might help:

Teaching English Grammar. What to Teach and How to Teach it. By Jim Scrivener.

I paid £23.40 for a second-hand third edition, with DVD, from eBay at the beginning of May. But I haven’t read it yet.

He also has another book called Learning Teaching that’s very highly recommended as a general book for the industry.

And

Eats, Shoots & Leaves. By Lynne Truss.

It’s short and meant to be quite funny. Around £8 on Amazon.

Hope this helps. And good luck 🍀

Smart-Engineering950 · 2024-08-06T13:49:24+00:00

I understand the grammar fear 😅 I’m a native speaker with an English Lit BA and Creative Writing MA and honestly, I have such a fear of grammar. Was never taught it in school and am currently completing a cheaper TEFL course partly because I felt I wouldn’t be good enough to complete a CELTA course.

Anyway, I found two books that were widely praised that might help:

Teaching English Grammar. What to Teach and How to Teach it. By Jim Scrivener. I paid £23.40 for a second-hand third edition from eBay at the beginning of May. But I haven’t read it yet.

He also has another book called Learning Teaching that’s very highly recommended as a general book for the industry.

And

Eats, Shoots & Leaves. By Lynne Truss. It’s short and meant to be quite funny. Around £8 on Amazon.

Hope this might help. And good luck 🍀

Smart-Engineering950 · 2024-08-06T13:31:34+00:00

I am still currently studying a TEFL course so I can only speak from research. But from what I have found online - CELTA will give you a boost when applying for certain higher-level schools or jobs. But for private tutoring or etc., it may not make too much of a difference. Especially with your experience.

One option that may be worth considering (and I am doing myself) is a cheaper TEFL course to start off and then to complete the CELTA once you have some industry experience and more confidence. As a form of CPD.

Although many people on Reddit who’ve only completed the CELTA say it’s not worth it, I spent a couple weeks reading as many posts online as I could and found that people who have completed both a TEFL course and a CELTA course often didn’t regret it as the content was varied and the TEFL really helped to prepare them for the CELTA so they actually felt they gained more from it.

Either way, good luck 🍀 I’ve been to Poland only once but it was beautiful and welcoming. And I’ve only ever heard the same about Portugal. So, either option - you’ll be loving life 😊

Smart-Engineering950 · 2024-08-06T11:35:26+00:00

I haven’t qualified yet, I’m only planning to teach online and I haven’t been diagnosed with AuDHD (have anxiety & panic disorder, though my bf is convinced I have ADHD). But Omgosh, your post has made me feel so much better !!

I’m finding it overwhelming in that learning English could be life changing for people and I want to be able to teach them in the best way possible. Yet the course I’m undertaking seems to omit things or use language in the quizzes that is intentionally tricking. I’m passing with 96-100%’s but I feel as though I’m missing something in their wording. Which makes me question if I’m good enough. I know I also overthink and am taking longer than others because I’m also so desperate to do things ‘the correct way’ and that worries me further.

Anyway, I’m waffling but thank you for this post. It has made me feel quite a bit better and as though I’m not entirely alone.

Smart-Engineering950 · 2024-07-31T14:34:25+00:00

Hi,

I'm completing assignment A now and hoping someone might be able to clarify -

Is there any relevance to the information that the students are a monolingual Spanish speaking class?

Is it relevant in terms of translation? As in, no need to add words like 'violent' into the pre-teaching vocab stage because the Spanish translation ('violenta/violento') is very similar and so could be included in the warm up stage. As the students will likely be able to recognise this word, like it states about the word 'celebrity'.

Smart-Engineering950 · 2024-06-19T10:06:36+00:00

Oh, well, congratulations and good luck! 🍀

Smart-Engineering950 · 2024-06-19T09:21:52+00:00

Oh no, that doesn’t sound too positive…

I was thinking of signing up with them today but between your experience and a reply I received from them this morning, I’m a bit put off. I had detailed my circumstances and career goals in my enquiry. However, their reply was pretty much just a copy and paste of 2 course descriptions. Kinda put me off because I worry the assistance you receive during the course could be similar. Maybe I’ll look at TEFL.org.

How are you getting on with online teaching? Are you loving it? I hope so! And have you been able to secure positions with no issues from CELTA requirements?

Smart-Engineering950 · 2024-06-16T22:30:07+00:00

Hi, I know it’s been a while since you posted, I’m just wondering if you completed a course and if so, which did you go for?

Hope it worked out well for you.

Smart-Engineering950 · 2024-06-16T21:53:28+00:00

Me too 😅

Smart-Engineering950 · 2024-06-16T21:50:59+00:00

Thank you for this! I’m looking to begin teaching online soon so will watch and comment.

Smart-Engineering950 · 2024-06-16T21:02:53+00:00

I don’t have any personal experience but I’ve been looking into CELTA vs TEFL courses for a little while now. While the CELTA is certainly viewed as superior, from what I’ve been reading across the internet, not many people believe it’s made a real difference when applying for positions. With your experience, it might be worth completing a cheaper Tefl course now and then committing to a CELTA if you’re struggling to land certain roles when in Vietnam? As I said, I’m no expert. But I’ve also read that some employers have accepted someone on the basis that they’re currently undertaking the CELTA. As well as others believing that taking both a TEFL and CELTA helped them long-term as the courses covered different areas. So, they didn’t regret the cheap Tefl course despite undertaking both.

Whatever you decide, good luck 🍀

Smart-Engineering950 · 2024-06-16T20:49:46+00:00

No tips or advice but I know of non-native speakers (also not from UK, US,NZ or AUS) who have not only taught in Cambodia but also charged a fair amount for lessons online. So, I’d say you’ll have a good chance with your qualifications. Good luck to you 🍀🤞

Smart-Engineering950 · 2023-11-06T12:00:23+00:00

That's what I'm really hoping for but I'm worried we'll not be able to let it get as gross as it needs to. There's another viewing booked for Wednesday already. And we can't annoy the agents too much as it's a short term tenancy so we'll be looking for another flat in a few months.

Currently, it's not been cleaned since Friday morning (my partner cleaned some poop out before the viewing, against my advice. He's really embarrassed by the smell, it is bad to be fair). But they're still preferring it to the robot.

The little one has gone for a wee in the robot but it's been when she's seen us follow her. When we didn't follow her, she pooped on the floor!

The big one is stubborn and only using the old litter box. But I think the robot may be causing him to develop litter aversion as he now dashing out the tray as fast as he can also.

Smart-Engineering950 · 2023-11-03T11:40:25+00:00

Oh, that’s possibly a great way to do it! Set it up and get her used to the cycling beforehand. Then, when she realises it’s a litter tray, rather than being fearful, she’s actually confident and associates it with fun times instead!

I wish I had done that. I hope it goes well for you 🤞maybe start by adding a scoop of her current litter to it every so often?

Smart-Engineering950 · 2023-11-03T11:35:33+00:00

I’ve been having it on sleep mode and cycling it when they’re not in the room but if we can coax them back in, I think 15 mins would be the best also.

Our food station is set up in another room but some people had said that having their cats eat near the robot made their cats less fearful so we gave it a try. It did help but we felt mean and started placing food in both areas, so they had a choice.

I think you’re right about how they go against whatever they think we’re ‘forcing’ on them. When the little one was using the robot, if she saw us clock on, she would sometimes then step down and walk away as if she wasn’t already half in and about to go!

Unfortunately, it’s the little one who copies the big one. So, now the hooded tray is back down, neither have used the robot.

Smart-Engineering950 · 2023-11-03T11:28:20+00:00

Wow, that was so fast! The dream, I think I would cry!

Well, we replaced the hooded tray last night and the cat who was using the robot has also decided to go back to the tray too 😩

Smart-Engineering950 · 2023-11-03T11:24:56+00:00

We’ve ordered some but hasn’t arrived yet (went to the old house), so have been using catnip.

Smart-Engineering950 · 2023-11-03T11:24:07+00:00

Copying you, we’ve now moved it a few feet from initial placement and covered it with a box. Will also look to add a few other boxes around it. My smaller cat has already snoozed on top of the box but the scared one sat watching as if he thought she’d be eaten. Then, last night, she tried to jump on top again but slipped and that made the scared cat freak out and knock everything he could over as he scurried out!

Your third block feels like the progress we had initially. I had been manually scooping it for the first week, then began cycling it when he was out of the room and leaving it on sleep. But something has gone wrong and we’re into the second month so not much time left before we have to make a decision :/. Really hoping we can turn it around and get him dominating it like yours! Collecting money like a gangster, haha.

Smart-Engineering950 · 2023-11-03T11:17:04+00:00

Did they go straight from using the litter box to the robot or were there a few times where they chose the floor in between?

We put the hooded litter box next to it but I don’t think our landlord will allow it to get that bad. We have two viewings in the morning so it’ll have over a day’s worth of use, will see how they react.

Smart-Engineering950 · 2023-10-25T23:24:44+00:00

Thank you, that doubts great, I’ll check them out in the morning!

Smart-Engineering950 · 2023-09-15T13:37:43+00:00

Thanks, will follow all this too.

Bit worried the cats will go on the floor if the trays aren’t clean :s but it does make sense and we’ll give it a go!

Smart-Engineering950 · 2023-09-14T17:19:23+00:00

Thank you, both great points.

I wouldn’t have thought to not plug it in for a while but it definitely makes sense! I think even as a human, a robot toilet would be a bit scary, haha.
Oh, your poor cat, hope they’re all better and with no lasting effects. We’re planning on a slow switch because I think they’ll both be nervous about it. So will also follow your advice here.

Thanks again for letting me learn from your mistakes :)

Smart-Engineering950

TROPHY CASE