Is the TESOL certificate on offer the Trinity one ? I have no doubt some courses will be just as useful as a CELTA or Trinity TESOL, but if international recognition is important I would stick with the Trinity or Cambridge University courses.
Oh, yeah, the work permit is offered to folks with uni degrees AND passports from English-speaking countries.
Wow! There IS a TESOL course in Taipei. That’s news to me. I’d love to hear more about it. Are they advertising at all? Is it geared toward foreign teachers, local teachers, or just anyone interested? I hope you can share the info with us.
hey there,
i did a search for celta training in taipei…but did not come up with anything…i dont want to be repeating topics…i’m sorry if i did miss it!
but can anyone recommend a celta training school in taipei? i will be there in sept. thanks!
[Topics merged since this post: Moderator]
Sorry Bluey, your post now looks a bit silly, but I felt I should merge several hundred topics on the CELTA et al so they’re easier to find.
thanks hexuan!
There are no CELTA courses in Taiwan. I don’t know about the RSA/Trinity TESOL, but it doesn’t seem to be as widely accepted as the CELTA. I have tried looking for the CELTYL, but I cannot find an institution that offers it, seeing as it would be hard to randomly get a class of children to train teachers, I understand why. Just finished my CELTA in London last week. Not too bad, but it was a stressing experience, even with prior teacher training, a degree in linguistics, and TESOL training already. There were some people in my program that didn’t pass. I’d love it if they offered a CELTYL program here…Lord knows there’s enough children here in Taiwan with eager enough parents to serve as a teaching practice class for the course. And it would be nice to have people learning how to teach English to children in a more effective way.
Just wondering if there are any institutions offering courses in TEFL or TESOL here in Taipei. Done a search on the web already and nothing has come up…
If not, can anyone recommend an on-line course?
Thanks in advance.
I’ve had a good nose around the forums for Taiwan based TESOL/TEFL courses and only came up with a couple of crackerjack 1-week courses.
Are there any good, solid courses based in Taipei that will a) be of some real use when it comes to English teaching in Taiwan, and b) land me with a respectable TESOL/TEFL certificate? Also, has anyone gone through a full teacher training course in Taiwan? Would such courses require a BEd to apply or would a BA/BSc be sufficient? I’m particularly interested in any courses that focus specifically on early years and/or special needs (aka the Naughty Ones).
I will be coming to Taiwan on an investment ARC and will only be working in the evenings. However, my first love is working with kids and business is really just a way of getting my foot into Taiwan. In five years time when I qualify for citizenship (plus a few for ID registration and military service) I would like to be in a position to jump back into teaching proper. I assume this would make a difference to any recommendations since placements designed for gap year students/travellers etc. are of little interest to me.
If it makes any difference, I have 3 years experience teaching 1-1 special needs in a mainstream British classroom (ages 4-7). I also completed the first year of a 4-year applied language + TESOL degree in the UK.
Ta!
As far as I’m aware, there are no full length, properly accredited (i.e. by a reputable outside organization) teacher training courses for ESL/EFL teachers run in Taiwan. I’m a teacher trainer for both Cambridge and Trinity, neither of which run teacher training courses here.
A one week course might be useful - so long as it includes actual observed classroom practice - but is unlikely to be good for anything other than teaching in the organization where you took the course.
If there are no full length, properly accredited courses for it, how does one get certified? I would really prefer to actually BE a good teacher and not just have a piece of paper that says I am one.
Are there any good online courses?
A bone?
Getting certified before coming to Taiwan is the best option - 4 to 5 week courses in the UK, US, Australia etc. include teaching practice and observation of experienced teachers. The nearest to Taiwan used to be Hong Kong. If HK is no longer running them, then it’s Bangkok.
Online courses are usually dodgy, being that they are unable to provide observed teaching practice, which is the most worthy thing about any course.
Sorry to be so negative, if anybody knows different please post.
A Public Service Announcement from ImaniOU:
[color=red]
Do not, under any circumstances, do the CIE program…even using three or four $1000 bills to light a single cigarette and repeating until the entire pack was finished would be a better use of your money.
[/color]
This marks the end of the PSA. Thank you.
Can you clarify what that is and why it blows like a Bangkok whore?
Well, that’s a bummer. My flight leaves in three weeks 
I’ve racked up enough hours now to feel comfortable about going into any early years environment but I don’t have any specific experience teaching ESL in a formal setting. Therefore, I’m hoping to find a good combo of a) respectable certification and b) a few hours classroom ESL observation/experience. As I don’t have a degree the former is vital to make sure I keep up the classroom experience and don’t waste a years’ daytimes.
Any idea how much the Thai 4/5 week courses would set me back including accomodation, living etc? I have to do a visa run in December so perhaps I can use that opportunity to take a month out in Thailand.
[quote=“Hartley”]As far as I’m aware, there are no full length, properly accredited (i.e. by a reputable outside organization) teacher training courses for ESL/EFL teachers run in Taiwan. I’m a teacher trainer for both Cambridge and Trinity, neither of which run teacher training courses here.
A one week course might be useful - so long as it includes actual observed classroom practice - but is unlikely to be good for anything other than teaching in the organization where you took the course.[/quote]
Anything good, bad or ugly to say about this lot? teflintl.com/thailand_phuket.htm
Or these? Half the price but are they half as good? tefl1.com/payment/index.php - their website is certainly half as working.
Seems to be offering something credible and realistic… and taking the
I don’t know either personally. The first one has better references, but they both seem to offer similar content. I imagine both would be good for improving confidence, skill etc. in teaching ADULTS and useful for getting work in atiwan. However, any international organizations (International House, Inlingua, British Council etc. Would not accept either of those certificates as your basic qualification as they are not accredited by Trinity or Cambridge. Like I said though, for just working in Taiwan I think they’d do you fine.
Hope that helps. I work at British Council in Taipei, we offer free workshops from time to time in teaching young learners and adults, let me know if you’re interested.
I think your best bet would be to go for the Cambridge CELTA or the Trinity Cert. TESOL. As far as I know they are the only two qualifications that are really internationally recognised in any meaningful sense. For the Cambridge CELTA in Thailand, check out;
eliteinstitute.com/CELTA/
and
eccthai.com/
I had a quick look at the two links you provided. Neither of those places seems to offer the Cambridge or Trinity qualifications. The first organisation is accredited by itself only and I am skeptical of their claims (and surprised by their punctuation!)
“We are considered by many industry experts to be the front-runner in various TEFL Course development. From our flexible, affordable and internationally recognized PELT Certificate to our world famous, internationally recognized TESOL Certificate, We have the English teaching programs required to open doors for you to Teach English Abroad through this certificate and obtain a Teach English as Foreign Language Job.”
The second place is accredited through the Chichester College, which is a Further Education college in the UK. All seems to be above board but I doubt they have the experience that is behind the Cambridge and Trinity courses, and they certainly don’t have the international recognition.
Thanks for the advice.
Hmm, what about the 40 hour TESOL course offered by the Elite Institute? What’s the difference between that and the CELTA? I would like to get back in a classroom ASAP because I think the only valuable experience comes from actually teaching.
[quote=“joesax”]I think your best bet would be to go for the Cambridge CELTA or the Trinity Cert. TESOL. As far as I know they are the only two qualifications that are really internationally recognised in any meaningful sense. For the Cambridge CELTA in Thailand, check out;
eliteinstitute.com/CELTA/
and
eccthai.com/
I had a quick look at the two links you provided. Neither of those places seems to offer the Cambridge or Trinity qualifications. The first organisation is accredited by itself only and I am skeptical of their claims (and surprised by their punctuation!)
“We are considered by many industry experts to be the front-runner in various TEFL Course development. From our flexible, affordable and internationally recognized PELT Certificate to our world famous, internationally recognized TESOL Certificate, We have the English teaching programs required to open doors for you to Teach English Abroad through this certificate and obtain a Teach English as Foreign Language Job.”
The second place is accredited through the Chichester College, which is a Further Education college in the UK. All seems to be above board but I doubt they have the experience that is behind the Cambridge and Trinity courses, and they certainly don’t have the international recognition.[/quote]
[quote=“llary”]Hmm, what about the 40 hour TESOL course offered by the Elite Institute? What’s the difference between that and the CELTA?[/quote]The CELTA aims to give a broad introduction to a range of theories and practices. The teaching practice and graded observations are very useful, but so are the modules on phonology, grammar, assessing individual students’ language needs etc. It is very intense and its benefits can continue to feed into your teaching for a long time.
The 40 hour course is of course much shorter and seems to be a practical “get-you-started” type thing. Nothing wrong with that, but the CELTA if you have time to do it would give you a lot more. (Plus of course you have the international recognition.)
[quote=“llary”]I would like to get back in a classroom ASAP because I think the only valuable experience comes from actually teaching.[/quote]I think it’s best if you can mix some theoretical knowledge into that. As learning a language is a very different thing from say learning about geography, some understanding of how the brain acquires languages can be very useful. The theory and the practical experience can complement each other.
I’m confident that my classroom experience and references will see me into the sort of schools I’d be looking to work in. My main concern is having a qualification recognised by the Taiwan government when it comes to applying for work permits. One of MOE’s sites on the updated regulations seem to specify (something or other… see my other post) plus TESOL/TEFL. As long as it’s a real course with real contact hours and says ‘Hello, I am a TESOL certificate’ will it do the business in this respect?
Also, I’d like to get SOME benefit out of the course rather than just coughing up $X and 2 weeks to get a piece of paper… I already have a foundation in teaching methodologies, phonology etc. from the first year of a TESOL degree, so I’d hope to get at least a kick up the backside from training that would force me to examine how I teach.
[quote=“joesax”][quote=“llary”]Hmm, what about the 40 hour TESOL course offered by the Elite Institute? What’s the difference between that and the CELTA?[/quote]The CELTA aims to give a broad introduction to a range of theories and practices. The teaching practice and graded observations are very useful, but so are the modules on phonology, grammar, assessing individual students’ language needs etc. It is very intense and its benefits can continue to feed into your teaching for a long time.
The 40 hour course is of course much shorter and seems to be a practical “get-you-started” type thing. Nothing wrong with that, but the CELTA if you have time to do it would give you a lot more. (Plus of course you have the international recognition.)