Hi, I am an Indian national currently working with Taiwanese English teachers to enhance their English skills. My contract expires in Dec and would like to continue teaching here as I love Taipei. Please advise where I can do an online TESOL certification course from and can someone tell me if this will help me get a job quicker?
Hello and welcome
Have you checked older posts in this forum? Try looking through these search results.
The best “TESOL” for Taiwan IMHO is the Trinity College one (CELTA is aimed at adults, bad for TW) because it is globally recognised anywhere where they know what they are talking about. A crucial factor in this or any decent qualification is that you have some hours of teaching practice observed by a qualified and experienced tutor, and this practice will be teaching learners at differing levels.
Online qualifications are not accepted by most decent organisations because you will have had no quality teaching practice face to face.
When doing my TESOL from Trinity it was intensive for two months and I taught people from every corner of the world, Iraqi, Thai, Columbians, Romanians, Chinese, Somalis… the list goes on. This is the difference with a proper qualification as opposed to a crappy online piece of paper that is rarely recognised.
Be warned. Get a decent qual. Good luck!
Hi,
Thanks so much. So do you know a website or address for Trinity college? I tried contacting a couple of organizations about the online courses but their replies were very impersonal. It looked like they had the replies already typed out. So I can see what you re saying about the online courses.
How long ago did you take this course?
Thanks again 
My name is Rashmi
Neither a CELTA nor a Trinity TESOL, online or otherwise, will help you much in obtaining teaching work in Taiwan. Do a search and read up on it. If you hold an Indian passport then you also need to check the Taiwan work visa regulations (passport from an English speaking country plus bachelor’s degree). I don’t want you wasting your time and money doing some online qualification which simply won’t help you.
If you still need it after you’ve done your searches then I’ve done the googling for ya:
Hey Tom,
Thank you, however I am already in Taipei and am working with the Government to help English teachers in Taipei county. I have a work permit too. So I m not sure why you said that i wouldnt be able to get a teaching considering I already have one.
I have checked online and yes they ask for a ‘native english’ country passport however I did speak to a couple of people here and they said that TESOL will make it easier for me to get another job after my contract expires.
[quote=“rushtorush”]Hey Tom,
Thank you, however I am already in Taipei and am working with the Government to help English teachers in Taipei county. I have a work permit too. So I m not sure why you said that i wouldnt be able to get a teaching considering I already have one.
I have checked online and yes they ask for a ‘native english’ country passport however I did speak to a couple of people here and they said that TESOL will make it easier for me to get another job after my contract expires.[/quote]
I’m no expert on Taiwanese visa regulations. I still advise you to run a search, though. If you can get a work visa in a private school once your government contract expires in December then good luck to you, but I don’t think it will be possible.
In my opinion a TESOL qualification of any sort won’t help you much, but I could be wrong and the people you’ve spoken to may be right. Again, run a search and see what other forumosans have said on the subject.
Do as much research as you can before December. There are a fair few guys on Forumosa who know their stuff. I’m not one of them, but I’m afraid to say that I think I’m right in this instance.
Whatever happens, good luck.
Tom.
Hey,
Research is all I have been doing for some time now.lol. If TESOL helps, I would like to get started as soon as possible but I dont know which ones are legit.
I did run a search but not much stuff about TESOL in Taipei/Taiwan.
Thanks a lot
Yes Tom is right in that for most native English speakers a TESOL is not necessary for TW, however they are very necessary in most other countries around the world. So one thing to consider is if you think you would use it outside Taiwan, if yes then it is a very good investment indeed.
By the way, Trinity College TESOL is UK based but you should be able to find many accredited courses that run all over the world, particularly in East and West Europe.
If you have no plans to teach English outside Taiwan be sure your friend knows what they are talking about or you might be wasting your time getting a TESOL purely for teaching in TW. It won’t be completely useless though, the certificate itself looks very nice with fancy gold writing on special paper that oozes quality and officialdom. If nothing else it can be used in an interview to cut yourself out from the rest of the crowd. It’s all about interpersonal skills and charisma though 
Ha! so you re saying that i dont need TESOL to teach here at all ?? Just interviews? that sounds nice
A basic degree whereby you studied for 3 or 4 years at a university is all the qualification you need in Taiwan, but having said that, since you are from India do pay close attention to what Tom said:
…just in case your situation is different from that of people from the UK, USA etc
Well I have studied at a university in India for 4 years and have a degree too… and the reason why I am researching so frantically is cuz i only have time December and need to get started on TESOL if it is required. i dont know how to go about doing this 
He also said you need interpersonal skills and charisma !
Do you qualify 
In order to teach in Taiwan:
- A TESOL qualification is NOT required for an ARC. It is of marginal use in finding a job.
- A bachelor’s degree IS required for an ARC (good - you have this).
- A passport from the UK, USA, South Africa, Canada, New Zealand or Australia IS required for an ARC (this is a problem for you).
I can only assume that for the government job you have at the moment has you down as a ‘consultant’ or somthing similar.
Rather than asking questions here about TESOL qualifications, go to the VISA forum and ask the much more important question - ‘I have an Indian passport. Can I teach English in Taiwan?’.
Ok I have been saying this over and over again … I already have an ARC and my passport is still Indian … I m not a consultant. I am a trainer already and we run a program in affiliation with the Taipei govt to train the english teachers here.
Sorry. I’ll shut up then.
Good luck in December.
What’s it say on your work permit? Are you listed on there as a “trainer?” Who supplies your work permit right now? The Ministry of Education? If it IS the ministry, then dude! You should set yourself up as a guru for would-be teachers from all these other non-recognized countries.
EXACTLY who supplies your work permit right now. EXACTLY what does it say on your ARC?
You’re not providing nearly enough information to get a clear answer.
Fact is, if you’re leaving that job and looking for work as a regular English teacher, then you’re under the auspices of the MOE, and the MOE is very clear as to which passport-holders are able to get work permits to teach English. Indian passports are not on the list.
Careful Rashmi, listen to sandman!
Maybe I should look into this as well. I just have a problem with the online thing. 
Yea I still haven’t gotten far with this and like you mentioned I am also skeptical about the online courses. Do let me know if you find anything worth knowing 