UNI-Prep review, submitted by L C.

Seeing as though I didn’t want to build on my student loan debt, I chose to study an online course and my internet search led me to choose UNI-Prep’s 120-hour TESOL certification course.

The pros of this course:

I took full advantage of the use of my tutor and she was very prompt in responding to my questions.

I appreciated the PDF formatting of the units as I was able to work offline as well as online.

The course price was reasonably priced compared with some other programs.

The audio-video components in the units integrated well with the reading tasks and contributed to a user-friendly study experience.

I could study at my own pace.

The cons of this course:

It was meant to take 120 hours but I completed it after a week with just a few hours of study per day.

The course includes a quiz which seemed a little pointless to me as the correct answers were not shown when you got a question wrong.

The sound quality on some of the videos wasn’t the best.

Their job guidance is a very deflating experience. I asked for this and was directed to a third-party job site.

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ITTT review, submitted by L.T.

Money was tight and there were no onsite TEFL or TESOL certification classes available in the local area so my choice was limited to online TEFL/TESOL certification. I chose the ITTT 120-Hour TEFL online course because they advertised Technical Support and Job Guidance. Mixed emotions really. Overall, I felt the course was good and the detailed review of grammar was helpful. I was disappointed there were no video or interactive tutorials, but I see now that these are only offered together with the 220-Hour Master Package. I was also really impressed with the phonetics section in which the phonic chart was introduced and I refer back to this up until this day for use in my classes. The “Lifetime Job Support” was pretty meh and I found myself not needing it as soon as my foot was in the door of my first paid teaching job. They will help you take the first steps to find a teaching English abroad job, but it’s little more than a list of schools and I was expecting more. Not sure if they’ll keep doing this for the rest of your life and not sure if you’ll really need it either when you are 90. Their certificate does look great: embossed and shiny. So overall, I’d say the course was pretty good but the price of the course – including the time extension – really added up and made for an overall expensive program. I can’t really say I would recommend ITTT, but I’m sure you can do much worse.

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ICAL TEFL review, submitted by James.

With ICAL TEFL, I was able to afford to work at my own pace and oh boy was this convenient! I think I had something like literally forever to get everything in and I just managed it with a couple of days to spare just shy of 6 months. The nice sweet staff at ICAL TEFL did tell me that some people take years to polish off the course so I didn’t feel so bad that I took half a year to complete a 150 hours program. To be quite honest I wasn’t expecting anything else from ICAL TEFL once I’d sorted everything out and received the certificate, so I was very pleasantly surprised when I was told to contact them when I needed job guidance. I’m just so excited about teaching English overseas and I think I’ll wanna teach in Thailand when I’m ready to take the leap. Bangkok or Chang May look promising. Now I know it’s possible and it’s all thanks to ICAL TEFL. Sweet! Five stars!

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5 online TEFL course essential features.

Choosing your online TEFL course can seem overwhelming in light of the many courses offered in this growing market. Here are 5 features that take courses from zero to hero.

Reviews.

A course must have trusted reviews that are not simply published on a blog or website owned by an enthusiastic graduate, and written by a said graduate. No matter how satisfied you were with your course, it is regular behavior to perhaps leave a review of your online TEFL course experience online. But, it is highly odd behavior to pay money for a domain and to start a website, singing the praises of a particular program. The internet is awash with fake, glowing testimonials of such and such a TEFL program and you should learn to differentiate between the planted reviews and the authentic ones. A growing trend that we have noticed is the business of affiliate reviews. These tend to demonstrate themselves in the form of course graduates working hard to bring in new course students while earning a commission for themselves, and totally undermines the practice of fair feedback on the web. So if you feel drawn towards a particular course because of its wonderful student feedback, we advise checking that their reviews haven’t been written by overzealous graduates, who might have taken the time and energy to start a school review website and who might request that you mention a certain code when applying for the course. In these cases, you are being sold a course through a graduate who might not have had such a wonderful course experience as they write, but who instead simply wants a cut of your course fee. See our How not to fall victim to a TEFL scam for more information on this.

Tutor support.

Picture yourself setting out on a month-long trek, in a part of the world that you haven’t explored before and no little about. You have all your equipment at the ready, but you are unsure of which routes to take that will enhance your overall experience. Logically, in this scenario, you would ideally want to have a local guide with you. The role of an online tutor is similar: he or she will help you through the course and be at the ready when you have any questions, and their feedback and advice will be invaluable in ensuring that you get the most out of your online learner experience. It is paramount to check which type of online tutor support you will be receiving. Some schools offer the whole shebang – meaning a dedicated person who will personally respond to your questions in real-time. While some may advertise this service, in reality, you will be directed to a list of FAQs when you find yourself requiring assistance.

Business English and teaching young and very young learner modules.

Online TEFL courses tend to be divided into modules and most course providers generally include the same modules in their offers. These typically cover essential grammar, teaching techniques, classroom management, etc. While these subjects do make for essential inclusion within a course, it is also important to gain some knowledge with regard to the types of students which you can expect to be teaching once you have graduated and find yourself in the first lesson of your new teaching classroom. Even if you have no desire of teaching teenagers/children, or business English, you never know when you might need these additional skills and you should view these modules as backup options, should you find yourself doing a 180. Plus, these modules are often noted on your course certificate and can further your English teaching job abroad application.

Your course certificate is in hard copy and e-format.

Whilst most language schools will accept an electronic version of your online TEFL course certificate as part of the application process, it is also recommended that your course provider also issue a hard copy, through the post, that you can keep as a backup should a language school insist on receiving this version. Besides, you have paid good money for a certification course so you should expect a good quality certificate upon course completion. Check with the course provider if they offer a time guarantee in when you will receive your (posted) certificate. Ideally, you want to be receiving both your hard copy and e-form certificate within a couple of weeks of submitting your final course module. Once again, some course providers tend to go a bit limp on their service once the course sign-up process is complete and when they won’t be receiving any more money from you. Check the reviews on Trusted TEFL Reviews to see if there are any red flags raised in regard to this. Also, check that receiving your certificate doesn’t incur additional fees. You shouldn’t have to pay to receive your certificate.

Job guidance and after-course support.

It is also essential that your online TEFL course includes constructive help in finding a teaching job and ongoing support after course graduation. Again, these are both advertised by most course providers, but in reality, they come in different forms. Regarding job guidance, you need to make certain during the course application process – before handing over any money – that the support provided doesn’t simply consist of them sending you a list of schools after course completion. Anyone can find a list of schools by quickly checking names and places on the internet. What you should be striving for is a school that does more – such as helping you choose which country to teach in, assisting with your teaching English overseas CV, providing tips on interview techniques, writing a reference for you, etc. And this support shouldn’t end here. A year or two down the road, you might decide to teach in another location and here the advice of the school will again be indispensable. And what if you find yourself coming up against a brick wall with either your language school or the country visa process? Once more, you would require professional feedback from your online course provider.

In conclusion, don’t just take what is written on a school’s website as necessarily representative of what the school actually offers, because the service you are expecting, in your mind, might not correlate with what is actually provided. Online TEFL school owners will dance through hoops to get you to sign up to one of their courses. You need to make sure that they will dance through the same hoops once you have completed your course and when it isn’t necessarily in their financial or time interests to maintain excellent service.

Written by Mia Williams for Trusted TEFL Reviews (TTR) | Best Featured TEFL Articles

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ITTT review, submitted by Xander.

Definitely a course well worth the investment and I cannot wait to get started teaching English overseas!

As a non-native speaker, I needed to be convinced that this course was right for me and as soon as I started, I realized that it was and that I can realize my dream to teach English in China.

I ended up choosing their 220-hour, Master Package which came with tutor support and video access as part of the course curriculum.

Looking back on my decision, I realize now that I could have opted for one of their more affordable courses (their 60-hour course would have covered me) as I have since read that it doesn’t really matter which course you take, or how many hours it covers. Still, the 220-hour mention on my embossed certificate looks very professional and I hope it will further my application when I begin the language school application process.

I do feel comfortable knowing that ITTT offers lifetime job guidance and I’ll see how that service stacks up in a time when I require its use.

On a side note, the course units were well-organized and covered all the basics which included phonetics (something which I did at first find difficult to fathom)

All in all, a worth it course and I’m awarding it 4 stars.

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