What is the TEFL certification?

If you’re reading this blog, you probably have some interest in getting qualified to teach English as a foreign language. If you are, you’re certainly searching for the right qualification!

TEFL or ‘Teaching English as a Foreign Language’ is a world-renowned qualification with global recognition. For many language schools, it’s the primary and favoured qualification for teachers to hold. So, if you want to enhance your career and get qualified to teach English, a TEFL certification is a great place to start.

There are many benefits to the TEFL certification, which include helping you to prepare to teach English language skills, improving or refreshing your grammar comprehension, and how to effectively plan lessons for learners.

With the recent explosion in interest in online learning, getting yourself TEFL qualified will help you stand out amongst the growing crowd, to schools and learners.

Is TEFL certification required to teach English?

Whilst there is no formal requirement to be TEFL certified to teach English, holding the certification shows schools and learners that you have been officially recognised as having completed the necessary training to teach English as a foreign language.

Without a TEFL certification, you may find yourself struggling to obtain positions at the best schools, especially in a market where more and more teachers of less reputable capabilities are appearing.

Regardless of whether theTEFL certification is required or not, the process of training and studying for it will give you the important skills to be the best teacher you can be to your learners.

Here at SpeakEnglishOnline, we pride ourselves on providing the highest quality lessons to our learners and the first step in this process is to ensure every one of our teachers holds the TEFL certification as the minimum prerequisite.

Get in touch with us here if you would like to teach for us.

How long does a TEFL course usually take?

There are many factors to consider when assessing how long a TEFL course typically takes. This can be affected by your pace of learning, the course you choose, and whether it is delivered online or in person.

Online courses can range from 20 to 120 hours of self-managed study. Whilst face to face courses often take around 10 to 12 weeks.

Furthermore, if you are able to study full-time, you can expect to complete the course in under a month.

When considering the TEFL certification, be sure to think about how much time you can give to studying. Be realistic and honest with yourself. With so many learning options, you can be sure to find a course that works exactly how you need it to.

What does a TEFL course include?

A TEFL course is a fantastic qualification to start your teaching journey as it covers a broad range of topics including:

- how to plan a lesson

- how to spot learning styles

- how to manage a class (individuals and groups) and much more!

It’s also common for courses to offer specialist training in a specific area of English. Some common specialisms include; teaching English to young children, teaching business English, and teaching English for exam preparation.

1. Teaching language skills

In this section, a TEFL course will cover important aspects of English language training. These include writing, reading, speaking, grammar, pronunciation and listening.

2. Planning a lesson

A very important and useful section of the course teaches you how to plan and execute a lesson.The course will also help you teach you how to adapt lessons depending on class size, abilities, private or group and online or in person.

3. Managing learners and classes

Managing a lesson, whether it’s a one-to-one or a class, can be a challenge, especially when you don’t all speak the same native language. This section of the course will teach you how to instruct learners, how to divide students into groups or pairs if required, and how to recognise when it’s time to move to the next topic.

4. Build effective learning materials

With so much access to instant resource, it’s more important than ever to be able to construct engaging and effective teaching material. A TEFL course will train you to create both text-based and online resources. Additionally, you willl earn how to plan fun and interactive activities and games using modern tools and software.