Choosing a TEFL course>

What should I consider when picking a TEFL course?

Whether you decide to take your TEFL course with us or with another organization, there are a variety of factors that you should consider before you make your decision. The below information should help you with your choice as well as exhibit some of the features that make us the right TEFL course for you.
The most important thing we offer is a our community. The Language House TEFL is not just a training center but a network of trainers and graduates (who go on to become teachers) who support, become friends and help each other. We keep in contact with our graduates years after they’ve left our school and have a tightly knit community in Prague, the greater Czech Republic, Asia and many parts all over the world. This means that you will always have help from both the staff and fellow graduates wherever you find yourself and practically whatever country you want to work in. This can be right after the course is finished or years after, it does not matter. This is our greatest advantage as a TEFL/TESOL center. Do not take our word for it though. Contact us and we’ll be happy to show you our online forums, network and community. Some other points to consider are below.

Is it also a language school?

The majority of TEFL programs only offer TEFL courses, ideally training  should be held in language schools as well. While this may not seem very important, it really is. If the course only offers TEFL training, you will only be exposed to your trainers and classmates. If the program is also a school, you get to meet a lot more people and get assistance from real teachers, not connected with the course, currently in the field. Also, the school will usually have better resources,  facilities, more classrooms and the possibility of being hired at the school upon graduation.

TLH TEFL shares its training space with two different language schools in the city. One of which is one of the largest language schools in Prague. This means that during your training you will be surrounded by experienced teachers in the field whom you can network with and make friends. We are currently the only course in the city that has this unique partnership. You can few our partner language schools at www.spusa.cz and www.presto-skola.cz.

Internationally Recognized, Externally Monitored and Accredited?

Any course you decide to take should be at least 100 hours in length and have a teaching practicum of at least 6 observed hours with real students. This is the basis on which schools consider a TEFL course to be authentic. It is also crucial for the course to be accredited and monitored by an external organization or university. Some courses in Prague are not accredited. Check to make sure if the course you are interested in taking is.

Our course is over 130 hours long with both grammar and teaching practicum components. We actually do about twice the amount of hands on, observed teaching practice than most courses do worldwide. The Language House TEFL is also member of a variety of organizations, but most importantly we are externally monitored and accredited by IATQuO. This means that at least a couple of times a year a specialist in education, without any ties to the course, comes in and rigorously inspects the curriculum and our training. There are currently only 2 other courses in the city that can claim this.

Online TEFL/Weekend TEFL?

We have never hired a teacher with an online certification or something that wasn’t recognized as being a legitimate TEFL/TESOL course, thus we would assume that most schools wouldn’t either. This is not to say that Online courses are not useful, but there is no way you can learn how to teach without practicing in the classroom. Some online courses offer a teaching component, so if online is your only option, pick one of these.

Class Size?

Small class sizes are directly linked to the quality of training you will receive. Some courses do not cap the amount of students in their classes and you might find yourself with more than 25 people in your class with one trainer. The result is packed classrooms and little individual attention from trainers.

Our class sizes do not exceed 15 students and have a trainer to trainee ratio of at least 1/3. Every single day there are multiple trainers there for you to work with and get advice from. Since we also operate in real language schools, you will also be surrounded by current EFL teachers working at the schools.

Teaching Practice?

The amount and quality of your teaching practice will be the biggest determiner of how much you improve during the course. Think of teaching as being more like a sport and less like a subject. Learning about methodology, techniques and theory is very important, but practice is how you actually improve. Many courses feel that 6 hours is enough practice to make a competent teacher.

We disagree and accordingly we offer twice this amount as well as one-to-one practice in real settings. Six to eight hours is simply not enough and often results in teachers with mediocre classroom abilities. When picking a course, the more teaching practice offered, the better. Period.

Location?

This entails where your training takes place. The school’s location is a very important consideration when making your choice. If the TEFL program is intense, you will be spending most of your time at the school attending workshops, lesson planning, working on assignments and teaching classes. It’s nice during  breaks to be able to stroll around historic parts of the city, sit in cafes or get a bite to eat at a local restaurant. Prague is beautiful, why spend most of your time on the outskirts when you could be in the middle of everything? Find out where the school is located and how far away it is from the center.

The Language House TEFL is located right in the center of the city in Prague 1. You simply can’t get a better location than what we have. Please click here for a map.

Job Assistance?

How much Employment assistance a course offers could be a very important factor in your choice when picking a school. Many programs offer some sort of job assistance, but what that actually entails can sometimes be cloudy. The best advice we can give you is really find out exactly what the course provides. This will help you make the right choice.

The Language House TEFL believes that it is our responsibility to help find you employment in the city or abroad. Our Job assistance is quite extensive and the majority of our graduates get employed within one to three weeks of finishing the course. For more information on this, please click here.

Accommodation?

Where you stay during the course is also something to consider. Some courses simply do not offer accommodation at all and others do. The best thing to know is where your housing will be and how long it takes to get to the school or the center. After that, consider how much the housing costs and try to get some sample pictures from the course provider.

Our housing is great and is located in Prague 2 and Prague 3. We have direct agreements with landlords, so we are able offer quality, furnished, shared or private housing for all of our trainees during their month with us. For more information on housing click here.

Visa Assistance?

Getting legal in Prague is important and without help you will not make it very far. The rules are changing and you need to be aware of what documents to bring and what to do during and after the course if you want to get legal work and a legal status in Prague.

The Language House TEFL is proud to say that we offer excellent and affordable visa and Zivnostensky List assistance for all of our students who want to work in Prague or the Czech Republic. During the phone interview, all applicants are briefed on what they need to bring with them and the steps that it will take to get legal. We also are completely involved in the visa process and will help you do what you need to do in order to get legal. Furthermore, we work closely with a visa service provider who exclusively gives Language House TEFL applicants discounts on all of their visa services. This is a great service that we offer and probably the most important aspect of any TEFL provider you are interested in training with.

Reputation?

Finally, how the community feels about the course is an important thing to consider. The easiest way is to check with message boards or do a search online to find out the positives or negatives written about them. If you really want to be diligent, you can write to other language schools in the area and see what they have to say about the TEFL provider.

We have a solid reputation as a TEFL center in the Czech Republic and abroad. Feel free to contact any of our past graduates or any language school in Prague for references. If language schools have experience with our graduates, they will say positive things about us. Aside from this, we are well represented on close to a dozen different review sites on the internet, with most reviewers leaving their names and contact details.