Free TEFL certificate from Teacher Record - is it any good? 

EXACTLY .. I think the free TEFL is better than none / and I think even in Algeria the TEFLERS acadamy in Algies still sells that course online for 230Dollars

I don't know... I'd still say that's like saying a doctor whose only qualification is having watched medical dramas is better than no doctor. I believe it was Nelson Mandela who said "If you think education is expensive, try no education". But I'm sure in Algeria many teachers have actually been on some kind of pedagogy degree, so it's not a real comparison.

That is incredibly poor if they are selling a free course for money.

Exactly, I couldn't really fault the information that the course gives out. It's the fact that it doesn't require people to actually study the material and then gives them a certificate they can use to pretend they learnt something. And if someone who wants to be an educator is ok with that as a model of learning... that's deeply worrying and you can see why they didn't take a course with more weight behind it.

I'm from the Philippines and I agree with you. That's why I got angry with someone offering me a TEFL certificate here in the Philippines and he said I would pay a very cheap amount for it in exchange for the answered TEFL questions. That is cheating and I don't tolerate people who do that.

Well, it depends on the motive for enrolling in the course. I also partook in it and I did learn lots of stuff that presently help me in my delivery as an ESL teacher. However, I have the intention of going further for either CELTA or a level 5 TEFL in the future.

But why is it for free? Is it even legit? I am just curious, I have some trust issues when it comes to stuff like this. I am planning to apply as an online ESL tutor, and this certificate would be helpful for me.

I'm not sure if you watched the video in its entirety, but I didn't say that everything was bad about it. I felt in fact that I was quite balanced. If you still want to do the course afterwards, that is up to. All I can offer is the professional opinion of someone who has been teaching English for 10 years, in academic management for 6 years and teacher training for the last 4 years. Yes, there are some schools who are willing to accept it, largely it seems by online companies based out of China who offer Philippino teachers $2 an hour on facebook. If you are such a teacher and that wage is acceptable to you, then fair enough. If you want to have a better paid career and aren't afraid to put in a bit of hard work, then I'd say there are many better options.

@@AlexWallsELT yes, I watched the video in its entirety, I actually thought you finished checking the page, and that you were 100% certain that the course had 0 value. I threw in my comment too soon.

I realise that not everyone can afford a CELTA, but definitely worth investing in it when you can afford it.

Thanks

I can't really tell any individual whether this or another course is right for you. I don't know enough about you or what you envision doing. If you want to be taken seriously as a teacher, I can tell you this won't even get you close to being taken seriously. It's about as good as making your own TEFL certificate in word, only at least then you've shown some creative flair. I don't believe any course that is just reading and multiple choice quizzes is going to help you do anything practical - which teaching is. Maybe there is a place for unqualified workers within teaching English... conversation partners, tutors, etc. Maybe that is a route to dipping your toes into the water and eventually doing a decent qualification and becoming a fully-fledged teacher. I'm much more interested in the professional side of teaching English, and raising standards rather than lowering them.

Hello Tha'ir. If you're trying to improve your English level then TEFL, TESOL, CELTA and Delta are all completely inappropriate choices as these are about teaching. If you need a certificate to prove you are C1, then you could consider Cambridge Advanced (CAE) or IELTS, but any course to prepare you for the exam will focus on exam skills rather than developing your English. If you need to raise your language level, Id recommend doing general English courses until you get to the right level.

@@AlexWallsELT thank you for your reply..one more question, when it comes to teaching certificate, which one of these you mentioned above is suitable for me as a teacher of English from Iraq and may want to teach abroad some day ???

Glad you found it useful. And yes, certainly I have met people who teaching probably wasn't the best choice for. I think many hiring managers do find personality to be more important than qualifications.

Hi Kirsten. If you want to emigrate to the UK and teach ESL, you're almost certainly going to need a CELTA. Schools in the UK tend to be accredited by the British Council and they require teachers to have a degree and a CELTA (or equivalent) at minimum. The Trinity CertTESOL is an acceptable alternative if you can't find a CELTA nearby, but check this website www.teflsouthafrica.com/

I'd agree that PPP is actually not very good. It's place is definitely in teaching beginners that don't really know anything yet, but it's so rare that we teach beginners English (in other languages, it is not rare at all). ECRIF to me looks like what we often call a text-based lesson, which is generally half a reading or listening then into PPP. I guess the focus of it is to move away from teachers presenting de-contextualised language as a starting point, but then once context is established, it moves through those same steps. To be honest there are so many of these acronyms for lesson frameworks - PPP, TTT, TBL, ESA, ARC, ECRIF, OHE, etc. that I'm not surprised that any course doesn't mention all of them. Student-centredness doesn't magically just come from the framework though. All 5 stages of ECRIF could be done in a student or teacher-centred way, the same as PPP. If you want a framework that does tend to promote student-centredness, I'd point towards TBL and TTT, but again... these are only student-centred if the teacher actually understands this concept in the first place. So many teachers don't that you've convinced me... that needs to be the topic of a future video!

The only certificates I recommend are the Trinity CertTESOL and Cambridge CELTA. Both are 120 hours. You might want to look at my other videos on why CELTA is the gold standard of TEFL certificates.

@@AlexWallsELT Okay! I'll do it. Thanks!

Well, I maintain my stance - it's alright as a refresher perhaps, or if you're doing a position where you can't afford a reputable qualification.

yes it's just an earning tactics better to earn a degree in applied linguistics and stay away from these country based scams .

And to add to this in respect to your final comments... This is an issue with the majority of online TEFL courses sadly. It took me a full year of university-led training and real supported / assessed classroom practice, and that just can't be replicated in an online environment with just a 120 hour course. These certificates instead target "gap year teachers" who perhaps aren't ready yet to commit the tuition fees and time for a full in-person, professional course, or also online teachers. I think it's *ok* as preparation for perhaps an assistant teaching job or one of those online schools who provide all the lesson slides and their own training program for new teachers, but I'd be really wary of those companies who claim a self-paced online course will prepare you for a full time classroom teaching job.

I don't know about your point regarding getting it apostilled. Not all countries require you to do this. I've never had my CELTA apostilled for example and I've worked in 4 different countries, but probably for S. Korea or Japan you would have some extra hurdles. For online jobs, which I sense most of the people doing it are using it for, probably not going to need an apostille. Agreed on the rest though - although, as I say in the video, I started to read the content and couldn't really find too much wrong with it. Obviously it's the usual simplifications for an entry level certificate. If someone has done a CELTA, and wants to do Delta, it might serve as a useful reminder I guess.

@@KatiePrescott My big issue is the schools that hire these kinds of teachers and hold them out as experts... better than non-natives they claim in many cases. I'd have no issue if this certificate was being used by volunteer teachers or some kind of trainee role where the students knew this was the case. If a student is paying a significant chunk of their salary on English lessons though, they should be getting a professional, and this course isn't even going to take someone close to that label.

@@AlexWallsELT ah, yeah the apostle thing can be really important for some countries, e.g. for a work visa for China you need your documents and TEFL certificate apostled. It becomes a nightmare if your certificate was issued by an overseas company. I didn't need anything apostled for my job in Japan, but I had a friend who taught in Vietnam and needed to do it. Yeah, I agree - but then, many of these TEFL companies are actively promoting and encouraging their graduates to pursue in person, full time teaching jobs. I don't think many trainees are aware, at least upon signing up, that a simple online course cannot prepare them for becoming a classroom teacher. And sadly many schools (I particularly noticed this in China, which has a bit of a reputation as somewhere easy to go for your first TEFL job even with zero experience) are more worried about getting bums on seats than they are about actual teaching quality 😔

Lol It gets apostilled in USA

It is possible to take a CELTA online, or to travel to a nearby country and do it there.

@@AlexWallsELT didn't know about CELTA online, thanks! Anyway just for me to know, is it possible to become an English teacher with no international certificates?

Well yes, you can. The problem is that you've got to convince someone to hire you. That's not so easy if you don't have a recognised qualification. People do get jobs without certificates but it does tend to be easier for native speakers to do this (and I'm not saying that is ok, just that it is the way of things). This is a centre in Uzbekistan (examscambridge.uz/) where I had a teacher on an online course who was based in Moscow. I could also recommend elteach.co.uk/, but they are based in the UK, and I'm not sure you'd be able to pay them with the current sanctions. But you'd probably be able to pay a centre in Uzbekistan or one of the other CIS countries and do a CELTA online.

Still not really the profile of a teacher that most schools will want. A degree is often needed just for visa purposes. BAs and MAs don't usually require you to do any teaching. And ive said the issues with this certificate in my review. Even if someone does really read it closely, reading about teaching is not as effective as actually doing it and having someone experienced telling you how to improve. Experience alone doesn't cut it... ive met many teachers with 10-40 years experience, who have really just got one year of experience repeated 10 to 40 times.

@@AlexWallsELT well you know better, and i totally agree with the fact that a lot of experiences a repeated ones and sometimes ppl do it because that's what they can do , but let's embrace the fact that teaching and being a teacher means creativity in every aspect whether it is with training or without one , and one thing that you should rethink about is the part related to MA degree because some degrees really give u the chance to teach classes as a practice for example in my case applied linguistics, we do teaching sessions every week, we are the ones delivering courses and the main teacher is only there to assist us and give feedback when needed or fill the gaps (sometimes)

Im not saying all masters are not worth it, but if you try to get a job with it, the onus is on you to show that you had actual teaching practice on the course with real students and assessed by qualified teachers. MAs are not created equally and on many MAs you will not do any teaching at all. CELTA and Delta and their equivalents all include real teaching practice. If I needed a linguist, Id hire someone with an MA, but for teaching, I need a teacher, and someone who has done CELTA or Delta or equivalent is not only likely to be better equipped, they're also likely to have a lower salary expectation because they don't need to repay the costs of a masters. But Im sure if you have a masters you'll find somewhere to hire you. If you just have this free certificate from teacher record, you'll probably find someone, but Id bet they have a high staff turnover.

@@AlexWallsELT exactly so , I totally agree At the end of the day , we get what we paid for xd Thank you for the video 😊 Really appreciate it

Well the fact you have a masters is the most important part. I would say this certificate is designed to help people in certain developing countries get a $2 an hour online teaching job to Chinese kids. Any other context, it's not going to get you a job. You want to show you're serious, get a CELTA.

Hi Ecka, well I did it about 10 years ago so to be honest I'm not entirely sure. In the region of £1500 would be about right though.

I might get around to making a video on it. I did write about it - alexwallselt.com/2019/08/04/tefl-certificates-and-qualifications/. Long story short, CELTA is better recognised, but quite frankly if a school doesn't know what Cert TESOL is, they don't know what they're doing and aren't worth working for, imho.

@@AlexWallsELT Thank you so much for your time

No problem, hope it helped.

No problem. Hope it helped!

I don't know the recruitment policies in Morocco, but I would suggest probably not. If you want to work in a private language school, your best bet is a CELTA. In mainstream education you probably need a teaching qualification backed by the ministry of education in your country. The second question is harder because how do you want to advance your English? In speaking? Writing? Listening? Reading? The in use books I believe you're talking about will give you more linguistic knowledge, but may not help you to actually use language any better. Generally people struggle with fluency and the best way to improve that is speak regularly with other people. I'd suggest finding language partners, and maybe even forming a group to meet regularly and practice.

@@AlexWallsELT Thanks a lot sir. But I can't afford the CELTA it's too expensive in my country. but here is what I am planning to do: 1. Get the TEFL from teacher record. 2. Get another free TEOSL certificate. 3. If I got the money I could get IELTS exam. that's it, and about improving my language, here is what I am gonna do: 1. in use books from elementary to advanced. 2. reading a lot of books and novels. 3. listening to podcasts and watch movies. 4. Cambridge for IELTS. that's it. what do you think of my plan. and so sorry sir for bothering you.

@@entertainmentandknowledge8429 Well, I've already given you my advice. Yes the CELTA is more expensive than other TEFL qualifications. However, there are good reasons for it and also compared to entering other professions it is not that expensive. A CELTA will actually help you teach better - doing free certificates is unlikely to have the same impact. But sure, you have to do what you can afford, but I wouldn't hire someone with a couple of free certificates. Sure you have the BA too, but that doesn't seem to cover how to teach which is ultimately what I want from teachers - you can know a lot about language and even teaching methodology, but if you can't keep a class of students happy by providing an engaging and educating course for students, I'm not interested. Keeping those students coming back pays our salaries. As for improving your English, I still don't know what exactly you want to improve. Will you get better at English doing those things, sure... Will you get the results you want? Couldn't possibly say.

@@AlexWallsELT Thanks a lot sir, you helped me a lot. Thank you so much.

Well, tanix there are two questions here: 1. Which certificate will help me to get a job? 2. Which certificate will help me to do the job? Then there are the three countries you've chosen: 1. Japan and South Korea - they are very similar in terms of the EFL set up and what they look for. 2. Singapore - this is actually one of the most difficult locations to find work in EFL. So, will a free certificate help you to get a job in South Korea or Japan... maybe. Will it help you to actually do the job... doubtful (especially on its own). Will it make you in demand in those countries... well definitely not. I also don't know where you're from and your passport could be the bigger stumbling block. Will it help you get a job in Singapore... I'm absolutely convinced that it will not. Whether it will help you the do the job is the same answer. The only two TEFL certificates I recommend are the Cambridge CELTA and Trinity CertTESOL. They may not be enough for Singapore (you might need a masters' degree too), but they should definitely and be enough for Korea and Japan and are in fact likely to get you a slightly higher salary (in some schools) and certainly make you a more attractive candidate. You might be able to scrape by on some lesser certificate - many do - but if I don't understand why you wouldn't want to make yourself attractive to employers and make your life easier by knowing how to do the job!

@@AlexWallsELT sir, Thank you for your fast reply. But I am from Bangladesh,(a developing country where teachers are less paid). For a person like me getting a job in those countries is like a dream come true. I have already searched those 2 TEFL courses. It will cost me a lot. But every job posted online requires TESOL after a bachelor certificate. Even if these free certificates do not gonna work, will a cheap certificate under the 150-300$ range, make me a minimal candidate for a job post?

Well Im sorry to say, but the problem isn't going to be the tefl certification but the passport. Even if a school wanted to hire you in Korea or Japan, they probably wouldn't be able to because of the visa requirements. Really what you need to do is firstly find a country that can employ you and then look at what the requirements are.

Sir, I don't know what is problem in passport but Relationship between Bangladesh and japan is pretty well. Many student are also getting student visa. ssw/researcher/teacher visa all provided from Japan embassy in Bangladesh.

@@user-yq3uh5eu4i Well then you probably already know more than I do about the requirements to teach in Japan. No idea what a SSW is. The issue isn't geo-political relations, it's whether the country will hire a non-native as a foreign English teacher, because why should they hire a non-native from abroad when they could equally well hire a Japanese English teacher? What do you add to the role? It's less risky to hire a local and they have the benefit that they know Japanese. And so the government of Japan may have decided that only native speakers from particular countries can get a visa to teach English. If you know differently, great. I don't claim to have any special knowledge of the visa regime in any country. Assuming you're right though, you're going to increase your chances of getting a job by having better qualifications or aiming for lower tier cities. A lot of people would like to teach in Tokyo, but fewer teachers will pick the smaller lesser-known cities, although potentially those are where you might have the most interesting cultural experience (having a CELTA and being willing to teach in some one-horse town may be what sets you apart from other candidates, including locals). It also may be possible to go in on a student visa but then stay and teach or to go in as some other kind of teacher though in actuality be an English teacher. This kind of stuff happens although I've never done it myself and wouldn't want to. I've always been 100% legal in terms of my visa status (to the best of my knowledge at least) and that might be native privilege, but if you're going to have a questionable visa status you need to know that fines, imprisonment and deportation are all possibilities.

If you want the most doors open to you, get a Cambridge CELTA or Trinity CertTESOL.

I doubt you'd get an IELTS examiner position off the back of this. I believe they say a recognised TEFL/TESOL qualification.

I was 27 when I did CELTA and 33 when I did my DELTA. I don't think you're ever to old to do an additional qualification. I know one teacher who did CELTA in his 60s. As long as you listen to your tutors, the CELTA is not that difficult to pass. The people who have most trouble tend to be "experienced" teachers as they often have difficulty shaking their "bad" teaching habits.

I assume that you mean you have a degree, but not in English or education? Absolutely. Most English teachers don't have degrees in a related field. Personally, mine's in law.

The only ones I recommend are CELTA and Trinity CertTESOL. I believe IELTS will accept other certifications too in some places, but you'd have the best chance with these two. If you just google CELTA online, you're bound to find somewhere that you can do it.

@@AlexWallsELT are these paid site for buying or not

They are courses that you have to pay for and then do the work in order to pass them. If you are looking for a free course, or a course that you can just pay for and get a certification, then I'm afraid that's not how this works.

@@AlexWallsELT thnx for your kind information

Thanks for the comment

No, I don't. The only courses I recommend are the CELTA and Trinity CertTESOL. Those are the only two courses that are going to prepare you to do a half decent job and the only courses that are going to increase your chances of getting hired if you're not a native speaker.

​@@AlexWallsELT okay but are these courses free?

@@theopillay8281 As I said above, no... I don't recommend free courses. The two courses above are the courses I recommend. Therefore, they are not free.

Some countries may accept it. I would not recommend it. If you want to be taken seriously and have a long career in teaching English, only the CELTA or CertTESOL are worth it.

@@AlexWallsELT thanks for your response I am specifically looking to teach English in China. Will teachers record TEFL certificate considered as valid ? Please suggest

@@bhavanar7783 I don't know to be honest.

@@AlexWallsELT ok no problem thanks

Depends what you mean by "legit"

I don't get your point. Cambridge do not offer this certificate. They offer the CELTA, which is a completely different course.

Depends what you mean by valid. I mean that (1) schools shouldn't accept it as a qualification and (2) neither should any teacher who wants to be taken seriously.

I can't see any reason why it wouldn't be. I just don't see why you'd want to. As someone else said here, you may need to get it done by a Chinese lawyer or notary since that is where the certificate is issued. Quite frankly, even as someone who used to work in law, I don't know enough to say if that is true or not. And I've never had to have a qualification notarised and legalised... only a criminal background check for S Korea (although I ended up not going there).

Well, this course and other free or low-cost TEFL certificates I agree are a waste of time. They are short cuts to having any idea what you're doing. A degree in linguistics however is also not the right tool for the job. Degrees don't require you to demonstrate any ability to teach at all. The CELTA and Cert TESOL are therefore the best courses out there because they do require prospective teachers to actually teach lessons and they are assessed on their ability to do this. Ideally they might have a bit more linguistic content, but still they give teachers at least something resembling a clue about what to do in the classroom.

You're putting a lot of weight on a native speaker knowing how to teach English. Sorry, but being a native speaker is not a valid qualification for knowing how to teach English. It's almost the equivalent of having a body being a valid qualification to be a doctor! Yes, I'm a native speaker... I don't hold up my passport as a qualification to teach English (although I'd admit to doing that in the early days of my career). That said, I'm sure whoever created this course actually probably does have a CELTA or similar. The information, as I mention, does not look grossly wrong but very similar to what is taught on a CELTA. The big difference is that on a CELTA trainee teachers have a chance to put the learning into practice and get feedback on their efforts to do so. If you don't need a recognised qualification then fill your boots. But don't be surprised when you apply for a job and the employer, seeing this on your CV, won't accept it as a qualification. And sure, everyone has the right to make any course they like, and everyone else (including me) has the right to look at that course and say here are the problems with it and why something else is a better option, if that is our opinion.

Hi Aslam, I'm not going to make an in-depth video on any paid certification at the moment since my channel doesn't currently make money. If I got to a point that I could monetise, I would consider doing this. That said, they do have a lot of information on their website, so I might make one based on that. In short though you probably know my advice - get a CELTA or Trinity Cert if you want to be taken seriously as a teacher.

Glad you found it interesting!

No problem. As I say, the information may be useful, but not a course to rely on to get a job in this field. I'd advise anyone to look at the Cambridge CELTA or Trinity CertTESOL instead.

@@AlexWallsELT are you affiliated with these? you get money to promote these?

@@infjstardust4357 I am a CELTA trainer. I don't get paid anything to promote any courses.

Difference is... I got qualifications while people doing this got a piece of paper with their name on that they had to print out themselves and that has no real weight.

Yes it's free, but watch the video to know why I'm not a fan.