Tales from far, far, away...

As well as advising you on your job prospects for paid employment, ISIS Tefl can provide you with a variety of contacts in the Voluntary sector, all over the world. So, in January 2012, two of our trainees - Jon and Georgie, decided to make their first step into teaching an adventurous one!

Here is a little bit about their experience in the rainforests of Ecuador (written by their School Principal):

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Week 1 -Jon and Georgie are very nice and seem to be getting on really well.  We have agreed that one will teach colegio (secondary school age children) and the other the younger years and adults.  One has already started teaching the young adults and the other  will start on Monday as he was shadowing another teacher in the school this week in order to take over.

Week 3 -Everything is fine here and the teachers are doing really well with everything. They had their first community party yesterday for the inauguration of the new classrooms.  The vice alcalde and the junta parrochial (local school council people) and some other senores (general school inspectors and other teachers) came and there was chicha (a local often alcoholic drink) for everyone (except the teachers of course!) and music and dancing etc.  It was a good opportunity for them to get to meet and know the community better ( the  indigenous Kichwa people).  The children are being so much more sociable these days and they are responding very well to teachers.  So lovely to see them playing and chatting with the new teachers rather than just staring and running away like they used to!  The little ones are becoming confident too.  Really lovely.

We are hoping to carry on with a story hour with the little ones although its was hard to get them to concentrate. We are trying to encourage the local teacher to do dance classes with them every week and the older school children too because she is great at that.

This week one of the teachers went to Pompeya (a trading market nearby ) with some community members (by canoe up river)  and the other teacher stayed behind to plan lessons look through the adult syllabuses for next week.

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So - good luck Jon and Georgie :) 

ISIS Tefl hope to hear from you soon!!

Real Career or just a Gap Year?

Many people ask if Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) is a genuine career option or just a constructive way to fill in time.

While TEFL certainly offers the possibility of interesting work overseas for those in between school and university. The days of people simply turning up in foreign countries and expecting to find paid teaching to help fund their exotic travel plans are largely a thing of the past.

There are two universally recognised possibilities which enable people to teach English in countries all over the globe. They are the Cambridge University CELTA & the Trinity College TESOL. Both are equally valid – at level 5 on the National Qualifications Framework – this means the standard of work required is at the level of a degree course. You can typically attain the certificates via 4-week intensive courses.

Once in the industry there are a plethora of specialisations and niche areas a teacher may consider pursuing to help develop their career: Teaching Teenagers and Young Learners is a huge growth area; Business English and 1:1 Teaching certainly helps pay the bills; Exam English can really develop specific skills; and Blended Learning (incorporating IT into the classroom) is a relatively recent addition to the field.

Further qualifications are available for experienced teachers at the Diploma and Masters level. These typically can open the gateway to more senior positions within educational establishments such as Director of Studies, Teacher Trainer, Lecturer or even School Principal.

The world of TEFL now seems to be ever-growing as English continues its dominance as the primary international language of communication. So now and in the future it undoubtedly remains a genuine career option.

Welcome to ISIS Tefl!

ISIS Tefl run intensive Teacher training courses lasting four weeks, our mission is simple:

1. To turn people into the English teachers of the future!
2. To support them throughout their career, wherever their journey may take them.

We have over 20 years experience designing and delivering accredited TEFL courses, so, whatever your reason for starting a career in TEFL, start it with us.

We are based in the centre of historic Greenwich, in London. We're two minutes walk from beautiful Greenwich Park, one of the largest single green spaces in south east London, the National Maritime Museum, the Royal Observatory and the Meridian line.

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The Trinity CertTESOL certificate is an initial qualification in the Teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages. It is accredited at Level 5 on the National Qualifications Framework, and respected and recognised by language schools around the world.

The course consists of several different components:

Input sessions with course tutors
These take place during the morning and will examine both theoretical and practical aspects of EFL teaching, introducing techniques that can be applied to your own lessons. There will also be slots dedicated to the study of grammar, pronunciation and other aspects of the English language.


Teaching Practice
You will complete a minimum of six hours supervised classroom teaching. Classes consist of a minimum of six people and are composed of multi-lingual students already enrolled in the school who attend on a 'Free Lesson' basis.


Observations
You will be required to observe several lessons taught at the School in order to further your ability to assess teacher performance.


Unknown Language Training
You will spend four hours learning an unknown language during the course to help you appreciate the problems faced by learners and encourage you to analyze your own reactions to the experience.


Written assignments
You will be asked to complete a series of journals relating to the components above to help you analyze and reflect upon them.


Learner Profile
You will spend several hours interviewing, teaching and analyzing the language capabilities and study style of a student on a one to one basis.