Teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) can be life changing.
It opens up a wealth of new experiences, offering the opportunity to escape the humdrum 9 to 5 and travel almost anywhere around the globe, living, working, meeting new people and learning about other cultures, and having incredible adventures.
Interested?
There are plenty of different ways you can learn how to teach English as a foreign language — so you’re sure to find the perfect course to suit you.
Here’s our complete guide to all of the TEFL courses on offer…
Which TEFL Course is Best?
Finding the TEFL course that is right for you depends largely on your personal goals.
The higher rated the course, the more likely you are to have a good choice of job options.
Can you study full time? Are you currently working full time and don’t have much time for study?
Let’s take a look at what the TEFL courses on offer include, and who they might be best for…
Online Courses
Pushed for time? Busy family / work life? Already live abroad but want to benefit from a quality course provider?
Online learning could be the solution for you.
There’s no need to travel to a physical place of learning, and you are free to fit your learning around your lifestyle needs in the comfort of your own home.
TEFL class forums ensure you have access to a network of fellow online students.
50 hour
The 50 hour TEFL course may be short, but it nevertheless covers all the important basics about TEFL, including lesson planning and preparation, delivery, how to manage your classroom, different styles of teaching and advanced TEFL methodology.
Each student taking part in this 3 month online course is assigned a personal tutor to keep them on the right track, and give the necessary support and assistance.
As part of this course you’ll also benefit from learning 3 specialisms — teaching business English, teaching English one to one, and teaching young learners — which will help improve your chances when applying for jobs.
And when it comes to searching for your dream job, you’ll have full access to exclusive TEFL job vacancies and recruiters, TEFL careers support, and help with creating your CV.
The 50 hour course is a great way to get started with TEFL — and you can always build on your qualification at a later date.
80 hour
With the 80 hour TEFL course you get all the fantastic features of the 50 hour course (learning the TEFL fundamentals, 3 additional specialist modules, access to personal tutor, forums, and career support etc.) but with an additional 30 hours of online grammar tutoring to help you make sure that you have the in depth English grammar knowledge required to be completely prepared for real life TEFL teaching.
At the end of this 4 month course you’ll receive a TEFL Org UK certificate to show your achievements.
100 hour
Adding to the excellent foundations of the 80 hour TEFL course, the 100 hour course is made up of 50 hours fundamental training with additional specialist modules and 30 hour English grammar course, plus 20 hours of online video training which demonstrates real TEFL teachers in action to show you what works and what doesn’t in the classroom, and to help you design even better lesson plans based on what you learn.
You have up to 5 months to complete the TEFL online course, and once finished you’ll receive your accredited TEFL certification.
120 hour
The most comprehensive and highly regarded of the online TEFL courses available, the 120 hours of online learning is designed to provide you with an outstanding TEFL qualification to make your CV most attractive to prospective employers.
You have up to 6 months in which to complete the course, during which time you’ll have your personal tutor on hand to help you learn all the TEFL basics with add on modules on business English, young learners and teaching English one on one, 30 hours of essential grammar knowledge, 20 hour video course, plus 20 additional hours in which you’ll learn two extra specialist TEFL skills to add to your CV: teaching over the telephone, and teaching large classes.
At the end of the course you will receive your TEFL certificate and have access to the TEFL job centre.
Classroom Courses
If you want to gain your TEFL qualification quickly and you have the time to fit a full time course into your schedule, a TEFL classroom course could be the ideal solution for you.
Classroom courses are available at over 35 locations across the UK and Ireland, and allow you to become TEFL accredited within as little as 2 days!
Here’s a good look at what you can expect from a classroom TEFL course:
20 hour Weekend
This weekend course consists of 2, 10-hour days full of hands on learning activities which help you to learn to plan, prepare and teach TEFL lessons in a fun atmosphere.
You’ll work using your TEFL course book, in which is detailed all the activities, examples and other important information from your weekend of TEFL training.
At the end of the 20 hour weekend course you will receive a TEFL Org UK certificate to show your achievements, plus a personalised reference letter from your tutor to add extra oomph to your CV.
You will also be able to take full advantage of the TEFL job centre, with access to TEFL careers advice, CV guidance, and job offers.
30 hour Weekday
A little more advanced than the 2 day 20 hour weekend TEFL course, the 3 day intensive classroom course involves all the same quality learning resources and activities, but covers subjects such as lesson planning, lesson preparation, and teaching techniques in more depth.
As with the two day course, you will receive a reference course book packed with teaching techniques, class activities and more, as well as a letter of reference from your personal TEFL tutor and your TEFL certificate.
Weekday classroom courses run from Monday to Wednesday at selected major city locations across the UK and Ireland.
Combined Courses
Want the best of both worlds?
With a combined course you benefit from both online and classroom training to fully prepare you to live and work overseas in up to 50 locations around the world.
Shorter than fully online TEFL courses, yet just as in depth, combined courses require less time commitment and flexible study hours.
50 hour
The quickest combined course that will get you your certified TEFL qualification, the 50 hour course blends an activity based 20 hour weekend foundation course with a 30 hour (up to 1 month duration) online grammar course.
This combinations sets you up with a good knowledge of TEFL teaching basics, including how to plan lessons and practical teaching skills, as well as making sure that your English grammar is up to date with all the necessary knowledge of syntax, verbs and other terminology to give you the confidence you need to teach students with ease.
On completion of the 50 hour course you will receive your certificate, a handy TEFL course book, access to the online TEFL job centre, and a letter of reference from your TEFL personal tutor.
60 hour
The same combination of classroom training and online study are combined in the 60 hour TEFL program.
30 hours of classroom of activity based training takes place over three days from Monday to Wednesday, giving in depth insight into the fundamentals of TEFL teaching.
As with the 50 hour combined course, this is followed up with 30 hours online grammar course, and once you have completed your training you will receive the same certificate, course book, letter of reference, plus CV and job guidance.
120 hour
Doubling up the hours of the 60 hour TEFL course, the 120 hour course benefits from combining the 20 hour weekend classroom course and 30 hour online grammar course with 50 hours further online study of the TEFL key concepts including classroom management, TEFL methodology and different teaching styles to suit all kinds of situations, as well as comprising 3 add on modules to give your CV the edge when it comes to business English tuition, teaching younger students, and teaching English on a one to one basis.
This 120 hour course also includes an invaluable 20 hour video course which gives you the opportunity to watch real TEFL classroom scenarios and learn from them.
Your personal tutor will be on hand to give you guidance throughout, and you’ll have online access to student forums for added support from your peers.
A TEFL certificate, reference letter, course book, and lifetime access to the TEFL Job Centre are awarded on successful completion of the course.
This is an incredibly popular, all round TEFL course.
130 hour
The 130 hour course takes all the great aspects of the 120 hour course, with the only difference being that TEFL students spend an additional 10 hours (1 day) in the classroom environment studying the important TEFL principles and practical skills.
140 hour
Adding to the excellent foundation of the 120 hour combined TEFL course, the 140 hour course features all the same great benefits, but also offers the chance to further boost your employability with the addition of 2 further 10 hour modules — teaching large classes (up to 100 pupils) and telephone teaching which is commonly used for business environments.
150 hour
Following the same program as the 140 hour program, students on the 150 hour TEFL combined course benefit from an extra 10 hours of study in the classroom with the 30 hour weekday TEFL course module.
In addition to the 3 day classroom workshop, this ultimate TEFL training course allows students to take up to 6 months to complete the remaining 12 hours training before receiving their TEFL qualification.
Advanced Courses
Of course, once you’re celebrating achieving your TEFL certificate, you don’t have to stop there.
Studying additional modules and advanced courses which can add to your TEFL qualification is a an excellent way to make yourself more employable and open up new and different horizons.
Studying bit by bit in this way also means that you can get started sooner and then work and evolve as your career develops rather than doing everything up front.
Here’s our run down of the advanced 10 hour TEFL online courses for those who are serious about boosting their TEFL career and adding more strings to their bow…
Larger Classes
Certain countries in places such as South East Asia often have less resources, so often teach children in large groups.
With the 10 hour Larger Classes TEFL module, you’ll learn how to manage classroom groups of up to 100 students, how to set appropriate rules and keep the attention of each and every student, and more.
This is a very useful module if you wish to find work in Asian countries such as Thailand and Cambodia.
Telephone Teaching
Being a TEFL teacher doesn’t mean you have to be limited to teaching in a classroom.
With the hour Telephone Teaching online module you will learn everything you need to know about setting up and teaching one to one lessons via telephone and email all over the world without even moving from your armchair.
This can be extremely useful if you’re travelling around, or if you just want to stay put where you are for a while.
Teach English Online
Much like the Telephone Teaching module, the 20 hour Teach English Online TEFL module provides you with all the informations and skills required to create, plan and conduct a TEFL lesson online, as well as learning about the internet technology required to teach in this way.
As long as you have a laptop and a decent Wi-Fi connection, successfully completing the Teach English Online will enable you to teach anywhere in the world regardless of your location, and at times which suit both you and your students.
Promote your TEFL Lessons
A follow on from the Teach English Online module, this 20 hour online course goes one step further by demonstrating to TEFL teachers how best to market their services as an online TEFL teacher including how to set up their own TEFL website, and how to effectively market their teaching services to make themselves truly visible online and get ahead of the competition.
A personal TEFL tutor will be on hand to help students through the course every step of the way.
Business English
Teaching business English requires a special set of skills, and this 30 hour online course is designed to arm TEFL teachers with just the right skill set to teach English to adults in a professional business environment.
Students on this course will gain valuable insight into what exactly business English is, as well as how to gauge the individual requirements of their business students to create appropriate lesson plans and learning materials, understanding various different business methodologies, developing language and communication skills in the world of business, and promoting their TEFL business teaching skills to find appropriate work.
This specialising TEFL teaching in this niche area, TEFL teachers will have more lucrative job contracts open to them.
Younger Learners
If teaching adults isn’t your thing, or if you just want to have more options, then the 30 hour online Younger Learners TEFL module will make an excellent addition to your CV.
You will learn how to effectively teach children aged 12 and under using appropriate methods, activities and materials to keep younger students engaged.
This module also includes invaluable insights into understanding child psychology and how to apply it in the classroom, how to manage young students, and a unit specifically designed for teaching under 5s.
Conclusion
There are many ways to learn how to teach English as a foreign language, and with the wide range of courses — both on and offline — available, you are sure to find something to suit your needs and fulfil your dreams of teaching and living abroad.
So, which TEFL course is best, in your opinion?
