(no subject)
some interested people have been asking me about the esl process. the following is that process explained.
0. ESL, TESL, TEFL, WTF.
ESL is english as a second language. TESL is teaching english as a second language. TEFL is teaching english as a foreign language.
1. ESL Certification: Why get certified?
There are plenty of places in the world that you don't need to have an ESL certification. A lot of asian, african, and south american countries, for example. the problem is that you have NO IDEA where you're going and what you're doing, and a lot of schools are likely to take advantage of you, hard. If you want to be safe and get paid, get certified.
2. ESL Certification: Who certifies?
Most colleges offer ESL certification courses, but some are better than others. I went with the commercial route, and from what I hear, there are three big ESL certification companies out there.
CELTA
DELTA
and Oxford Seminars.
I hear that Celta and Delta are extensive, intensive training courses that fully prepare you to teach English abroad. they are also expensive. They take a year or more and cost a few thousand dollars. i don't know much about those two programs at all 'cause I'm a cheapskate.
I went with Oxford.
3. ESL Certification: Oxford Seminars
< http://www.oxfordseminars.com/ >
Oxford is less expensive (at around $1,100), but it's a crash course. Here's what you get in that program:
A. one 60 hour certification course
B. a 4 hour online grammar component
C. a few pretty handy textbooks
D. a LIFETIME GRADUATE PLACEMENT PROGRAM OMG.
A: the 60 certification course.
4 certification courses are offered every year, one for each season.
Each course is every saturday and sunday in one month
each course is from like, 9am until 6pm (depending on the state, i think)
each course teaches you how to teach, but it's not crazy in depth.
at the end of your course, you get a 60 hour certification.
when i was looking up information online about oxford, i found a bunch of people complaining about the course. at first, i was put off by it, but then i realized that all the complainers thought they were going to get like, an educational degree's worth of wisdom in 3 weekends for 1,100 dollars. that's DUMB. yes, oxford's course isn't crazy thorough or anything, but i got a LOT out of the classes. My teacher was awesome, my classmates were great, and I learned a lot. It's REALLY worth it.
B: the 40 hour online grammar component
included in the $1,100 or so price is a 40 hour online grammar component. it works like an online class, and you have plenty of time to complete it. most of it just teaches you grammar, and it ends with a thorough and a nothing-to-sneeze-at grammar test. if you do the work, it's no sweat. you can use your book.
when you get done with the online component, you get a 100 hour certificate in the mail. this means you're eligible for more money when you get hired.
C: A few handy textbooks
you also get a few books:
I. the training manual is a GREAT book/workbook full of great ideas to teach english as a second language. it's easy and fun to read. your instructor takes you through it, and i plan on using the hell out of it.
II. is a How to Teach book. it's a drier pedagogy sort of book. it's useful, but I think it's less useful than the manual.
III. is a grammar book. nothing more, nothing less. you use it for the online grammar component, and it'll probably come in handy when you're teaching, too.
D: THE LIFETIME GRADUATE PLACEMENT PROGRAM OMG
after you get your certificate(s), you can submit your resume and cover letter to their placement program and they'll help you get a job. For the rest of your life!
This means you could get your certificates, decide you don't want to use your certificates after all, and go about your life. and then, when you turn 60, you could decide you want to see the world and submit your documents to their placement program and they'll get you a JOB.
OH ALSO BY THE WAY BRO IF FOR WHATEVER REASON THEY CAN'T GET YOU SOME JOB OFFERS, YOU GET YOUR MONEY BACK. like 1,000 dollars. back.
but they WILL get you some job offers. I was in their placement program for like, 2 days before I got 15 offers from china, japan, and korea. This was incredibly funny to me because I had just spent months and months applying to jobs in the states and getting denied over and over again. suddenly, i do this placement program and i feel WANTED. i felt the same way i did in high school, when i suddenly lost all my baby fat and girls suddenly found me attractive.
The placement advisers aren't as friendly as they could be-- in fact, they're all business-- but they do their job and they do their job well. They edit your resume and cover letters for you and, if you follow their advice, you'll be doing the scrooge mcduck backstroke in a pile of job offers.
4. ESL Certification: How do I get them discounts, brah?
If you're like me, you don't want to pay the full 1,100 or so dollars. You want the hookup. Well, cool, cause Oxford offers a few discounts.
a. attend a free information session, pay there and pay in full.
Oxford offers free information sessions where you can ask all the questions you want. I found it crazy helpful. If you go, you can get a discount. I did this.
b. sign up with a friend.
If you sign up with a friend, you both get a discount. I couldn't get anyone to go with me :(
c. Sign up for a class that gets canceled.
This one's tricky, but you can play the game. Fall courses often get canceled. Winter courses get canceled more than Fall courses. There's just not enough people showing up to those; they got stuff to do. If you sign up for a winter course and it gets canceled, you get a discount. this happened to me.
I got 2/3 discounts and paid around 900 bucks.
5. the post certification process
The Oxford placement program will hand your information over to placement programs in the country or countries of your choosing. Those programs will, in turn, place you in a school.
Some countries are easy to get into. I hear that China, for example, will take people who've had a liiiiiiittle criminal background as long as they're not sex offenders. China also hires year round, and they don't require a college degree.
Other countries are more difficult. other countries have hiring seasons and hoops to jump through. Japan, for example, only hires like, 2x a year, and they won't look at you if you don't have a degree. it doesn't matter what the degree's in, as long as you have it. more difficult countries also require a laundry list of documents in order, including an FBI criminal background check. You'll wanna jump on that background check FIRST bro, 'cause that TAKES FOREVER.
6. FBI BACKGROUND CHECK.
< http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/background-checks/submitting-an-identification-record-request-to-the-fbi >
In order to get your FBI background check, you have to do a few things.
a. complete an Applicant Information Form, which can be found at the above URL.
b. get your fingerprints taken.
c. pay the FBI 18 dollars per background check.
d. make sure you have all your documents the FBI needs. the whole list can be found at the above URL.
e. Mail everything to the following address:
FBI CJIS Division - Record Request
1000 Custer Hollow Road
Clarksburg, WV 26306
f. Then you have to wait for a few months. while you're waiting, you can get the other documents.
7. Everything else.
Here's everything Korea required of me:
a. fbi background check, talked about above. it has to be apostilled (see number 8)
b. photocopy of college diploma, notarized and apostilled (see number 8)
you can get something notarized at most public libraries and most banks. just ask for a notary. it's simple and cheap.
c. 2 official sealed university transcripts
get these from the registrar's office. they'll cost money.
d. photocopy or scan of passport photo page
better get a passport if you don't have one.
e. 4 passport sized photos
it's gotta meet some requirements, but you can take them yourself.
< http://travel.state.gov/passport/pptphotoreq/pptphotoreq_5333.html >
f. a self-medical statement
this is just a document you sign that says you don't do drugs and don't have some terrible disease. the country's placement program will give this to you. you don't have to go to a doctor, just sign it.
g. your signed employment contract
the school you'll work at will give this to you.
h. 2 or more professional recommendation letters
better holla at some colleagues.
8. WTF is Apostilling?
Apostilling is way to authenticate documents. it says "this document is internationally legit," and your state does it. every state's fee is different ($1 in Hawaii to $10 in NY). your foreign contact will help you through this process.
9. Getting that JOB
during the time you're scrambling to get all your documents in order, you'll be interviewed by a bunch of different schools in the country of your choosing. you'll get a contract, sign it, and then mail in everything you need. within a couple weeks, you'll be working in foreign country as an ESL teacher.
10. Work Visa
This is something my mom hounded me about like, the entire time I was going through this process. It was futile though, because the country you're going to gets you the work visa after you're already there working. tell your mom to get off your back let the country worry about it.
any more questions? hit me up.
0. ESL, TESL, TEFL, WTF.
ESL is english as a second language. TESL is teaching english as a second language. TEFL is teaching english as a foreign language.
1. ESL Certification: Why get certified?
There are plenty of places in the world that you don't need to have an ESL certification. A lot of asian, african, and south american countries, for example. the problem is that you have NO IDEA where you're going and what you're doing, and a lot of schools are likely to take advantage of you, hard. If you want to be safe and get paid, get certified.
2. ESL Certification: Who certifies?
Most colleges offer ESL certification courses, but some are better than others. I went with the commercial route, and from what I hear, there are three big ESL certification companies out there.
CELTA
DELTA
and Oxford Seminars.
I hear that Celta and Delta are extensive, intensive training courses that fully prepare you to teach English abroad. they are also expensive. They take a year or more and cost a few thousand dollars. i don't know much about those two programs at all 'cause I'm a cheapskate.
I went with Oxford.
3. ESL Certification: Oxford Seminars
< http://www.oxfordseminars.com/ >
Oxford is less expensive (at around $1,100), but it's a crash course. Here's what you get in that program:
A. one 60 hour certification course
B. a 4 hour online grammar component
C. a few pretty handy textbooks
D. a LIFETIME GRADUATE PLACEMENT PROGRAM OMG.
A: the 60 certification course.
4 certification courses are offered every year, one for each season.
Each course is every saturday and sunday in one month
each course is from like, 9am until 6pm (depending on the state, i think)
each course teaches you how to teach, but it's not crazy in depth.
at the end of your course, you get a 60 hour certification.
when i was looking up information online about oxford, i found a bunch of people complaining about the course. at first, i was put off by it, but then i realized that all the complainers thought they were going to get like, an educational degree's worth of wisdom in 3 weekends for 1,100 dollars. that's DUMB. yes, oxford's course isn't crazy thorough or anything, but i got a LOT out of the classes. My teacher was awesome, my classmates were great, and I learned a lot. It's REALLY worth it.
B: the 40 hour online grammar component
included in the $1,100 or so price is a 40 hour online grammar component. it works like an online class, and you have plenty of time to complete it. most of it just teaches you grammar, and it ends with a thorough and a nothing-to-sneeze-at grammar test. if you do the work, it's no sweat. you can use your book.
when you get done with the online component, you get a 100 hour certificate in the mail. this means you're eligible for more money when you get hired.
C: A few handy textbooks
you also get a few books:
I. the training manual is a GREAT book/workbook full of great ideas to teach english as a second language. it's easy and fun to read. your instructor takes you through it, and i plan on using the hell out of it.
II. is a How to Teach book. it's a drier pedagogy sort of book. it's useful, but I think it's less useful than the manual.
III. is a grammar book. nothing more, nothing less. you use it for the online grammar component, and it'll probably come in handy when you're teaching, too.
D: THE LIFETIME GRADUATE PLACEMENT PROGRAM OMG
after you get your certificate(s), you can submit your resume and cover letter to their placement program and they'll help you get a job. For the rest of your life!
This means you could get your certificates, decide you don't want to use your certificates after all, and go about your life. and then, when you turn 60, you could decide you want to see the world and submit your documents to their placement program and they'll get you a JOB.
OH ALSO BY THE WAY BRO IF FOR WHATEVER REASON THEY CAN'T GET YOU SOME JOB OFFERS, YOU GET YOUR MONEY BACK. like 1,000 dollars. back.
but they WILL get you some job offers. I was in their placement program for like, 2 days before I got 15 offers from china, japan, and korea. This was incredibly funny to me because I had just spent months and months applying to jobs in the states and getting denied over and over again. suddenly, i do this placement program and i feel WANTED. i felt the same way i did in high school, when i suddenly lost all my baby fat and girls suddenly found me attractive.
The placement advisers aren't as friendly as they could be-- in fact, they're all business-- but they do their job and they do their job well. They edit your resume and cover letters for you and, if you follow their advice, you'll be doing the scrooge mcduck backstroke in a pile of job offers.
4. ESL Certification: How do I get them discounts, brah?
If you're like me, you don't want to pay the full 1,100 or so dollars. You want the hookup. Well, cool, cause Oxford offers a few discounts.
a. attend a free information session, pay there and pay in full.
Oxford offers free information sessions where you can ask all the questions you want. I found it crazy helpful. If you go, you can get a discount. I did this.
b. sign up with a friend.
If you sign up with a friend, you both get a discount. I couldn't get anyone to go with me :(
c. Sign up for a class that gets canceled.
This one's tricky, but you can play the game. Fall courses often get canceled. Winter courses get canceled more than Fall courses. There's just not enough people showing up to those; they got stuff to do. If you sign up for a winter course and it gets canceled, you get a discount. this happened to me.
I got 2/3 discounts and paid around 900 bucks.
5. the post certification process
The Oxford placement program will hand your information over to placement programs in the country or countries of your choosing. Those programs will, in turn, place you in a school.
Some countries are easy to get into. I hear that China, for example, will take people who've had a liiiiiiittle criminal background as long as they're not sex offenders. China also hires year round, and they don't require a college degree.
Other countries are more difficult. other countries have hiring seasons and hoops to jump through. Japan, for example, only hires like, 2x a year, and they won't look at you if you don't have a degree. it doesn't matter what the degree's in, as long as you have it. more difficult countries also require a laundry list of documents in order, including an FBI criminal background check. You'll wanna jump on that background check FIRST bro, 'cause that TAKES FOREVER.
6. FBI BACKGROUND CHECK.
< http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/background-checks/submitting-an-identification-record-request-to-the-fbi >
In order to get your FBI background check, you have to do a few things.
a. complete an Applicant Information Form, which can be found at the above URL.
b. get your fingerprints taken.
c. pay the FBI 18 dollars per background check.
d. make sure you have all your documents the FBI needs. the whole list can be found at the above URL.
e. Mail everything to the following address:
FBI CJIS Division - Record Request
1000 Custer Hollow Road
Clarksburg, WV 26306
f. Then you have to wait for a few months. while you're waiting, you can get the other documents.
7. Everything else.
Here's everything Korea required of me:
a. fbi background check, talked about above. it has to be apostilled (see number 8)
b. photocopy of college diploma, notarized and apostilled (see number 8)
you can get something notarized at most public libraries and most banks. just ask for a notary. it's simple and cheap.
c. 2 official sealed university transcripts
get these from the registrar's office. they'll cost money.
d. photocopy or scan of passport photo page
better get a passport if you don't have one.
e. 4 passport sized photos
it's gotta meet some requirements, but you can take them yourself.
< http://travel.state.gov/passport/pptphotoreq/pptphotoreq_5333.html >
f. a self-medical statement
this is just a document you sign that says you don't do drugs and don't have some terrible disease. the country's placement program will give this to you. you don't have to go to a doctor, just sign it.
g. your signed employment contract
the school you'll work at will give this to you.
h. 2 or more professional recommendation letters
better holla at some colleagues.
8. WTF is Apostilling?
Apostilling is way to authenticate documents. it says "this document is internationally legit," and your state does it. every state's fee is different ($1 in Hawaii to $10 in NY). your foreign contact will help you through this process.
9. Getting that JOB
during the time you're scrambling to get all your documents in order, you'll be interviewed by a bunch of different schools in the country of your choosing. you'll get a contract, sign it, and then mail in everything you need. within a couple weeks, you'll be working in foreign country as an ESL teacher.
10. Work Visa
This is something my mom hounded me about like, the entire time I was going through this process. It was futile though, because the country you're going to gets you the work visa after you're already there working. tell your mom to get off your back let the country worry about it.
any more questions? hit me up.