Global TESOL college- opinions?

[Gspot]

i'm about to sign up with Global TESOL college.
one of their 5 day(of in-class work) courses starts pretty soon near me.

was just hoping to get some last info and opinions on this group before i take the plunge any pros and cons would be great

thanks all

[mycolumbus]

Know of a fellow English teacher who did this course. Will ask him today how was it.

[mycolumbus]

Fellow teacher said it's a good course and you will learn a lot. It's quite intensive with lots of practical stuff you can apply in the field.

Take the plunge!

[Gspot]

Great! thanks so much man

[blsfp]

I think my own experience with Global TESOL College here in Canada where their home office is located may be of some use.

In November of 2003 I took their course, this course cost me $1000. I answered an ad on one of their posters, "Guaranteed: Job, Airfare and Accommodation, No Age Limit, No Degree or Experience Necessary" . Their course lasted 5 days, and was more like 60 hours instead of 120 which they advertise, and no student failed it.

At the end of the 5 days I got a piece of paper saying, "Advanced TESOL certificate" and another piece of paper saying, "International TESOL Teacher License" and a list of overseas addresses, I was expected to go out and look for a job myself.

When I tried applying for overseas teaching jobs I found out there were some schools and countries I could not go to to teach English because I did not have a University degree, during the first day of the course I asked my instructor if not having a University degree would prevent me from getting jobs overseas and he said it would not. I found out that the only schools willing to hire someone without a University degree were villages in China (not my first choice for going overseas) where I would only make $500 a month and they did not pay airfare at least not upfront, they would only reimburse airfare after I had completed a year of teaching (I was not told this during the course either).

In my research I found out several other things about Global TESOL College that I found to be disturbing, on page 4 of their brochure they mention that my "International TESOL Teacher License" is issued by TESOL Licensing Standards International (TLSI) and is recognized worldwide, I have yet to find any evidence outside of Global TESOL College's advertising that such an organization exists.

My "Advanced TESOL certificate" says "Certified by the Government of Canada" I asked my instructor what that meant and he said it meant that Global TESOL College is recognized by the Government of Canada as a private vocational school, yet when I asked the department of education here in my home province of Manitoba and the province of Alberta, where their head office is located they told me that Global TESOL College is not a private vocational school that only the provinces can grant that status not the federal government because education is a provincial responsibility. I went to the instructor who I paid my $1000 to and pointed out their advertising was misleading, his explanation was that overseas countries had only just recently changed their rules about hiring foreign teachers. I then asked my instructor for my money back and he said since I actually got job offers I was not entitled to a refund, I then pointed out the other discrepencies I had found and my instructor got very angry and accused me of spreading lies and kicked me out of his office.

I then went to small claims court to try and get my money back and won, they appealed and I won again, this was back in March of 2005 and Global TESOL College have yet to pay the judgement. My message to you is buyer beware.

[Gspot]

Wow! Shocking information there blsfp! I wonder if they are still getting away with misleading advertising.

Congratulations to you on winning the case against them.

However, although you may be correct, I think you should have realised beforehand that certain countries do require a University degree before you can go and teach in those countries. Lots of job ads do specifically mention the need of a University degree.

I hope you get your refund soon then.

[GypsyMite]

I completed my TESOL Cert and I am happy to say that it was very informative and that my partner and I were not mislead at all. We were well informed that degree's in most countries are necessary in teaching. Yet at the same time just because you have a degree does not necessarily mean you have any experience to teach. As again we were also told that a person could have a degree in engineering and be able to find emplyment teaching even with no teaching experience or training. Degree's do not define a persons intelligence or capacity to teach a class of students english. Im quite looking forward to leaving Australia in the next month with my TESOl cert and specialisation Certs, look out Thailand, Spain, Europe, America Canada and Alaska. (Not teaching in all countries, obviously. I might try my hand at rollerblading fast food in california eh?)

[Margy]

Well summed up GypsyMite!

Just because you have a degree doesn't mean you can teach successfully. I think a TESOL course is a great introduction to the world of teaching.

Teaching is not suited to all. Like being a doctor is not suited to all. You can have the best teaching qualifications under the sun, yet still perform miserably in the classroom.

[eslinterest]

hmm i actually just registered for this lately, perhaps u could give me an idea on how to go about what i want to do

i know i need a degree and all for japan but that is where i'd like to teach china is a possabillity, but i have been to japan before and i loved the place.

but basicly i enrolled for this course to get an idea of the work, i have done some of the online stuff and i'd say it is pretty informative and has alot of good stuff to know that i wouldn't have know etc

i have not done a degree in uni i am 21 have done a tafe course i hated it though (was IT stuff)

anyway is this "degree" anything u want like just a degree in anything wether it's remotely related to teaching or could it be like a programing course that has nothing to do with teaching?


also more stuff i'd like to ask is these alt programs let me get this straight u are not even the proper teacher but more of a help and u are there to help bridge the 2 cultures together?

reason i ask is i'd love to do that i mean i'm not sure how i'd go i only know the hiragana characters and can't really speak much, but i'd love to be able to go over there have enough income to rent and do stuff with ppl all the time in my free time

what would u say the best course of action is?

[mycolumbus]

eslinterest, you are doing the right thing to enrol in this TESOL course. Someone without a university degree wanting to teach in Japan, then I would recomment highly to get at least some certification in teaching.

As you are less than 30 and an Australian passport holder, you can teach legally in Japan by applying a working holiday visa. Just do a search on these forums for "working holiday visa japan".

An ALT (Assistant Language Teacher - for those who don't know) is pretty much as you described it. A bridge to the western culture. You will be helping another teacher teach English and other support activities. A lot of fun, and am sure you will love it. Others I know how done this and loved it.