TEFL training courses and its relevance in this age

TEFL, the acronym for Teaching English as a Foreign Language, is almost similar to TESOL, which stands for Teaching English as a Second language. Both teaching approaches mean teaching English to non- native English speakers either as a Foreign Language or as a Second Language. TEFL/TESOL training courses are generally meant for aspirants

• who are looking forward to start their career as a teacher traveller or someone who is looking for a job change in his life,
• who likes meeting new and different people, can adjust himself in a completely new environment and overlook the culture shock, and has noissues regarding food habits.

The qualifications that the aspirants need to have are a graduation degree and communication skills in English. A TEFL educator’s life involves quite a lot of travelling to various places, especially to non-English speaking nations like Asian countries, African countries, and European nations; therefore one can expect a life that is anything but monotonous and dull, along with a good pay.

It is now a known fact that English is the global language of communication that has been accepted and is being practiced by the world leaders for the purpose of communication among themselves. Hence, English as a language has reached such great importance where it has become imperative for everyone to know the language in order to communicate and interact with people of any region/place. Knowing a global language like English will not only open many new career prospects in the global job market for someone but also make life much easier for him. However, it is quite difficult for people of non-English speaking nations to know a foreign language fluently and without any difficulty. Here is when taking TEFL classes will come to their rescue, which will teach these learners the effective ways of communicating in English. This has created a huge requirement of TEFL/TESOL trained educators. Hence, TEFL courses are in such great demand all over the world.

The most popular TEFL training course is the Hybrid Course that includes both online training session and practical teaching classes for the candidates. The online course is generally for duration of 120 hours and the practicum classes usually for 5 days. All the course materials are available online, in the training institute’s website that the candidate is enrolled with. The candidates receive total guidance and assistance while pursuing the course from the tutors and support staff whom they can contact via email/chat or telephone, in case of any doubts and queries. At the end of the study materials, the candidates need to take up an assignment, which they need to complete and send them back to the tutors for evaluation.

Apart from this theoretical training, the candidates are also given the opportunity to experience practicum classes organised at a particular location that is best in terms of gathering experience. They get toput to practice all the knowledge and information that they acquire while taking the course online so that they get an idea of the working of a real classroom and get a first-hand experience of it. These practical classes are evaluated by trainers/peers on which they receive proper feedback and their scope of improvement.

TEFL/TESOL courses acquaint the candidates with the various different methodologies, techniques and approaches of language acquisition, classroom management, behavioural management, lesson planning and many more. It familiarizes the ways and methods of handling learners of various age groups, be it Young Learners or Adult Learners. The course being offered in the online mode provides many advantages for the enrolled candidates.

• Online courses are cheaper than in-class courses, therefore the courses are certainly convenient for candidates who are on a budget.
• The candidates are also given the option to pursue and complete the course at her own pace and time, where they have the liberty to pursue the course from any corner of the globe provided there is an internet connection available with the electronic device that the candidate is comfortable working on.
• Since there is no travelling involved too while pursuing the theoretical course online, the candidate is able to save a lot of time in a day. Hence, people busy with their lives and other commitments and priorities will not face any difficulty while undertaking the course program.

With the completion of the course, both online and practicum, the aspirants are able to get a position as a TEFL educator in the many academic and grooming institutions of the world.