Online TESOL courses

[NiveaTango]

Are they of any use? I'm confused.

There seem to be a huge variance in how much they cost. Frankly I'm not gonna pay all that money to have a 4 week training session, I've taught English to loads of people on an informal basis and they've all told me I've explained things clearer than anyone ever has. I know the basics, so an online TESOL course seems enough, is there much difference? Please help!

http://www.tesolonline.com/courses/index.php

[lisaor]

Hi, I've been teaching English for several years in China without a TESOL certificate. So it's not like you "have" to have one to be a good teacher. Having said that, I have found that having one is helpful:

Earlier this year I decided to take the ITTT 100 hour online course with (tutor support) it was about 300 US$. I found the course clearly laid out and easy to follow, my tutor followed my progress and gave me strict feedback on my assignments. Although I'd been teaching for years, there were still some areas of grammar and teaching methodology that I didn't know about and had never used. Getting that extra training has definitely helped me in my lessons. Plus, having the certificate looks a lot better on your resume ;)

Hope this helps!

[kdavid]

In-person study abroad courses a lot more than it seems you think they do.

However, if you're so confident that you don't need any training, why not just apply as is? Plenty of schools out here will take you without any qualifications--though most new teachers without any experience would find teaching without formal training very difficult.

To answer your original question, any online TESOL course is going to have little practical value as you don't get any time in the classroom--though it seems you feel you don't need this. Essentially all you're doing is paying for a piece of paper. You're better off buying a good TESOL book online and learning yourself.

If you really want the piece of paper proving you've done a "TESOL course", find the cheapest one and buy that one.

[BrandeX]

find the cheapest one and buy that one.

I agree no one really cares here, other than that you maybe have "any" one, even if you made it yourself on your PC and printed it out.