Welcome to Frequently Asked TEFL Questions. Just about every question that we have ever been asked is answered on this page somewhere.

However, if you can't find the answer to your question, please contact us via the Enquiry Form at the bottom of this page. We'll be happy to help in any way we can.

1. What does Cactus TESOL do?

Cactus TESOL acts as an admissions centre for selected, quality training centers and their CELTA, CertTESOL or other types of TESOL courses. Our list is not exhaustive but we do now work with the majority of well-known course providers. In the unlikely event that none of our courses suit your needs then we are happy to put you in touch with centers who we do not presently work with. In addition, we provide support and impartial advice throughout the application process. Course prices are exactly the same whether you apply through us or independently.

2. What is the difference between TESOL, CELTA and Trinity CertTESOL?

TESOL is the name of the industry you would be working in - Teaching English as a Second Language. In order to gain access to this industry, there are two key qualifications which stand out as being quite special in their international recognition - the Cambridge CELTA (Certificate of English Language Teaching to Adults) and the Trinity College CertTESOL (Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages). Both the CELTA and CertTESOL courses are types of TEFL courses.

3. Will a 2-day/one week course give me a certificate in teaching ESL?

Courses such as these do award a certificate of completion; however, it is important to recognize that it is not the TESOL qualification that a lot of employers will require. When prospective employers ask, ‘do you have a TESOL certificate?’ what they are usually referring to is the Trinity Certificate TESOL, the Cambridge CELTA or a certificate gained from doing a course of equivalent length and value as these two.

The weekend course, however, is ideal if you want a basic introduction to TESOL, if you are looking to teach on a very informal basis, or if the kind of teaching that you are planning to do is voluntary. These types of courses are particularly beneficial to anyone who is looking to travel, and pick up some casual work along the way. If you are looking at teaching as a way to totally finance your new life abroad it would definitely be wiser to do a more internationally recognized qualification as this will give you much more flexibility with regard to what schools you can work for, and in which countries. If you are considering a very short course, such as a weekend TESOL course, you can always opt for extra modules to further increase your knowledge, such as the English Language Awareness Course.

4. What are the requirements are there to get into a CELTA/TESOL course?

The minimum age is 18, though some schools prefer you to be at least 20 years of age. Please note that there is no upper age limit for these courses. People of all age groups and backgrounds gain qualifications to teach English as Second Language, so don’t worry if you are at the more mature end of the spectrum!

For native speakers of English, ideally you need to have the qualifications which would allow you to access a degree course - i.e. A-levels or an equivalent. Having said that, certain schools may require you to hold a degree, whilst others will consider your application if you just have relevant life experience - so it's always worth checking.

If you are a non native speaker, you will need to demonstrate your ability to use English to a very high standard - ideally you will need to hold something like Cambridge Advanced English (CAE), Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE) or IELTS level 7. If you don't have an external qualification, the school will be able to test the level of your English, often by providing you with an additional language task to complete.

* Want to do a TESOL course but worried you don't know enough grammar? Sign up to the brand new Cactus pre-TESOL online grammar course! Only $100!
More info & book now >

5. What do you do in a CELTA or CertTESOL course?

The overall aim of these courses is for you to become a confident, competent teacher of English. Work usually starts around building your language (grammar) awareness, as most of us have problems with this area. See the new Cactus online English Language Awareness course for help with this.

Through a series of lesson observations, input sessions on aspects of language, learning materials, classroom management and activities, level awareness, teaching for different age groups, you gradually build up your skills. These are assessed throughout the course via your performance in your teaching practice (TP), which takes place regularly. Your first TP can often come on the second day of the course! The key to success is to absorb the new information you are given, synthesize and reproduce it during the practice lessons. Much of your spare time is spent preparing lessons, where help and support are frequently available.

6. Is it as intensive as everyone says?

We always say that anyone applying for a four week intensive course should expect something like a 9am – 5/6pm day with 3-4 hours of self study in the evenings and work during the weekends.

7. Is there an application deadline?

No, there is no official deadline. We do generally advise that you apply two to three months in advance if possible though, simply to allow enough time to prepare, and to ensure that there are still places available.

8. Is it possible to complete the CELTA/Trinity Cert TESOL in two parts?

No, unfortunately the whole course must be completed in one go- either as an intensive 4 week course, or on a part time basis.

9. Will I need to speak the local language to apply for a CELTA/TESOL course abroad?

The answer is no. On a CELTA or CertTESOL, you are trained to teach English using only the English language. This is the case whether you are working with absolute beginners, or advanced level students. A clear reason for this is that when you are teaching English to international groups in the US, it is actually impossible to start translating vocabulary and bits of the lesson into each student’s language. It is also very much a part of the TESOL ethos to stay in the target language. It also encourages you to find new, creative ways of getting the meaning across – maybe through mime, drawing, using visual aids or real objects in class, or using other students to explain to their peers in English. There is almost always a way around having to use the student’s own language. When you are teaching monolingual groups abroad, there is more of a temptation to use their language to help explain, and frequently older language learner feel more secure if you can translate for them. But you won’t help your own technique if you do, and the minute you move to another country whose language you don’t speak, you are likely to feel at a loss. Having said that, your stay abroad is obviously about more than teaching English all day every day. You are hopefully going to want to get to know some locals, blend into the culture, or at least be able to order a few beers and make elementary requests in shops. If you are to practice what you preach, it’s of huge personal advantage if you can speak even a little of the local language.

10. When will next year’s course dates be available?

Generally, the course dates for the following year are set in the Fall. We start to put dates up from the month August each year, as soon as we receive them from the schools.

11. I am already an experienced teacher- should I do a CELTA/ Trinity Cert TESOL course?

Much of the decision about whether you need to gain a specific TESOL qualification will depend on where you are looking to teach. You might find that in certain countries your existing qualifications and experience are enough to secure you work, but in others (particularly where the market is competitive such as the US, UK, Spain and Italy and many others) you might struggle without an internationally recognized TESOL qualification under your belt.

As the basic 'industry standard' qualifications, the CELTA or Trinity Cert TESOL would be best to get you up and teaching English as a second language. Although you might think that parts of the course will be irrelevant for you because you have already got a lot of teaching experience, you will probably still find it beneficial to do the course. Because the CELTA/TESOL courses run so frequently they are constantly revised, changed and updated with most recent teaching methodologies. Also the experience of learning to teach English as a second language will provide you with a lot of very interesting insights in the English language that will help you in your teaching career. Many teachers with teaching experience apply to CELTA/TESOL courses and due to their experience they usually make very good candidates.

12. Does it matter if my four-week TESOL course isn’t accredited by Cambridge ESOL or Trinity College?

There are many courses available today that have a similar syllabus and the same duration as say, a CELTA or a Trinity CertTESOL course. The main difference really is that whilst a CELTA and Trinity Cert TESOL are provided by the Cambridge exam board and Trinity college exam boards respectively, these are moderated and validated by the school that offers them itself.

Even though the course may not have the same global prestige as a CELTA or Trinity Cert TESOL, you should still be able to find work with it. Any course which involves at least 100 hours of input and six hours teaching practice is recognized under the British Council recognition scheme as a TESOL-initiated program. The main areas where you might lose out to CELTA or Trinity Cert TESOL trained teachers are those where competition for jobs is very high, or there is an overriding preference for the Cambridge/Trinity College qualifications.

On the plus side, many of these four week ‘equivalent’ programs do have strong local employment prospects for trainees. They also often have interesting extras, such as training in the local language, or excursions to local tourist sites. They can be especially useful if you are looking to teach ESL for a fairly short period (six months/one year) and specifically in the place that you train.

13. What can I achieve with an online course?

Online or Distance TESOL courses are the most flexible way of learning about TESOL. You can do them in your own time and at your own pace. All online TESOL courses will cover roughly the same content, including planning classes, class management, skills and language work and activities to use with your classes.

While it is possible to study in depth about TESOL online and by correspondence, you do not get any teaching practice, and it is this fact which leads many employers to view these courses as inferior to 100 hour, face-to-face courses with teaching practice such as the Cambridge CELTA or Trinity CertTESOL, These qualifications are a great idea as long as you are aware that not all TESOL certificates are necessarily the same or viewed as equivalent. It’s a great alternate if you cannot find the time or the money to follow a longer course, you want to work in one of the many countries and contexts where formal qualifications are not required to teach English or your aim is not necessarily to earn your living from teaching or teach in a formal setting or for any length of time.

14. Do you have a brochure that you can send me?

Unfortunately, we have no printed material we can post you. Cactus is proud to be an online company. This is partly for environmental reasons, and also due to the fact that we have masses of information on our site which can change very quickly. Any brochure would quickly become out of date.

15. How do you explain the price differences between CELTA/Trinity Cert TESOL courses?

There can be quite a substantial price difference for the same course from school to school. Basically, each school sets the price of its Cambridge CELTA or Trinity Cert TESOL course itself. The price reflects factors such as the school’s costs and overheads, the facilities available for trainees, the length of experience and terms and conditions of the teacher trainers and also the level of prestige associated with the school.

At the end of the day, though, all schools are moderated and assessed rigorously to ensure that they conform to minimum requirements and standards of tuition as laid down by their respective external examining bodies.

In this sense it can be argued that a CELTA is a CELTA and a Trinity CertTESOL a Trinity CertTESOL no matter where you train. Many people therefore choose their course based on factors such as the price, the convenience of the location and course dates.

If, on the other hand, you are the kind of person who finds it important to have that little bit extra, in terms of the quality of the surroundings and the facilities, the reputation of the course providers or the extensive experience of your trainers, then it might well be worth paying more for your course.

16. I am a mature applicant- can I still do the course/get work?

The impression given by the industry websites and many forums which discuss TESOL issues is that TESOL is an industry designed for the younger generation.

Generally speaking, the reason that TESOL seems to attract 20-something teachers’ fresh out of University is that the pay and conditions in the TESOL industry are not particularly well regulated. This means that it is generally the younger generation who, wanting the experience and excitement of living away from home, are not concerned about the money they receive or the hours that they work.

However, if you are flexible, open-minded and you're not intent on earning a fortune, then TESOL is arguably more suited to more mature teachers. As far as employers are concerned your wealth of experience will probably mean that you are more at ease with groups and individuals from diverse walks of life. A more senior teacher may have the business experience and knowledge which comes in very handy for a school's company clients, who will not take too kindly to a very young teacher without much life experience.

There will of course, be specific situations where schools will prefer younger staff, for example during summer residential programs where students tend to be in their teens. There are also certain countries where you are unfortunately quite likely to encounter discrimination on account of your age.

17. Will I be able to teach Young Learners with the CELTA/TESOL?

It is almost a given, if you are going to work abroad, that at some point in your time teaching English you're likely to encounter young learners (under 16s, and sometimes even under 6s!). Employers who insist on trained teachers are accustomed to employing teachers with no young learner training or experience, expecting them to transfer the skills they learn from the basic training course over to their young learners’ classes.

You may well find that you need more than the basic training course, however, and this is when we strongly recommend that you consider a module or add-on to teach English to young learners.

In order to enjoy teaching younger learners, you require an understanding of this age group, their developmental stages, what motivates them, and above all, what makes them laugh. Even if you have seen children of your own grow up, the chances are you still need this sort of course, and if you have yet to experience children close up, it could transform a scary experience into something much more manageable.

18. Do I have to attend the whole course to pass, or can I miss some?

You are expected to attend the entire course so you should try to select course dates where you can attend every day. If it is genuinely unavoidable for you to miss a day or two it is usually OK, but you will need to let the tutors know as soon as you possibly can.

19. Can you give me advice about the type of visa I need?

International employment laws make it illegal to work in a country which does not have a reciprocal work agreement with your own. Any jobs available should go first to the native citizens of a country, secondly to the citizens of other countries with a reciprocal agreement in place, and thirdly to citizens of non-reciprocating countries, if they can prove to be the best or only person who can do the job. The consequences of this is that it is unlikely that a non-reciprocating country will give you a work permit or work visa, no matter how good a teacher you are. The best place to get advice on the official situation is from the Embassy or Consulate of the country you are interested in. Unofficially, however, in virtually every country in the world, there are teachers teaching without official work permits. The best way to get advice about the unofficial situation is from the employers themselves, so if you send a question to Cactus about a specific location, we can have an answer for you from our contacts within 72 hours. We are sorry but Cactus cannot help you with the visa process.

20. Can you recommend some grammar/textbooks?

Our recommendation is to join the Cactus Online English Language Awareness course we have on our site. See:
http://www.cactustefl.com/ela/index.php?course_id=2827

This was designed for pre-TESOLers to ease their concerns about grammar.

If you still prefer books, English Grammar in Use by Raymond Murphy is useful: it's a students' book but is very clear as a basic guideline. At your interview you will be recommended a grammar book for teachers, probably Grammar for English Language Teachers by Martin Parrott (Cambridge University Press) or Practical English Usage by Michael Swan (Oxford University Press). For Methodology, How to Teach English by Jeremy Harmer (Longman) or The Practice of English Language Teaching, also by Harmer (Longman), or Learning Teaching by Jim Scrivener (Macmillan ELT) are all useful.

21. Do I have to go to the school for my interview?

If you are in the same country as the school that you have applied to, and it is easily accessible, you will be asked to go along in person for an interview. It is normally possible to have a telephone interview – or in some cases an interview using Skype - if you are not able to get to the school (or if the school is abroad). You will be given a specific time and date to call.

22. What should I expect in my interview?

Don’t worry at all about your interview. Trainers are great people and usually make you feel very comfortable.

For loads of help on the interview have a look at
http://www.cactustefl.com/get_started/getting_accepted.php

The kind of questions they normally ask are about you and your interview task, but mainly they will inform you about the course. If you are concerned that you had to refer to a book to help you find the answers so you do not know all the terminology used from memory, this is no problem, it is what real teachers do before they teach.

The task and the interview are not an exam; you are not expected to know everything. What they are looking for is how you instinctively answer ‘teachery’ questions...

They might ask you to define certain experiences that relate to being a good teacher i.e when have you been organized, patient, methodical. They may also ask you what qualities a good teacher you have had in the past had that made them good, or to describe a good learning experience and why was it good. They may also ask you ‘what if’ or ‘how would you’ questions, don’t panic! Just use your common sense and think about helping a ‘foreign student’ all the time, so as to keep it clear and simple.

23. Does a good quality TESOL course guarantee me a job?

No it doesn't. The Cambridge CELTA and Trinity CertTESOL (and equivalent) qualifications are a bit like a driving license - they give you the right bit of paper, but you still need to get a car, and you still need practice to build experience!

Your first TESOL job does seem to be the hardest one to get, but you'd be surprised how quickly you will find one. As there are a good number of English language schools in the vast majority of towns and cities in countries around the world, it's clear that there will always be a job out there for you.

There is plenty of choice around, but often the hardest thing is knowing where to start. You may like the idea of doing your course with a center that will guarantee you work after your course, or you may prefer that a course does not tie you down to any particular school or group of schools and leaves you totally independent.

24. What's the best way to look for work?

We recommend that you decide where in the world you would like to go and do some internet research. There are many, many TESOL recruitment sites these days which advertise jobs all over the world. The country equivalent of the Yellow Pages is also a good starting point, this way you can find how many language schools there are in your chosen destination. A general rule of thumb is to try and avoid the bigger cities, where everyone else is likely to head for.

If you have a specific destination in mind it is definitely worth doing your training course there if possible, simply as this gives you far greater access to any local job vacancies that arise.

Have a look at our TESOL Jobs section for more info on how to approach finding a job, and for current TESOL vacancies.

If you are interested in working for Cactus, please see Jobs at Cactus.

25. Contact Us / Course Enquiry

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