5 WAYS TO PREPARE FOR A TEFL COURSE

Published 14th December 2018

No matter how excited you are to be starting a career which can take you all around the world, the fact remains that you will need to get through your TEFL course first. Many TEFL courses are 4 weeks’ full-time, while others are part-time, and others still are online or a combination of online and face-to-face tuition. Whichever way you decide to tackle a TEFL course, you will be expected to put in long hours and a lot of hard work before they will give you the certificate. So it’s a good idea to make sure you are properly prepared for your TEFL course.

Five simple ways to be in the best position to engage with a TEFL course

1. Read

There is probably going to be a lot of theories of teaching and learning which will be new to you. Luckily, there are endless resources on the topic of teaching and learning a foreign language which are available to you. Spend some time before your course starts to familiarise yourself with popular ideas, terminology and even famous TEFLers, such as Jim Scrivener, Jeremy Harmer and Scott Thornbury. This will give you a head start on the course and ensure you don’t feel overwhelmed when you start.

You could also ask your TEFL provider to send you a reading list. In this way you will be getting an introduction to the field and also covering some of the course content as well. This will save you time later on in the course.

2. Revise your grammar

English grammar can be complicated and is usually downright confusing. Even if you’re a native speaker (especially if you’re a native speaker!) take some time to review English grammar. Find a good reference book and look through it to refresh your memory on the terms we use to describe the grammar we use in our language. It’ll show you how much you don’t know, so you can look up your problem areas to try to get to grips with them before you start trying to teach them.

3. Get organised

The TEFL course is going to take up your time. All of your time. Besides the time spent on the course, you will spend time reading, planning lessons, finding resources and preparing for assessments. Before you start, organise your diary and your calendar so you don’t have any other big deadlines or massive time commitments planned for the same time.

4. Go shopping

Find out what you will need for the course, make a shopping list and off you go! Regardless of whether or not you are doing an online course or a face-to-face course you will need stationery – think highlighters, blu-tak, whiteboard markers – and textbooks.

5. Get excited

Now that you are all prepped and ready you can get excited! This is the start of an exciting adventure for you so put your fears and doubts aside and get ready to change your life!