Great professional certificate to teach ESL:
Late last year (2008) I completed the CTESOL (Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) program at Transworld Schools in San Francisco.
I am very satisfied with my experience at Transworld. The program manages to combine training in ESL theory/pedagogy and practicum. You are specifically trained in lesson planning, and then teaching in front of real ESL students who are living and studying here in the Bay Area. Even if you have teaching experience, this in an invaluable opportunity to practice the ESL teaching in a professional environment – which is then often expected from employer’s as a given part of professional certification in ESL.
The CTESOL instructors I worked with were engaging, and conveyed a strong and diverse perspective on ESL teaching. The course itself is also an excellent crash course in grammar, if that’s not your professional background!
I also believe it’s a good professional development step, in terms of spending money on job-related training. ESL is a good profession for travelers, and I managed to find employment almost immediately here in the Bay Area (San Francisco and Berkeley.) It is my sense that the CTESOL at Transworld is respected in the field.
by Jarrod Armour on April 11, 2009