Finally, Susan Griffith’s book is a very fine resource which has stood the test of time, as is “Teaching English Overseas: A Job Guide for Americans and Canadians by Jeff Mohamed,” host of English International, http://www.english-international.com.

In the UK, there is almost no such thing as a straight A student because of the way the level is set (or at least that was the way in my day, before “grade inflation”). I got about half As at 16, at that is about equivalent to a straight A American student, at a guess. Having a B in CELTA or equivalent marks you as an exceptional teacher, and sometimes the only difference between that and an A is that the student with the A got on a roll. When recruiting, I put much more importance on the difference between a B and a C than I did between a B and an A. A school I used to work at pnly employed people with CELTA B or DELTA, but I’ve never seen the equivalent with schools asking for an A. Etc.On our course, most teachers with TEFL experience Bs, and a few even just got Cs.

Anyway, we all got so tired of that particular misunderstanding that the organisation changed an A to “merit” (or “distinction”, can’t remember) to make it seem more exceptional. Kinda worked, maybe Cambridge would do the same too if it wasn’t so UK-centric.

Didn’t spot the (non)disclosure policy before, but you do put it very well. As you mentioned my blog, here is mine as it stands:
- TEFL.net is not my site, just the TEFLtastic blog
- I get zero money from the blog. If anyone has ever clicked on the Google ads, that went to the site owner. However, people who have read the blog have offered me work doing pre-publication reviewing of materials etc, and that is half the reason I started it. I think you’d have to be crazy to blog once a day without something to gain from it personally. I have never taken money for recommending something to anyone, but I’ve never needed the money and I have other ways of making my blog worthwhile financially, so I don’t judge other people who do.

In this case, I still think you could’ve done it better, maybe:

“Again, most people find it is best to get one of the two world-recognized ESL certificates, CELTA or Trinity Cert TESOL, if you want to be secure in finding a position with decent pay. Here’s another one worth checking out: Get paid to travel through TEFL International! (sponsored link)”

I think the most important thing you’ve mentioned is to do your research. I got a CELTA in Rome from International House in 2004, and it was a great experience. Before I went, I spent months researching online, reading a book called “Taking a Gap Year” (also by Susan Griffith), and emailing schools to learn more about their programs. I agree with you that each certificate has its place – it depends on where you plan to teach and what you’re looking to get out of the whole experience. CELTAs are recognized everywhere, and are taken quite seriously, but for someone who just wants to do six months to a year of teaching, a TEFL might do just fine. Fulbright teaching assistantships are another great option.

Good advice again, which again makes it a shame that you have recommended a course at the end of your piece that you obviously don’t know much about. It’s obvious that you get paid for sending people to the TI site (hover over the link and see what address comes up) and I have nothing against people being paid to write about TEFL, so I think you could’ve been a little more straightforward about it