My Life! Teaching in a Korean University

  • ESL Korea
  • Teaching English
  • ESL Activities
  • Learning English

in Life in the Classroom

An Online TEFL Course: Not the Most Terrible Idea

Online TESOL certifications

If you’re an English teacher you may be considering a TEFL course or some kind, or something like the CELTA. Keep on reading for all the details you need to know about whether or not an online TEFL course is a good, or bad idea. And, how they compare to the in-person CELTA.

An Introduction to TEFL Courses

I’ve always said that if you’re going to do a TEFL course of some kind, you may as well go big and awesome and just do the CELTA. Sure, it’s expensive, coming in at around $2000 USD, and time-consuming (120 hours, usually done intensively over one month), but at the end of it, you’re going to have something of value. Even though employers in Korea and other parts of Asia often have no idea what it is, it’s well-recognized throughout Europe, the Middle East and North America.

Once you do the CELTA, you can level-up and do the DELTA, which often qualifies you for 1/4 to 1/3 of an MA TESOL program, or it can get you into teacher training, or management. Those other random certifications? Well, not so much and you’re probably going to be pretty disappointed if you think they will.

Another advantage of the CELTA over some (but not all) of the other courses is the supervised teaching practice. If you’re serious about improving your teaching skills, nothing else is going to help you do that more than this course.

Don’t Let Anyone Convince you of This:

You have probably noticed that here are a million and one other TEFL courses besides the CELTA that you can do. But, please DO NOT LET ANYONE convince you that their month-long, intensive course that costs around $2000 is going to be better and more widely recognized than the CELTA, it’s not. Trust me.

But, onward to the online TEFL certification option. Good plan, or terrible idea?

What about only Online Courses?

Another option is to do an online TEFL course such as these 50-120 hour courses from International TESOL and TEFL Training. The price is most certainly right at $190-$349, but do they have any value or are they a total waste of time?

Here’s my $0.02:

If you don’t have something better, I’d say that they are better than nothing. By “something better,” I mean a Master’s degree in linguistics of TESOL, or the CELTA.

Better Than Nothing: Here’s Why

When you’re applying for teaching jobs with an unrelated BA of some kind, at least you can have some educational background related to teaching English as a second or foreign language. It’s certainly better than big, empty blanks on your resume before and after your BA.

If you’re applying for a job in a place like Korea, employers will likely be impressed that you have something and won’t ask too many questions about what the course actually involved. They will probably not know that there’s a significant difference between the courses that have supervised teaching practice, and those that do not.

A Bump on the Pay Scale

Public schools jobs in many countries (Korea!) often pay teachers according to a scale of some kind. The categories include qualifications such as MA, teacher certification, experience, and oftentimes, a TEFL certificate. You need to check the exact regulations for the country you’ve considering, but if one of these cheap online courses would qualify you for a bump on the pay scale, it’d certainly be worth doing and you’d make back your money in a month or two.

You Might Actually Become a Better Teacher

Another way that this kind of course will help you is that you can learn about how to teach English. While it’s likely to be less helpful than supervised teaching practice, it seems like it’s one of those things where it is what you make of it. Take the information, apply it to your own situation and run with it? You’re going to be a better teacher. Only take in the information to pass the test and forget about it? It’s not going to help you that much.

They will certainly help you bone up on grammar. For example, the present perfect vs simple past.

Job Interview Help

Finally, doing a course will hopefully help you perform better in interviews. Someone asks you what teaching approach you use? You’ll have a solid answer. Which activity you would use for situation XYZ? Hopefully you’re have some ideas. How to correct errors? No problem. A sample lesson plan? You’ll be solid. What you’ve been doing for professional development lately? Well, I just did a course!

An Online Only TEFL Course to Consider

Think that an online TEFL course might help you out? A good one to consider is International TESOL and TEFL Training. They have a few things going for them:

  1. The price
  2. A range of courses
  3. Job placement assistance
  4. A refund if you’re not happy
  5. They’re legit (a few different accreditations)

What do you think about Online TEFL Courses?

Please comment below and tell me what you think:

A. An online TEFL course is better than nothing.

B. Online TEFL courses are a waste of time and money.

C. Other, please explain.

 

About Jackie

Jackie Bolen has been teaching English for more than 15 years to students in South Korea and Canada. She's taught all ages, levels and kinds of TEFL classes. She holds an MA degree, along with the Celta and Delta English teaching certifications.

Jackie is the author of more than 30 books for English teachers and English learners, including Advanced English Conversation Dialogues and 39 No-Prep/Low-Prep ESL Speaking Activities for Teenagers and Adults. She loves to share her ESL games, activities, teaching tips, and more with other teachers throughout the world.

You can find her on social media at:
Facebook
Pinterest

« Interview with Stephen Mayeux: English Teacher turned JavaScript Developer
Activities for Private Teaching: 39 Things to Do 1-1 »
Great Debates for ESL/EFL: 39 Important Debating Topics for English Learners (Teaching ESL Speaking...
Great Debates for ESL/EFL: 39 Important Debating Topics for English Learners (Teaching ESL Speaking...
Check Price on Amazon

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. What does this mean? I recommend products (only ones that I like) and if you purchase a product through that link, I earn some money.

103 Fun ESL Games & Activities for the Classroom : Interactive, Minimal Prep TEFL Ideas for All Ages
103 Fun ESL Games & Activities for the Classroom : Interactive, Minimal Prep TEFL Ideas for All Ages
Check Price on Amazon
67 ESL Conversation Topics with Questions, Vocabulary, Writing Prompts & More: For English Teachers...
67 ESL Conversation Topics with Questions, Vocabulary, Writing Prompts & More: For English Teachers...
Check Price on Amazon
39 ESL Warm-Ups: For Teachers of Teenagers and Adults who Want to Start Their English Classes Off...
39 ESL Warm-Ups: For Teachers of Teenagers and Adults who Want to Start Their English Classes Off...
Check Price on Amazon
39 No-Prep/Low-Prep ESL Speaking Activities: For English Teachers of Teenagers and Adults Who Want...
39 No-Prep/Low-Prep ESL Speaking Activities: For English Teachers of Teenagers and Adults Who Want...
Check Price on Amazon
39 Task-Based Language Teaching and Learning Activities: A Very Practical Guide to Using TBL in the...
39 Task-Based Language Teaching and Learning Activities: A Very Practical Guide to Using TBL in the...
Check Price on Amazon

Recent Posts

  • Renewable Energy Lesson Plan for ESL Students: For Intermediate-Advanced
  • Personality Game Powerpoint | ESL Activity Personality
  • University Jobs: Teaching ESL Korea vs Japan
  • Serial Podcast for ESL Students: Happy Times all ’round
101 Activities and Resources for Teaching English Online: Practical Ideas, Games, Activities & Tips...
101 Activities and Resources for Teaching English Online: Practical Ideas, Games, Activities & Tips...
Check Price on Amazon
Sale 101 ESL Activities: For Teenagers and Adults
101 ESL Activities: For Teenagers and Adults
Check Price on Amazon

About and Contact

Jackie Bolen has been talking ESL South Korea since 2014. The goal is to bring you the best tips, ideas, and news for everything teaching English in Korea, including university jobs.

Contact Jackie Bolen and My Life! Teaching in a Korean University here.

Email: [email protected]

Address: 2436 Kelly Ave, Port Coquitlam, Canada

Find the Privacy Policy here.

Facebook

Pinterest

TikTok

YouTube

LinkedIn

Best Seller

101 ESL Activities: Games, Activities, Practical ideas, & Teaching Tips For English Teachers of...
101 ESL Activities: Games, Activities, Practical ideas, & Teaching Tips For English Teachers of...
Check Price on Amazon

Search

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Advertise on My Life! Teaching in Korean University

Recent Articles

practice-speaking-english

71 Ways to Practice Speaking English: Tips for ESL/EFL Learners

website resources for esl teachers

The 10 Best Websites for ESL Teachers

teaching-english-writing

Teaching Writing to ESL Beginners: How to do it Well

student-name-tags

Name Tags for Students in the Classroom | Making Nametags

Copyright © 2025 Jackie Bolen + My Life! Teaching in a Korean University. All Rights Reserved.