posted
Good day ,please lend me your ears ur infos are all welcome.JUst signed up an online tefl course this summer but during this crisis it is quite expensive for me around 1600usd without accomodation.Is there any cheaper somewhere in alex.I have plans of shifting career and pursue teaching.We are currently in alex with my entire family.By the way,Im not a native speaker
-------------------- Why is my reflections someone I don't know? Posts: 25 | From: alex d' great | Registered: Apr 2008
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posted
Good day ,please lend me your ears ur infos are all welcome.JUst signed up an online tefl course this summer but during this crisis it is quite expensive for me around 1600usd without accomodation.Is there any cheaper somewhere in alex.I have plans of shifting career and pursue teaching.We are currently in alex with my entire family.By the way,Im not a native speaker
-------------------- Why is my reflections someone I don't know? Posts: 25 | From: alex d' great | Registered: Apr 2008
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posted
I took the TEFL course in Alexandria two years ago. Accommodation was available on a school owned compound. You are more than welcome to find your own apartment, but I would not suggest this for the following reasons:
1. Transportation will be a problem if you stay off the compound. Classes for first two weeks are sometimes done on compound so you will spend a fortune in taxis back and forth. Also if you stay on the compound then you can always use TEFL transportation to and from your classes/teaching sessions which can end as late as 9 pm.
2. Being with other TEFL students on the compound will help with homework and/or other projects that will have to be done.
NOTE: According to this website the $1,690 price DOES include accommodation.
Posts: 1626 | From: whatever, wherever | Registered: Jul 2008
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quote:Originally posted by Audrey Hepburn: Hi,was the course good you took. Would you recommend it?
Yes, the course was good. Some minor complaints about the Egypt program were unorganization, photocopied books (where other programs gave proper textbooks), some students complained about the accommodation - all stuff that anyone who has lived in Egypt is used to.
Overall, I thought it was a great experience although the 4 week TEFL course is not enough to get you a teaching job in Cairo. This fact is slightly misrepresented in the program website. Egypt is not a TEFL country (like Korea, Japan, and Thailand) where teachers are hired to teach using TEFL methods. Most schools in Egypt (not only international schools) want properly trained, credentialed and certified teachers.
Posts: 1626 | From: whatever, wherever | Registered: Jul 2008
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posted
Thanks Clear and QSY for the infos.So if then I completed the course,whats next?If this course isnt enough.I really thought if Im certified it would open a window of oppurtunity for me and would start teaching. How about you is the course helpful? any other infos are very much appreciated.
-------------------- Why is my reflections someone I don't know? Posts: 25 | From: alex d' great | Registered: Apr 2008
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posted
There's a place in agamy that does TEFL courses, is it the one that used to be in Miami? If so it should be cheaper than $1600.
Posts: 1399 | From: alexandria | Registered: Jan 2002
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posted
To be really honest with you, unless you have previous teaching experience you may find this simple 4 week TEFL certificate useless when looking for a job. Things have changed in Egypt and in the past it was enough to be a native speaker to get offered a position at a school.
If you want a decent job with a decent salary and decent benefits (3,000 LE to 12,000 LE with apartment, etc.) then you pretty much have to have previous teaching experience. I had many schools even refuse to take an application from me. They are looking for at the very least a 4 year college degree. At the very most Master's degree, teacher certification in your home country.
Now, I had lots of previous work experience - ranging from Administrative Assistant to Group Leader in Plastics Manufacturing to Retail Sales, etc. and for me teaching would have been a major career change. I thought that the TEFL certificate would give me what I needed to make this change. I was very wrong. Without the other credentials you will find yourself being offered "assistant teacher positions" for a salary of 900 LE to 1,200 LE per month.
I even had one school offer me 1,000 LE and said "we are offering you the same salary that Egyptian teachers who have graduated from AUC are getting".
You can find your TEFL cert useful for low paying jobs and private lessons.
Of course, the situation is very different in other countries where they hire TEFL teachers. The difference is in Egypt they want classroom teachers to teach all subjects. A TEFL teacher is one who enters a classroom behind the native teacher and gives only conversational English lessons and does not do any of the actual teaching (grammar lessons, lesson plans, etc.)
That is the part that was misrepresented on the TEFL websites where they talk about job placement opportunities. These types of opportunities are plentiful in Asia and Japan, Korea, etc. but not so much in Egypt.
So if you want to take the class in Egypt and then use your certificate to find employment in another country you can do so. Otherwise, if you are looking at teaching as a career change - Egypt is not really the right place for that.
Posts: 1626 | From: whatever, wherever | Registered: Jul 2008
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quote:Originally posted by Mo Ning Min E: There's a place in agamy that does TEFL courses, is it the one that used to be in Miami? If so it should be cheaper than $1600.
There is only one TEFL course offered in Alex. The Agami location is where the student housing conpound is located. The actual offices and classrooms are located in Stanley although they used to be located in Miami area. They bus the students from Agami to the classrooms every day.
The program is $1,690 including accommodation. I did the 10 week program which included a teaching internship and Arabic classes and this was close to $1,800.
Posts: 1626 | From: whatever, wherever | Registered: Jul 2008
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posted
@clear and QSY; thank u for clearing it all up,now Im giving it a second thought,hmmmm im just wondering what to do,I really thought Im busy this summer then when the school opens I will start to teach. Anyways thank you again,and good luck for and me....
-------------------- Why is my reflections someone I don't know? Posts: 25 | From: alex d' great | Registered: Apr 2008
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quote:Originally posted by ivory: @clear and QSY; thank u for clearing it all up,now Im giving it a second thought,hmmmm im just wondering what to do,I really thought Im busy this summer then when the school opens I will start to teach. Anyways thank you again,and good luck for and me....
If you have a decent 4 year college degree in something that can be translated to the education field (Political Science can teach social studies, Biology can teach science, etc.) then you really don't need the TEFL. It won't help much in Egypt.
In my case I was unable to find a job because I have NO college degree at all.
The jobs I was offered were at national level schools (NOT international) and the salaries were very low and working conditions not that great. That is why I gave up and decided not to try to get other teaching jobs in Cairo. I could not see myself working 45 to 50 hours per week (plus commute) for 1,000 LE ($180) per month. For me it was a personal choice since I decided the stress of it all was not worth the money. For a single foreigner living in Egypt it would be virtually impossible to support yourself on this salary unless you live with your family or have flat mates. The international schools are the ones that offer the good salary and housing accommodation or at least a salary that will allow you to pay your own rent.
I did offer private lessons for a while, but when teaching adults privately they tend to cancel quite a bit and it's unreliable.
Posts: 1626 | From: whatever, wherever | Registered: Jul 2008
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posted
I have a degree in business administration did u mean I have a chance + the tefl certificate?But im not a native speaker? but good for since u have certificate only but still u have job offers.I really dont want to waste my time and money for the training and still with no job offer.
-------------------- Why is my reflections someone I don't know? Posts: 25 | From: alex d' great | Registered: Apr 2008
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posted
I think that you should try to apply for jobs first without taking the TEFL. You can save the money for the course if you don't need to take it.
I don't regret taking the class because I had a great experience with it. But looking back, I wish I had not wasted the money.
Posts: 1626 | From: whatever, wherever | Registered: Jul 2008
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TEFL isn't really needed to work here tbh... of course personally it may help you when you are in work but it is by no means an aid to getting work.
My first job here was in Teaching and I got paid 5500 le for working 35 hrs a week. This was with no teaching experience or TEFL.. it was just a job to pay the way.
Posts: 11097 | From: Cairo | Registered: May 2008
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posted
i really dont know where to start on my job hunting,to be honest Im not really sure if Im confident enough to face future job interviews and my resume is quite boring shall I say.For me, to be able to compete with other job seekers is to equipped my self with trainings,do short term computer courses.To make the situation worst Im not Egyptian and dont know anyone here(except my family and in laws).Time change now I need to get back to work to be a support to my husband and since my children are now growing so fast(my God I cant believe Ive been married for 7 years now). but the big question mark is Where do I go from here?I just hope and pray that we made the right decision,to settle down here and a fresh start.
-------------------- Why is my reflections someone I don't know? Posts: 25 | From: alex d' great | Registered: Apr 2008
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posted
What is your native language? Is it possible you could get a job teaching that language?
Posts: 1626 | From: whatever, wherever | Registered: Jul 2008
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