The TEFL & TESOL ESL Training program is $300 million industry and more than half of it is a scam. Why? Here are the three big reasons you need to know BEFORE you sign up or pay a deposit for any such training no matter how big the company (The biggest scam is run by a $50 million company in the U.K.)
1. Contrary to what you are told on the telephone by sales reps and China job recruiters (sales agents who collect commissions for referrals) THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO REQUIREMENT TO HAVE A TEFL OR A TESOL CERTIFICATE IN CHINA!!!!! If you don't believe this just check with SAFEA's information office in China (http://www.SAFEA.gov.cn) or visit
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2. There are no online TEFL or TESOL certificates that are accepted nor recognized in China even from that huge U.K. company (OnlineTEFL.com and their sister company i-to-i.com) 90% of all the TEFL/TESOL certificates are only good in countries where you probably don't want to teach anyway like Haiti, Portugal, Somalia, Uganda, El Salvador, Algeria, Yemen, Mali, Sudan, Libya, etc.
3. Less than 2% of the 19,000+ schools and learning centers in China that hire foreign teachers even ask if you have one, and less than 5% of the 30,000 expat foreign teachers do have a TESOL or TEFL certificate and they do not make any more money than other teachers who do not. Maybe you will in fact become a better teacher by taking a TEFL or TESOL course but you are not going to learn much on-line and all China really needs and want for you to teach there is the following:
a) A Bachelor degree in any major
b) Two years prior work experience
c) English Fluency
d) Police certificate proving that you have no criminal record
e) A valid passport with a Z visa (work visa)
So anyone who tries to tell you something different than the above is hustling you. Still don't believe it? Check out these links:
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Just remember, every time you talk to anyone in China about working there, the vultures are circling for a free lunch - YOU! There are 139 such vulture companies and they are listed on the CFTU China Black List. Sign nothing until you read that list and read the scam alerts at Removed link (BW)
