TEFL courses like the one at Via Lingua are rewarding yet challenging, and you WILL succeed if you follow a few key guidelines:
1. Know the course curriculum, daily class hours, and expectations. Legitimate, well-accredited TEFL courses are intensive and for good reason: you finish the course with a life-long ticket to teach anywhere in the world.
2. Minimize your responsibilities outside of the course as much as possible. Don’t get me wrong, some people have succeeded whilst balancing a family, a job or university assignments, but you greatly increase your chance for success - and enjoyment - when you put any other excess responsibilities on hold for those 4 weeks.
3. Do the pre-course assignments. Prior to the course, The Via Lingua TEFL administrators email all accepted trainees a list of recommended grammar/teaching books and grammar exercises. Take advantage of these so you can hit the ground running.
4. Prioritize and manage your time. This sounds obvious, but it is something much easier said than done. On the first day of the course, we often ask trainees what their strengths and weaknesses are and one of the most common weaknesses is - you guessed it - procrastination. If this is you, be honest with yourself about it now, so you can make a game plan.
5. Trust the trainers and the process. You are in good hands with your team of trainers and administrators, who are not only experts in the EFL field, but who have seen the victories and the struggles that trainees have gone through and they know how to help. Due to classes being small, trainers will also help you based on your individual needs.
6. Communicate with your trainers. Anyone who teachers a TEFL course does it because they care about the success of their trainees and want you to feel comfortable in your learning environment, so don’t be shy about expressing how you’re doing in the course or even just having a little chat. After all, we are all human with many common life experiences!
By reading this, you’re already making a big step toward a certificate that will change you and your life for the better.