INTERNATIONAL TEFL ACADEMY
TEFL COURSE REVIEWS & TESTIMONIALS

The ITA online course is an incredible program if you want an affordable TEFL/TESOL certification course that allows you to earn your certification while living your own life, be it with school, work, or whatever. Recruiters answer all of your questions, instructors respond in a timely manner with useful feedback, and job search assistants help you get wherever you want to go. Most of all, this course is useful! The lessons you create there can be used in job applications/interviews, as well as in the classroom when you finally begin teaching. ITA also mandate that you teach 20 hours practicum, which may be intimidating at first, but provides you real-world teaching experience that sets your application apart from others.

Everything has a starting point, good and bad. This is a starting point for me. Taking this course is the first step in being able to travel, to learn new things, meet new people, and experience things I haven't before. Starting things can be scary, that first step is necessary for everything else that follows. The ITA has made that first step possible. Not only do they add a comprehensive course that leads to a teaching certificate, but there are also many ways that they make sure the student is ready to become the teacher. The course itself is wonderful and covers all things that a potential teacher would need to know. Each lesson is applicable to a real-world setting. The coursework and content are intensive and similar to an online college course, but that is to ensure we are prepared to step out into the world of ESL.

In my experience, every staff member knows their stuff. If someone you are already in contact with doesn't have the answer to your question, there is someone at the ITA who does. Other than the course they have a wonderful job search department, as well as ways to connect with fellow alumni from the ITA. They want to make sure that you aren't only prepared to teach, but also help you find work. For me, a third of the appeal for signing up with the ITA was that it has many graduates around the globe that can attest to its effectiveness. Another third is that they have a department specifically designated to get you to that next step after completing the course, which is a job. You won't be finishing the course wondering what to do next because they will help you with everything that comes next. The tuition is pricey, but honestly, it was worth the money, I can see it paying for itself in no time. I'm not as anxious as I used to be about teaching abroad because I feel prepared to take that second step.

My school experience was amazing here. It's an EXTREMELY intense four-week course - I felt like I was back in the thick of graduate school. This is what a perspective student should look for though. They do not pressure you to sign up or give them money - they give you all the information and wait for you to decide when you're ready. It took me almost two years between the time I first inquired about attending and the time I actually did, and they never once harassed me. Once I was ready, they were extremely helpful and made sure I knew what would be expected of me in terms of work load and time requirements. I was able to student-teach real classes of students of varying skill levels, as well as complete a needs analysis and private lesson for one of the English language students.

This school teaches you everything, from how to teach a particular demographic to lesson plan ideas. I think the job search guidance alone makes this program light years ahead of other ones I researched. The instructors are very experienced and knowledgeable (my afternoon instructor was a grammatical genius) and support you EVERY STEP of the way. I left the corporate world after 15 years to pursue this adventure and I feel more confident than ever that the decision was the right one. The school is located in a great neighborhood in Chicago's north side so if you have the opportunity to stay nearby, I would highly recommend it. I feel like I've made a new family here and I hope others will do what I did, take the plunge, and study here.

The online TEFL course was perfect for me. I am a stay at home mom and was looking for a way to get some training to start tutoring English learners in my hometown and online. The course was great for providing resources, tips, and preparing me for what to expect as I start teaching. I like that the course requires practicum hours to gain hands-on experience in the classroom and with English learners. Overall, I had a great experience. Staff members and my instructor were extremely helpful and understanding. ITA offers so much help and resources during the course and afterward when you start job searching.

Overall, I had an amazing experience at ITA Chicago. I met some wonderful people who I know I'll be friends with for the rest of my life because we bonded so closely and shared some incredible moments together that I hold dear to my heart. The TEFL course was a huge step for me... it was the beginning of a new life. A new adventure. A new chapter. The enrollment process got me super excited. Felicia was extremely helpful, honest, passionate, and most importantly she was not pushy. The course itself was highly demanding and stressful but that's what your classmates (and roomies if you're lucky like I was) are there for. Lean on each other when you need it and don't give up... no matter how tough it gets - power through it. It's only 4 weeks! In the end, I would 110% recommend this course to anyone and everyone. It led me to Paris, France. It landed me a full-time teaching job. It provided me with a stepping stone to travel the world. And to me, this is a dream come true.