Top 10 TEFL Courses in Virginia: 2024 [Updated]

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For decades, people with teaching experiences and passion look for better ways to teach students. And one of the rewarding ways to do it is to travel and teach around the world. So for those of you who want to travel around the world for long periods and find a job to take along the way, getting a TEFL certificate will be an option for you. And you should have a passion for doing it, only then you can get the satisfaction of doing the job you are doing. Many of them have traveled around the world, teaching students and professionals of all ages. 

Here are the

Top 10 TEFL online courses in Virginia

1. Henry Harvin (San Francisco, CA):

They offer 120 hours of certified TEFL online course. The course is accredited by AAEFL (American Association of EFL) which is globally recognized and the course fee is $600.00. But the ongoing offer price is $299. This is the most affordable fee no other institutes are offering for the same online TEFL course and job opportunities.

Once you are enrolled in the program you will have access to Henry Harvin’s online LMS platform for a year which is full of good content. The course duration is for 8-12 weeks and can extend up to a year to complete if any students require as it is an online course that is self-paced. At Henry Harvin, you will get lifetime job support and assistance.

They have over 1200+ business partnerships in more than 42 countries around the world. The Media partners of Henry Harvin’s are Russia Today, Bloomberg, Japan News English, U.S News, and CCTV News. You will get internship opportunities with them as well. This academy scored a 4.8 rating, and it is the best TEFL certificate course with lifelong validity.

No prior knowledge in teaching is required nor any Degree certificate. You can be from any background and can still pursue this course. You only need to be keen on learning new things and be committed to completing the course.

2. UNI-Prep Institute:

This is a Canadian institute with 9.24 ratings. It has been around since 2005. It offers three types of courses – a Certificate course (120 hours), a Diploma course (250 hours), and the Unlimited course with a course fee of $999 per year. The course fee for the former is $195.00 and the latter is $399. It is accredited by the professional education accreditation council known as ACCREDITAT which is globally recognized. And it is one of the largest and most respected accreditation bodies.

At the end of the 120 hours TEFL course, you can choose whether to receive a TESOL or a TEFL certificate, and both meet the requirements. The online TEFL course includes video, readings, and a variety of assignments and assessments with 24X7 tutor support. It allows you to pursue the course from the comfort of your own home and can be completed at your own pace and time. 

They do help create your CVs and resumes and forward them to their partner employers. You will get access to their exclusive database of teaching jobs all around the world. Apart from this, they offer scholarship programs for those who scored high in their academics and need financial assistance. UNI-Prep has a 99% course completion and passes rate. The institute has good connections to ESL- job-related employment around the world.

3. MyTEFL:

This company offers both onsite and online TEFL courses. The onsite is currently available in Spain, Argentina, and Thailand. After the course completion, you can choose the countries you want to work with as an online English teacher: Korea, Vietnam, Spain, Myanmar, Taiwan, and Indonesia. There are three types of courses: Basic (40 hours) at $139, Standard (60 hours) at $189, Advanced (80 hours) at $249, and lastly, the Professional course (120 hours) that cost $299. 

All these courses are accredited by the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL) and it is a globally recognized body. They have a good history of providing job placements all around the world to all their students.

All the four-course programs have 24×7 tutor support, tech support, full library access, skill-based units. In the 120 hours program, you will focus on fundamental classroom management and get trained in teaching techniques and methods apart from the specific guides on teaching, reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills. Yes, this academy is at a comparatively same offer price as Henry Harvin. If you would like to sign up for MyTEFL online course, here is the link.

4. Coventry House International – ON TESOL :

When many institutes have been in existence for some years, this academy has been the leader in the Teacher Training field since 1988. It is recognized by TESL Canada and ACTDEC, UK. It is fully an online course with 4.6 ratings. The tutors are certified by TESL Canada and ACTDEC, UK,  and are recommended by School Directors globally. It is a 250 hours TESOL diploma course. 

You can view the course materials on any digital device like a laptop, smartphone, or desktop or you may even want to print them out as well. The TESOL certificate is internationally recognized. The course fee is approx. $720. And when you enroll in Teaching English to Young Learners, Teaching Business English, or Teaching IELTS with the course you can save $200. 

People from all over the world who have completed their online TESOL certification course from this academy have a successful careers. The objective is to deliver the highest standards of Teaching English to Speakers of other languages and offer a (TESOL) certification to all the students who completed the course successfully. 

5. University of Toronto’s Faculty of Education:

This University offers the OISE TEFL Certification with an 8.8 rating. The online TEFL course is of three different types that you can select from. The Basic (100 hours) is worth $995, the most popular 120 hours costs $1295 and the Premium (150 hours) is for $1495. Around 85% of graduates got a job overseas after completing the course with them. 

The 120 hours online TEFL course qualifies to teach English online with countries like China, Japan, the UAE, Hongkong, etc. However, from the 120 and 150 hours programs, you can choose two more specialization segments, focusing on anything more relevant to your career. And the specialization is based on who you would like to teach? Is it to teach English to Korean Speakers, Arabic Speakers, Mandarin Speakers (Chinese), Young Learners, Business English, and more that you can find on the website. 

There are no live class components to the OISE TEFL course. The course completion time is 2-3 months. However, since the University of Toronto’s TEFL certification online course is self-paced you get up to 1 year to complete it. 

6. International TEFL and TESOL Training (ITTT):

This institute is a very well-established course provider in the teaching field and has been offering high-quality training courses since 1988. 

There is a wider range of courses to choose from. The online TEFL certification comes with an offer price of $199. The Online Diploma course offers a fee of $499. Combine courses of online studies and practical in-class training course fee is $1195. And the 4-weeks of in-class courses are worth $1490. While the Specialized certification courses to teach young learners comes with an offer course fee starting from $175. 

Lastly, the online TEFL course with one specialization to choose from plus tutor support starts from $369. The tutor support service is only to enhance the learning experience of the student that comes with an additional and minimal cost.

The online TEFL course (170 hours) is a specialization course that is optional. However, it will help students to qualify them as an English teacher to teach online. The first 120 hours are dedicated to completing the certification program. The last 50 hours are focused on up-skilling teachers to host classes online. 

If you choose to sign up for the 170 hours course which comes with a specialization unit of learning to teach online and opting for tutor support you get a bonus of another specialized certificate course free of charge. It could be the Teaching Business English (CTBE) course certificate or the Teaching English to Young Learners (TEYL) course certificate.

All the TESOL and TEFL courses of this academy are internationally accredited. You will be provided with 100% job support after you complete the course.

You will also have access to the academy’s alumni network of graduates to connect with all the previous alumni. Most of them are currently working everywhere around the world using online as the platform to teach English to students and professionals.

Also Read: Top 15  Free TEFL Certification Courses in 2021

7. Greenheart Travel:

This school is based in Chicago, Illinois with 9.3 ratings. It’s a 190 hours TEFL/TESOL Certification course conducted on-site with an excellent view of the lake outside the classroom. However, the online session is for 170 hours. The TEFL certification course is internationally accredited by TQUK (Training Qualifications UK). Ofqual, a British Government body responsible for monitoring and maintaining educational standards in the United Kingdom regulates TQUK. 

You can select either the online or the on-site course. The course duration is four weeks. Out of the 190 hours, 20 hours is dedicated to the practicum that prepares for future classroom teaching (observation, teaching practice, lesson plan prep) It is a practicum that targets actual ESL students, and not class peers. The in-class course is limited to 12 students per class.

The TEFL course fee is $1,995. All the teachers at Greenheart Travels are highly qualified professors and Ph.D. holders. With the online TEFL certification in hand, you are eligible to apply for all the jobs abroad that Greenheart Travel is in partnership with.

A Bachelor’s Degree is a requirement for every student who enrolls in the course. The Teach Abroad programs span around countries in Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. All jobs are on a contractual basis for 6-12 months. Greenheart Travels’ job placement facility is for a lifetime and you will keep getting recommendations of job requirements everywhere in the world.

8. I-to-I:

I-to-I TEFL academy has been training students for the past 25 years and has been the world’s leading TEFL course provider ever since. The effort to bring out the best in every teacher who has enrolled in the TEFL course either online and on-site has been very promising and has helped to send students overseas every year to fulfill their dreams.

You can combine two modes of learning (online and on-site). And this is to train you to have the right skills and get the confidence to start teaching English overseas. It has earned a rating of 4.6 and has trained more than 182000 students to date. It is accredited by ODLQC (Open Distance Learning Quality Council).

They have 5 levels of online TEFL certification course: The 240 hours course costs $478 – 180 hours of online training and 60 hours of teaching one-to-one and online. The 260 hours course is for $647.50. The 300 hours course cost $518.00. Lastly, the 320 hours course fee is $747.50. All these are comprehensive courses of International standards and are globally recognized.

I-to-I TEFL Internships programs locations are in Thailand, Vietnam, China, Spain, and Cambodia. The only downside of this course is that it is a little on the expensive side since the internship is mandatory and is a critical feature for a student’s job placement.

9. Premier TEFL:

Premier TEFL academy is well trusted by employers worldwide. It has earned some good ratings with 4.3 out of 5 stars. It boasts its high approval ratings from students and alumni for all its accredited TEFL course programs.

There are six options for their accredited TEFL programs that you can choose from. They provide high-value benefits that are at an affordable rate. The online TEFL course hours are 120, 240, 250, 168, 290, 300 hours. The course fee starts from $40 to $369.50 per course.

A Level 5 or Hybrid TEFL online course is highly recommended. It can help you to qualify to teach English abroad. This course will help boost your earning capabilities in this booming, yet competitive market. It is a combination of both online and on-site courses. Apart from this, there are another ten hours of virtual teaching practice to help further the experience of an actual classroom session. The standard of teacher training is very well defined and thus meets international standards. 

10. Bridge Education Group:

Bridge Education institute is among the most experienced in teacher training for 30 years. The Bridge TEFL course is accredited by ACCET (Accrediting Council for Continued Education and Training) and ACE CREDIT. 

The online TEFL course is to be completed in 3 months and you have other special online courses of 20-60 hours (Teaching Young Learners, Teenagers, Business English) that you can opt for more. They also have a 60-Hour Foundations course in Online Teaching, and 60 hours of Advanced Online Teaching course. You can enroll in either one of them or both courses.

This certification course opens more opportunities for you if you want to take your career in teaching English abroad to a higher level. 

You also have a wide range of courses to choose from and enroll in, both online and on-site. However, 120 hours is the most preferred option to qualify for most of the teaching jobs to teach abroad or online. 

The other course is a Speciality course and the fee starts from ($110 -$995). The cost of their courses varies depending on the number of hours and the type of classes you are interested to enroll in. They have IDELT certification programs as well that are more advanced than the TEFL certifications. The other 140 hours IDELT Certificate programs cost $1995, and the Cambridge CELTA course fee costs $2495. You get internship opportunities and job placements as well.  

All online TEFL-certified students do get job assistance lifelong after the course is complete. You can have access to the best online teaching job portal of the academy that offers high-paying job opportunities or any companies that are in partnership with the academy.

Since the growing number of students wanting to learn The English language is ever increasing in countries where it is not the native language, so the demand for English teachers abroad is always high.

And by far teaching English abroad has always been the most sought-after job because of the high demand for it as it is necessary for trade and commerce and communications with people across the world.

The perks about the job are that you have the freedom to teach online from anywhere around the world, set your rate and schedule. The only prerequisites to it are to be qualified and get certified. The certification has to be from a globally recognized body, so choose the course that is best for you!

After you complete the course your certificate will be emailed to you in 2 weeks’ time and a hard copy will be mailed to your address as well by the academy that you completed the course from.

How to proceed?

To venture into this career field of education, one must obtain a certificate. There is a TEFL certificate (Teaching English as a Foreign Language), a TESOL certificate (Teaching English to speakers of other languages), and a TESL certificate (Teaching English in native speaking English countries to speakers of foreign languages). These certificates are similar to each other. But there are some subtle differences between the three acronyms, and that depends upon your specialization and the objective you want to take up the course. 

However, all certificates certify you as a professional English Foreign language teacher. But a TEFL certificate is a preferred and widely accepted certification for the teaching profession and it is quite a comprehensive course.

How to choose the right institute?

Many companies offer a TEFL course at various locations. But, such courses are not easily available or maybe they are at a far-off location. And traveling to those places to enroll in the course is quite inconvenient. So, people look for TEFL courses online. Like the International TEFL Academy has only three schools, one in Hawaii, Seattle, and Chicago. So, the online TEFL course is made available to give aspirants the option to take the course online and get started with it. 

In this course, you will learn to teach the English language professionally. It will help you get a new career or your upgraded existing career to start immediately after the course is over, which you can do online. With this TEFL certificate in hand, you can teach everywhere around the globe that has a job market for teaching English.

Which mode of learning is better?

You might wonder if online courses offer the same value and attention as they would give to students in the class. Well, the answer is yes! The online and on-site courses offer the same value when compared to each other. The only difference is that it is done from the comfort of your own home.

With online, the instructor saves more time for himself in traveling to and from the academy. However, they make sure that they get the job done and deliver it efficiently. And with the growing popularity of students looking for TEFL courses online, all on-site courses have now transitioned to conducting it online as well without compromising on quality teaching. 

All institutes have the best instructors who are highly qualified Ph.D. holders. They are also certified by recognized TEFL academies. They teach students both in class and online.

They have instructors who would dedicate his or her time to train you and follow-up with you to make sure you are on the right track and at the right pace with the curriculum. And the kind of feedback you would get would be exactly as they would give to a student in the class. So you need not have to worry about the credibility of choosing to do it online instead of on-site. A practicum is not required for most ESL jobs.

Recommended Read:
– What is TEFL Certification
– Top 10 TEFL Certification Program in 2021
– Top 5 Programs to Get Your TEFL Certification in South Africa
– Top 50 Best TEFL Certification Courses
– TEFL Vs. TESOL

 

 

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