Becky is an avid rock climber and outdoor enthusiast and is now living in France as an expat. When she is not writing about travel gear and various destinations she has visited during her travels, you can find her playing with her two dogs.
Okay, so, before I can tell you about this amazing opportunity and experience that anyone can have, I first have to express just how much I’m in love with Europe. Being born in Europe, I’ve grown up with the perks of the EU’s freedom of movement so I’ve been able to travel all over – thus began my love affair with this continent! Even from a young age, I fell in love with the diversity of countries all merged together, a melting pot of cultures, cuisine, languages, and landscapes, and I was always amazed how these things could change so much over each country border. As I’ve grown up, this infatuation has only grown stronger as well, so my fascination and need to explore it is quite intense.
So, I was born in Europe, I live in Europe and I can safely say that I’m a full blown Europhile. What I’m ashamed to say, however, is that there is a hell of a lot of this continent that I haven’t seen. While Europe is amazing, it can be quite expensive in places, so imagine my excitement when I came across the Anglo-TEFL-Scholarship! A cultural exchange programme that allows you to explore Europe with minimal costs and get accredited teaching experience? Where do I sign up? That’s literally what I said.
The best thing about Premier TEFL is the amount of support that they give you whether before the programme, throughout the course or even long after, helping you to find new opportunities, internships or teaching jobs. In fact, unlike most teaching English companies, you tend to become a part of their community, receiving and providing support for other Anglo-TEFL scholars too! With such a reliable and credible company offering a variety of flexible TEFL courses spread over the globe, it was a no-brainer really to join this great community of like-minded people.
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Although Premier TEFL offers so many different courses in different countries, the Anglo-TEFL-Scholarship in Europe ticked all the right boxes for me. There is a variety of options and I loved the fact that you could mix and match elements to create your ideal course. For example, you could choose between one, two or three weeks of teaching practice, and apply for one location, or multiple cities in one location, or multiple cities in multiple countries. To see the options and entry requirements for the course, see the scholarship pageon their website.
So the Anglo-TEFL-Scholarship combines 120 hours of advanced TEFL teacher training online with up to 200 hours of live practice with a company called Angloville, depending on whether you opt for one, two or three weeks. City transfers, hotel accommodation and three meals a day are included, and if you do the three-week programme, you get most of your money refunded (£50 out of your initial £65 payment). Sounds too good to be true right? Well, it is true and I’ve got the certificate to prove it!
My Premier TEFL family
To give you an idea of what to expect from the course, I’ve broken down my three-week Anglo-TEFL-Scholarship in the Czech Republic and Poland into its two elements.
Although it’s not an absolute requirement, it’s beneficial if you complete (or at least make a good go of) the online course before your practical experience. Again, this isn’t completely necessary and you won’t be at a disadvantage if you don’t, but some of the techniques you learn are quite handy to know if you’re struggling to teach your students or if they are having difficulty understanding a concept.
As I was a complete TEFL beginner with no previous teaching experience whatsoever, I opted for the 120 hours course as this is the minimum that Premier TEFL offered. Apparently, the majority of TEFL employers prefer to hire teachers that have 120 hours of experience or above and they tend to offer better salaries so it makes complete sense.
So what can you expect from the online course?
3 months flexible study time – you have 3 months to complete 120 hours of online training which is plenty. It may even take you more or fewer hours than this depending on how you work through the material and you can work from any device.
10 modules with tasks and an end of module quiz – each module trains you in all the fundamental skills you will need to teach English as a second or foreign language. The completion of each quiz then allows you to progress to the next module.
70+ page grammar eBook
Downloadable TEFL course book
Personal tutor support
Expert job hunting advice
ODLQC & TQUK accredited qualification
Internationally recognized certificate
Practical Portion: 200hrs Observed Teaching Practice
Okay, so this is the part of the scholarship with Angloville that is just the icing on the cake! For your practical element, you get to choose between 11 stunning European cities throughout the UK, Ireland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Malta, and Romania, where you will be put up in luxury accommodation and fed three times a day. No, it’s not a dream! You will spend your days talking 24/7 to amazing local people and fellow volunteers in beautiful locations, so, although tiring, it’s definitely no hardship.
A lot of people worry that you need teaching experience or you need to know your grammar or have a ridiculously wide vocabulary, but you really don’t. In fact, a lot of the students on these courses know more grammar than we do! The aim and success of this programme is actually just complete language immersion to get a solid week of conversational English practice. Easy right? Surprisingly, it’s actually exhausting (and we speak English!).
So what can you expect from the practical experience with Angloville?
Free city walking tours and lunch – the day before each course begins, you get to explore the city with a local guide and meet your fellow Angloville volunteers. It’s a great opportunity to see the sights, mingle before your week, and eat local food.
Luxury accommodation
Three meals per day
Conversational English teaching – this will be a mixture of one-on-ones, two-on-twos and working in small groups, as well as meal and leisure time socialising. In your sessions, you will be provided with conversation suggestions or activity-based tasks such as practice in pronunciation, negotiation or talking on the telephone etc.
Leisure time – you will get a break in the middle of the day and at the end of the day to use the hotel facilities and explore the area or grab a beer after a hard days work!
Entertainment hour – each day ends with some fun and games which is never the same on each course as it depends on what some of the volunteers come up with. On one of my courses, there was a guy who taught us Salsa!
Views from the Prague Castle
Anglo-TEFL-Scholarship: Our Verdict
I think it goes without saying but I’m going to anyway, this experience was flipping awesome! The whole thing, from exploring new European countries and immersing myself in new cultures to meeting so many amazing people and making new connections all over the globe, was just amazing. Not to mention how much great local food you have and the fact that you get certified at the end! I think I can speak for everyone I met on these courses when I say that this experience was one to remember and one that changes you for the better.
For an unpaid TEFL scholarship where you don’t need any previous experience, just your natural fluency in English and a passion for adventure, I was really impressed how convenient and organised this experience was too. Everything was coordinated perfectly from the city tour at the beginning to the drop off at the end, yet you had the freedom to be independent on the weekends and evenings to explore as much or as little of the locations as you wanted. You’ve probably guessed by my overall tone (and the fact that I can’t contain my excitement) that I definitely think that the Anglo-TEFL-Scholarship is a course worth doing for the unforgettable experience as well as the lifelong skills it provides you with.
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By now you know that we love advocating working for yourself as you can work on your own terms from anywhere in the world, and this is exactly what Premier TEFL is allowing people to do! Not only do they provide you with such an epic experience that will leave you inspired, but they also give you the tools to help you make that first step to making your dreams of living and working abroad come true. If you’re passionate about self-growth and enthusiastic about travel, this is one adventure that is worth the investment to better your future and open up new and exciting opportunities!
If you want to find out how to make your European dreams a reality, check out the Premier TEFL scholarship program and fall in love with Europe, just like I did.
Thanks for suggesting the course for Premier TEFL. I have found it way better than most of the TEFL classes online.