Review of Star-Tefl
Star-Tefl’s objective is simple, to give each one of our clients all the tools and confidence they need to help them make their first steps towards a successful career as Tefl teachers. We are confident that we are good at what we do, we believe that with your positive attitude and our training anyone can become a successful TEFL teacher.
Types of Courses
Online Courses,
TEFL Courses,
Weekend Courses
Locations of Courses
Ireland,
UK
Accreditations
The College of Teachers
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| Practice Teaching |  |
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Map of Main Campus
Founded in: 2011
Phone: +44 800 0337 928
Email: support@star-tefl.com
Social Media Links
43 Customer Reviews of Star-Tefl
Review by Emma, January 26, 2012
I am part the way through a 160 hour combined Star-Tefl course, and I have completed the 20 hours weekend course.
I found the weekend course was well designed, so that it reinforced what you had learnt from the online section, if you had done it, and if you haven’t done it, it was easily learnt. I particularly found the grammar section, as well as feedback on teaching and lesson planning useful. Since completing the weekend course I have been able to put lesson plans together a lot quicker than before.
Our trainer, Roy, provided the right level of learning with fun balance, which I think helped me learn the content more easily, as well as smiling and laughing a lot. I also thought it was a brilliant idea teaching us all in Polish, so we knew what it felt like to be students in our classrooms, plus I now know some Polish!
I think the online section is laid out well, it is broken down nicely and the language is not too complex, so you can focus on the meaning and learning. I think the test and project page submission is also a great idea, so it tests you on the content, but helps you learn practical skills for when you are teaching.
All in all, so far a good experience.
I would definately recommend Star-Tefl to people I know.
Review by James, January 30, 2012
I have recently completed the 20 hour class and I have to say it was actually a really great weekend. I went into it doubting my abilities and dreading it as a nessecary thing. My fears were soon put to rest by Roy who was hilarious and made the entire event a joy to take part in. It was well laid out and presented in a way that was more of a discussion that a lecture which helped me settled into it.
I have since recommended course to friends and 2 have even signed up for the online portion.
Review by Tory, February 28, 2012
I have completed the 140 hour online Star-TEFL course which was easy to use and there is lots of infomation provided on all areas of teaching and learning. The project pages are great to use what you have learnt and practice using this in lesson planning. I think the behaviour/class management section is great for people who have never been in a classroom as it gives an idea of the challenges you face as a teacher.
The online feedback I recieved was always quick which allowed me to move on quickly to the next section. Roy (Star-TEFL tutor) has been really supportive and given appropiate feedback to help me progress. I have also had great advice on teaching in Asia.
The new layout of the website is better as you can look back at your tests and the answers you gave; which is good for revision. Overall the online course has been great! I think it is well designed to be accessible to anyone who wants to go into teaching English, even if you have no experience in teaching already, it is straighforward and prepares you to go into the classroom.
I am so grateful to Roy for all his help and support.
Review by Helen, March 20, 2012
Having recently completed a weekend TEFL course through STAR-TEFL, in March 2012. I would just like to let others know it was an absoloutely worthwhile and great experience! The course was structured very well, the tutor Roy, was fantastic, extremely funny yet professional, friendly, informative and very helpful! Roy provided the right level of information,kept students laughing at same time ensured that all students knew the course content. I would not have wanted to do my training with anyone else. ‘Super’, as he says. There were 7 students on this particular course, which again is a plus side to using this company, ensuring the class size is not too big, thus enabling an excellent teacher :student ratio. All the students were absoloutely wonderful, friendly, talkative and we all worked very well together. The course took place in excellent premises and location.
The online course, which I am near to ending, is put together very well. Clear concise information and lay-out. The online tests are easy to access and do. Your pass/ fail result is delivered very prompt, with feedback and support should you require it.
Roy offered useful information to students at the end of the course regarding applying for jobs and basic information on different countries in which to teach TEFL.
For anyone wanting to complete a TEFL course, I would definitely recommend it and to use STAR TEFL. Well done Star Tefl.
Review by adam tindall, July 24, 2012
The course was ok and easy to understand. However,the amount of spelling mistakes in the course made it look very unprofessional. The feedback wasn’t great. ”Keep up the good work,well done you’ve passed” is not good feedback. I am sure there is always something to improve. Not sure how far you can get with this course but I would not recommend it.
Review by Alex, December 1, 2012
The online course begins with basic units on an introduction to teaching and the differences between a TEFL classroom and a regular classroom before moving on to more complicated modules on teaching styles, classroom organisation, student behaviour, grammatical exercises, vocabulary drilling techniques and more.
At its heart is the emphasis on the challenges and requirement for alternative and perhaps more creative means of engaging with students who don’t speak the same language as you.
The course material is delivered concisely and has struck a fine balance of giving enough examples of a situation or grammatical construction so that the person studying understands, but isn’t too bored and disengaged by dry text book style rules on English language.
The material gives practical tips of what to do in situations such as dealing with unruly students, being aware of local customs, the different stages of a TEFL lesson and games to help students relax and really enjoy learning a new langauge in your classroom.
Each module has an exam and essay project to complete. The exam component usually tests that you have understood the topic covered, while the project usually asks you to describe what you would do in a situation, the positives and negatives of a certain teaching style or other questions that require you to imagine a new solution and describe what the learning outcomes would be.
Assessments are usually marked very quickly (with 1 or 2 days) and given back to you with feedback. However, some of this feedback seems to come from a template and doesn’t help if you’d like to improve the areas you are weaker in.
The staff at Star are very nice and my queries have always been resolved by someone who has shown that they are very courteous and professional.
I’d recommend this course to anyone who has an interest in travelling and paying their way by means of teaching. It introduces things to people (like myself) who don’t have a background in delivering education but the content makes me feel more confident in being able to do this when the time comes.
Very good and reasonably priced.
- Alex.
Review by Ifrah ahmed, December 14, 2012
Hi
The course is very good, content wise better then most. Because my husband did I to I and he told me the content in star tefl is more comprehensive. And the guidance to the lesson planning is broken down to digestible pieces, which gave me the confidence to do a full lesson plan at the end.
I would like to thank the star tefl team for all they have done to support me. I already have some offers, so tefl world here I come.
Thank you
Ifrah Ahmed
Review by Jibran Perwaiz, December 23, 2012
I have just recently completed my Online TEFL course and i have to say the support throughout was immense. The course has opened many doors for me and i would highly recommend this course for anyone looking to teach abroad. Since completion of this course i have applied for many jobs and i have been fortunate enough to receive 2 interview dates for 2 different jobs.
The course itself is very well structured and the support from the tutors was extremely reliable and effective. Gaining this certificate has given me the confidence to apply for any job as Star TEFL is a well recognised institute and again i would highly recommend this course.
Review by Amrin, January 9, 2013
The Star Tefl 180 hours is the first on-line course I have undertaken.
Initially I was quite dubious of doing an on-line course and that in teaching.
I wanted to undertake a TEFL course that would give me the confidence and skills to be able to teach English abroad.
One that would allow me to fuse together my love for travelling and learning.
The course exceeded any expectations that I had. The site was easy to navigate and completed and submitted lesson plans were simple to submit.
Feedback was prompt and I felt this motivated me as I was not hanging about waiting for the results.
I noticed a change in the way feedback was given midway through the course and this was good as it contained constructive critism.
I was then able to reflect on this criticism for the next unit.
The contents of the course are well thought out and cover a whole range of areas.
One thing that initially struck me was that material is written by people who have first hand experience in the field.
This makes the course more appealing and stimulating rather then the dry theory I had expected.
As some one who does have experience in both primary and secondary classroom setting, the course gave me a lot of food for thought and offered practical tips around behaviour management and ice-breakers.
StarTefl is a professional organisation and staff are very helpful and prompt in answering any queries.
The course is excellent value for money and flexible so I was able to complete it at my own pace.
I would not hesitate to recommend Star Tefl to those who would like to have a qualification in this field.
My Tefl certificate is a new passport to a new world!
Review by Alan Gardiner, January 11, 2013
I decided to take the online course as it would allow me the freedom to learn from it in my own time while I’m at university.
The online course is set up into manageable chunks which provide a lot of information. However, this doesn’t mean that information is cramped in with dry use of words. Instead, it is written as easily as possible for anyone to understand the content without cutting corners. Lots of examples are given for different teaching situations and and it makes one confident in preparing for a lesson in the future.
This is emphasised further by the tests and projects that are needed in order to complete the course. The tests are short, but do require that you understand the content, while the projects are a lot longer and would benefit from spending more time over them as it is similar to what you might have to do when planning for lessons. In essence, it’s giving a chance to put knowledge into practice.
The tutors seem nice from the contact I had with them through email, and respond fairly fast. They were helpful with queries. I didn’t have much problems with thr content of the course, but I understand that if there was any problems with anything then I could email them to get some help. It says on the course that if you fail the tests a certain amount of time or are struggling then the tutor would contact you, and I don’t have a reason to doubt it.
However there is one minor point. Contrary to the helpfulness with contacting by email, some feedback seem a little on the short side. Though on tests it might be harder as I got quite high marks, with projects where it is more open, more feedback would be more helpful.
However, despite that point, there is more merit in this course then not and would recommend this to anyone who is interested in learning to teach English as a foreign language, especially if you need the time to go at your own pace and are worried that the content would be too difficult.
Review by K Oliver, January 14, 2013
This is a great course if you have to do your qualification via distance learning.
The communication from the staff is prompt and and they are extremely helpful when it comes to dealing with your individual needs.
I feel like the course is great value for money. And am excited to use my new qualification on my next trip abroad.
The Qualification is recognised by many different companies and is extremely useful.
The lessons are well structured and you can learn at your own pace.
I already have a wealth of teaching experience, so I was able to marry my teaching skills with those learned from the course.
I would recommend this course to anyone wishing to teach English as a foreign language.
Review by L Bucinikas, January 15, 2013
I would recommend this course to anyone. The content is spot on and the tutors are truthful, efficient and helpful. Communications are excellent and there is always someone to help. The course notes are good although I found some of the questions to be a bit ambiguous for anyone who doen’t know the ‘jargon’ however, an email soon clarified any queries that I had. Feedback could be a bit more detailed e.g if you don’t get a perfect score it is good to know what you did wrong! However, I felt as if I was in good hands and the tutors gave me the confidence to pass.
Review by Chantelle, January 15, 2013
This is a great course if you are looking to study online and at your own pace.
Positives:
- Digestible material that is well organised and easy to read
- Wide range of topics covered including lesson planning, behaviour management, grammar and teaching young learners
- Assessment marks are given promptly
- Lots of useful tips for exercises
- TEFL staff respond promptly to queries
Negatives:
-No detailed feedback for projects e.g. lesson plans
-No method of saving exercise responses online
I found it a great tool to combine with my classroom experience. Overall, it is good value for money and the perfect stepping stone for teaching abroad.
Review by Leona Cheyne, January 17, 2013
I have just completed the star-tefl 140 hr online course. I found it to be very informative and easy to use. The content well written and easy to understand and all in all I enjoyed studying in this way.
This course gives us a year to complete it which is very helpful to those, like myself, who have many time commitments.
The course was broken down into Units, each unit having a test and a project to complete. The tests were great fun, really making me think about the unit, and the results came back immediately which I found very encouraging. The projects were mostly formulating lesson plans – something I found quite hard at first, but after all the practice found easier as the course progressed.
The projects were marked quickly, usually within a day or two, and I would receive an email with my grade and encouraging comments.
All in all, I would recommend this course to anyone who wants to teach English as it covered all aspects of teaching, including how to deal with behaviour, one to one classes, and teaching English for special purposes.
It has given me the confidence to see myself as a teacher and I will be advertising my services to teach privately when I go to Spain this Summer.
Review by craig reece, January 26, 2013
I have found this course very informative and very helpful. I am a qualified teacher and am interested in teaching in international schools therefore undertook this course to enhance my CV and give me an understanding of teaching children/adults whose first language is not English.
I found the units very clearly written and the lesson planning practice very helpful. The support from Star Tefl has also been helpful and extremely efficient.
The feedback given has been both prompt and descriptive.
I feel all aspects of teaching english are covered in the 140hour online course and I would recommend it to anyone planning on teaching abroad.
Review by Eimear Reece, January 28, 2013
I have really enjoyed this course and have found Star Tefl very supportive. The course content is very detailed and easy to understand and the feedback was very prompt and constructive.
The modules are well laid out and cover everything needed to feel confident to teach English abroad. I am planning to use the qualification to teach English when I travel later this year and I believe that the 140hour Star Tefl online course quips me to do this.
Review by Charlotte McShane, January 31, 2013
The Star-Tefl team helped me every step of the way to achieving my completed Tefl course. They offer skype meetings with tutors if you are struggling or even if you just think you need some one to one time which really helped me as I am more of a visceral learner. It is a thorough course making you complete projects as well as exams meaning that you get a clearer overview of how it will be like when you need to make lesson plans yourself and ensures that you really understand everything that the online course covers. I am now going to Bangkok and am confident with the skills that I have been taught that I can find a Tefl job in no time.
Review by Mel Schafer, February 10, 2013
I began the Star-Tefl English teaching course at the beginning of last year and have only been impressed. I found the content to be clear and concise and a pleasure to read, while being relevant and informative. The tests and assignments give a good example of the senarios one is likely to face on the job and make you think of how you can effectively deal with the challenges and tasks. Feedback and replies to emails were efficient and helpful and the whole course was enjoyable from beginning to end. Having done the Star-Tefl as well as the Teach International TESOL course I can strongly recommend the Star-Tefl program for a clear and enjoyable teaching and learning experience for anyone wishing to improve their knowledge of the language or travel the world teaching English as a secondary language to people of all cultures and backgrounds.
Review by David, February 11, 2013
I have recently completed the 40 hours online class and I must say that I’m quite pleased. All the content is well organised, with many tests and projects to practice. The numerous examples helped to picture the content and understand real-life situation that could me happen on the job.
The layout of the content is quite clever. The content is divided in small bits of information, making it possible to study 5-10 minutes, as well as a few hours a day. It really makes you want to progress and you don’t notice how much you are learning because it’s quite enjoyable.
Even though the feedback from project is sometimes short and cold, it’s a really good practice to plan lessons. The tests could also be longer sometimes as some tests only have 5 questions (which are multiple choice answers)
I traveled for a year without a TEFL certificate, and I felt I was missing something to make my trips more enjoyable. This will surely be a useful tool on my incoming trips!
Review by Dylan Walsh, February 13, 2013
Since the third of January of this year , Ive been teaching in a private English language school in the south of Poland. I’m from Ireland but since English is also commonly used in Ireland, i got a job as an native speaker. For the first few weeks i got by on confidence but as i soon found out, to teach English i needed alot more than confidence. I needed help with how to have a structure for a class, to have new ideas for teaching, how to keep students (especially teenagers) entertained and most importantly to make sure that i teach the correct grammar. Since completing Star-Telf Virtual Weekend Course, I feel that l have all the necessary ideas and plans on how i can structure my classes for the benefit of the students. I found the course was very well organised and most important the lecturer was very clear in what he was presenting and also gave the course a very relaxed atmosphere. It gave me everything i needed to kick start my career as a native speaking teacher.
Review by Marie Koprich, February 22, 2013
Review by Marie koprich, Feb, 21, 2013
After consulting a couple of universities about the credibilty of this 140 hour course by Star-Telf,still apprehensive I signed up anyway.I wondered how much I would gain since I already had a double degree in French & Latin.I soon found out! To teach English to foreign speaking students is entirely different than teaching English speaking students where we share no common language. Lesson plans were often quite challenging .
Tha staff at Star-Telf are supberb, espicially ,Director Roy Jenks and support staff, Justyna. Questions were answered promtly,my project & tests’ results were sent to me , usually in less than 24 hours. The tutors returned the results with messages attached, pinpointing errors & offering suggestions for improvement.Having the same supportive staff most of the time, made me feel more comfortable & reassured me that the staff really does care about my success.
This course can only improve grammar skills ,make us better teachers .IT offers a good guide in preparing lessons & activities effectively.The objective is to prepare us to teach our students , not only to read & write English but to actually use it correctly & effectively in everyday situations.It is even a valuable tool to have when teaching foreign-speaking students in any English- speaking country.
Therefore, this course is not only beneficial but a must for anyone planning to teach TEFL and do it well.
.
Review by Sarah, March 8, 2013
This TEFL course covers a lot of very useful material. This course gave me the confidence of teaching English as a second language. I like the way it tests you and makes you practice making lesson plans. It’s a good certificate to have if you are planning to travel anywhere in the world
Review by Rhiannon Bowen, March 11, 2013
I have recently completed the 140 hour Star TEFL online course, and am extremely glad that I did it. The course was well structured with very good support and quick feedback and result grading.
Praise and encouragement is given for each module passed which is a brilliant incentive to keep up the hard work, but there is also no pressure as you are able to complete it at your own pace, which is brilliant if you have other commitments.
I found the course to be excellent value for money, I would greatly reccommend it to anyone who wishes to teach English as a Foreign language in the future, as completion of this course has already opened empoyment opportunities for me beginning this Summer.
Thanks Star TEFL!
Review by Shona, March 18, 2013
I’ve finished this online course and I have to say they have been incredibly supportive. I have been advised with ways to improve what I have learned and where I could apply this to lesson plans and projects I still had to complete. They have given really useful feedback regarding submitted work and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them to anyone wishing to pursue a career in overseas teaching.
Review by Sophie, March 26, 2013
I’ve just completed my 140 hour online Star- TEFL course. I am a qualified and experienced MFL teacher who is planning to work abroad in the next couple of years, and wanted to learn about TEFL beforehand. The course has been perfect- interesting, well pitched and robust- I feel confident enough now to teach TEFL straight away! I just did the online course as I have lots of classroom experience, and this waa great for me.
The feedback from the tutors is very quick, helpful and friendly and there is lots of support and advice available. I have learnt so much that I didn’t learn in my teacher training and am very pleased with the course- I have no doubt that it will stand me in very good stead to secure and be successful as a TEFL teacher in the future. Highly recommended!
Review by Kornelia, March 26, 2013
I took the 140 hours course and the 20 hours Virtual weekend course. Both did compliment each other.
This being my first on-line learning experience I wasn’t sure what to expect. Even though I had been teaching children for quite some time I still learned so much.
The main reason to take this on-line course was the flexibility and the convenience to do it at my own pace while I was on maternity leave.
I had time to start off but got busy and only few month later when I’ve done the virtual course I got really into it. That time I couldn’t leave my baby at home therefore the convenient option was to attend virtually a group session based event. It was very intensive but informative and yet gave a great deal of knowledge, lot of resources were brought to my attention, tips on group work, lesson plans and in general.
I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The course material is well written out. There are ten units and after studying the content there are tests and projects to complete.The test results are instant and you get a feedback on the projects.
I had a positive experience with Star-Tefl from the beginning. the support team is very helpful, made my learning process smooth , responded to my enquires promptly.
Star-Tefl offers an excellent course that I can confidently recommend to anyone looking for an efficient on-line TEFL course which would not only gives the qualification but also prepares you for the teaching job.
Review by joe burley, April 4, 2013
For me Star TEFL provided the ideal way to get a efl/esl teaching qualification. At first I was dubious about doing an online TEFL at all as some people told me I should do a classroom based course. In reality the course fit round my life / jobs / travel / holidays etc perfectly. It provides maximum flexibility and also goes into far more depth for each unit than I expected. Once your on the online course, if you want some classroom experience you can do a weekend course with Star Tefl at a discounted rate. I already had some teaching experience so the course provided a larger knowledge of what to teach, how to teach it and a qualification to back it all up! OK, so it’s not a CELTA or a full-time course, but then they cost ten times what a star tefl course cost, and if you read all the info on their site you will see that they are honest and upfront about it, so it’s not something you will feel you wasted your money on. I thought I was going to complete my course in 2 to 3 weeks, but I soon realised this was a large course, with a lot of reading, projects and tests. In the end it took me the full year to complete. I have since been teaching adult hotel staff and have found that the tefl has made life so much easier. It has certainly given me a lot more confidence too. Thank you Star Tefl!!
Review by Nina, April 4, 2013
I discovered the online Star-TEFL class through a friend of mine who had completed the course. She highly recommended it and so I signed up. I am so thankful that I did. It was been a wonderful experience. The website is easy to navigate with clear instructions and 24 hour help if you have any questions. The course is rigorous and prepares you for real life teaching situations. After each multiple choice and short answer test you receive the grades instantly. Feedback is sent to your email within two to three days upon completion. I mostly enjoyed how the course asked about your own experiences and ideas. It allowed a lot of room for being creative and encourages you to think out of the box. I highly recommend this course for students. The course is easy to take during the summer or while taking classes during the school year. My only wish would be that the course would be a more affordable price.
Review by Hanna, April 8, 2013
I would like to say how much I have learnt from the StarTefl 140 hour online course.
Having already worked abroad as an English teacher, I was dubious as to how much I would really gain from this course – the only reason I did it was for the certificate. I wasn’t sure how much I would learn and was expecting to be bored having to repeat the theoretical lessons. I can definitely say that I was wrong!
The course is written in such a clear yet informal way that it really feels as though I am listening to a friend explaining something to me instead of reading it from a textbook.
Some of the more difficult bits of grammar have been explained in a way that I now fully understand them and, for the first time since becoming a teacher, feel confident in all aspects of teaching.
The feedback given is ‘short but sweet’, but it always specifically related to what I had written, which was far more useful than pages of generic feedback.
On top of this, on the one occasion that I needed to use the helpline, I received a call back from them within ten minutes and had my query resolved immediately, I could not have asked for better customer service!
The only negative thing I have to say is that on the website it is not clear exactly when the course runs out as it counts down the days instead of giving the exact end date – this meant I misjudged my time left by one day, which put me in a bit of a panic at the end.
Other than this, the whole website is very user-friendly and makes revision easy, with clear markings of which pages have been already read or not.
Overall, I cannot recommend this course enough, be it for people who have never taught before or teachers with a bit of experience who are doubting how much they will benefit from it.
Review by Jaimeliane Thornton, April 9, 2013
I have recently completed the online Star-TEFL course, and doing it alongside going to college fit well. The course is easy to move through, with units broken down to subunits and individual pages. This feature helps with revision, and allows a faster way to move through the site. My emails have been responded to with speed, and their responses to my coursework and emails are always above satisfactory. My hopes for the future are to work in Korea and teach English anywhere. I noticed I enjoyed helping people whose first language wasn’t English when I was 11, and this course has further encouraged this.
However, some pages on the site are slow to load, such as Tests and Content, but it’s not a big problem and didn’t make me less likely to use the site. I feel like it could also improve on when you’ve read a page, as when the button for this is clicked it just loads the page back up. I think this should move you onto the next page, and you should be able to mark it for coming back for revision or to print.
Overall, this course was hard work enjoyed and I am looking forward to where this helps me.
Review by Kelly, April 10, 2013
I have recently completed the 140 hour online TEFL course with Star-TEFL. I really enjoyed the course, the sections were short enough to keep you interested but also very imformative. The tests and projects were a good way of challenging myself after each section. I love the new format where you can now see how much of the course you have completed. This helped to keep me motivated. Test/project results were always ready very promtly and I found the team to be extremely friendly and accommodating. I cannot wait to put my TEFL to practice and become a teacher!!!!
Review by Steven I, April 12, 2013
This is a complete and well rounded course offering a great balance of facts, projects and lesson planning. Due to the excellent course content I have not required the help of any instructors. The projects and lesson planning put into perspective how the knowledge will be used in classroom environments. The next step is to now go out and use my new qualification!!
Review by Annie, April 13, 2013
I am in the process of changing career and decided to sign up for the Star-Tefl on line course. My initial expectations were somewhat limited and I just thought it would be a good idea to get the piece of paper and off I go! However this course really surpassed my expectations.
The course content was excellent and well organised. Each module was clear, concise and extremely comprehensive. I found the projects very challenging and useful in terms of planning classes for various groups and activities. It was also very reassuring to get regular, constructive and timely feedback after every module.
I would have no hesitation in recommending this course; it was most enjoyable and informative. It is also great to know that you can supplement the on-line course with the weekend course or a virtual course which will allow me to build on what I have learnt to date. Well done to all concerned.
Review by anc, April 17, 2013
I have recently completed a 140hour online tefl course with Star-Tefl. I was pleasantly surprised by the detailed content of the course. In fact over the year I was with the course, I noticed a marked improvement in some areas. The new Test Result Section is great as it allows you to check each correct and incorrect question from the Test Section. I found this really useful as I worked through the course. I also liked the more detailed feedback sent after each test. I think this is essential for an online course, to have some idea of how you are doing. I think an opportunity to have at least one, one to one contact during the course, perhaps a call, could add to the experience too.
I found the layout of the Contents page easy to use and the actual content both practical and accessable. I really appreciated the Lesson Planning and Grammar parts. They were informative and practical. Perhaps a some instruction on how to teach a Grammar point would be useful.
The year went extremely quickly and I now regret not making full use of the time to learn the material well. If I were to do it again, I would make sure I did a little every month and not leave most of it to the end!
Great Course. Def Recommend it!
Review by Rob, April 17, 2013
I just did the 140hr online course! To be short, the course was really fun and also very informative. I found that every time I had a question, I got a response very quickly! I was admittedly skeptical at first because the unknown of online TEFL courses, but Star-Tefl exceeded my expectations. I chose them because they offered a 140hr course for the same price many competitors were offering a dang 40hr course lol!
NO, of course it isnt the CELTA or Trinity, but if your looking for an online TEFL to add to your CV, I highly recommend this!
Review by Stephen, April 18, 2013
Just finished my 140hr online course. It was amazing. The content is very easy to manage and access. The course was easy to navigate. They are accredited by The College of Teachers and in the process of being accredited by ACTDEC. Like many of said, this isn’t Celta, but for a good online tefl, this is second to none! (and I have tried 2 others)
A+++
Review by Irina, April 19, 2013
I found 140-hour online course course practical and convenient. I could complete it in a couple of weeks if I would focus on studying every day, but I chose a slow pace and easy integrated it to my life. I travel a lot, so online format was just a gift for me.
After this course I feel confident and prepared. Even though I am not a native speaker. I have been practicing new knowledge in ESL classes and it is so rewarding! Students are grateful for clear explanation and fun exercises. They come back, they ask questions, they enjoy learning. I know that now, at the begining, I need more time to prepare for classes, but eventually I will gain experience and it will be much faster.
The course has specific information and tips: how to work with different age groups, how to adjust a lesson plan to a particular level of english, how to manage discipline in the classroom, how to manage time and so on.
It teaches to take into consideration different cultural aspects and typical pronunciation/grammar challenges. It encourages not to reinvent the wheel and at the same time to be open to deepen knowledges and improve teaching with every class.
I would recomment this course to those who are looking for practical information and support. It is not a fundamental theoretical course. If you want to go and teach right away, and you are already mentally booking your flight tickets – this course is a must.
Review by Aoife Mc Elligott, April 25, 2013
After completing TEFL’s 140 hour online course, I can safely say it was a great opportunity. It has now given me the chance to broaden my horizon by bringing a greater perspective to go travel and teach English. The online course itself was easy to use and provided adequate information. I found the syllabus very clear and well explained which resulted in a great understanding of the aims and objectives of a TEFL teacher. The layout in particular for the grammar section was done extremely well where it even helped with my own grammar! There was a lot of information provided on all areas of teaching and learning.
The learning process of the course worked well in the preparation of becoming a teacher. It also highlights the implications that may occur whilst teaching such as dealing with students and lesson plans. The test and projects are extremely useful as they ensure that you are continuously learning. The tests are a great learning mechanism whilst the projects are great for practicing situations which you may encounter. Developing practical skills ensures you must think for yourself. What you have learnt throughout the course is put into practice through the use of these lesson plans.
The management have also been very helpful throughout the course, adhering to any problems or queries which you may have. They are very easy to work with and very accommodating with their assistance
I believe it is a great course that is well designed and developed which will enable people to teach English. It is a great opportunity to acquire that allows for more opportunities in the future. I would highly recommend this course to anyone.
Review by Marcus Hau, April 25, 2013
I found the online Star-TEFL course material to be very informative and easy to read. The material covered the areas expected for someone wanting to start a TEFL career. The only negative found was the ordering of some material in Unit 10 appear to be ‘out-of-order’. I think Grammar was supposedly unit 10 but this labelling was missing. I only knew this because the test module for grammar was labelled as unit 10. Also I believe the ‘Other terminology’ page is placed incorrectly, it contains an identical page as Verbs and also talks about Articles – when the Article section can be found a lot later in Unit 10. My personal opinion would be to move the later nouns, adverbs and adjectives to a section just after verbs before going through to the tenses section. Apart from this, I found the material to be easy to follow and to the point. Admittedly prior to reading the Star online material I went to the library to supplement my knowledge but to be honest, the Star-TEFL online material was more than adequate. I stopped going to the library as soon as I started to read this material. I liked the idea of testing on each module as it reinforces the material read and provides a guideline of what might be tested in the final exam. Fortunately I passed those tests with flying colours but I found it irritating that I was not able to take the final test until all the projects had been completed. I could not find specifically this advice in the Star online material so there was a bit of a panic when I realised this. However this was resolved swiftly. The Projects were marked swiftly and teachers comments were particularly helpful. They were always encouraging ans spurred one to continue being motivated.
I have only ever needed to make one enquiry and the matter was resolved in a timely and professional manner by the Star-TEFL staff. They answered my telephone call promptly and spoke in a polite manner. The enquiry was resolved satisfactorily within a day.
Overall, I found the course to very enjoyable and the experience to be very rewarding. Passing the final test has been uplifting and given me confidence for a possible future career in the TEFL world.
Review by Jayne, April 30, 2013
I have just completed the 120 hour online TEFL course, as a total beginnner I found it very informative. Lots of information and I feel like I now have a basic understanding of how and what to teach. The test and project page was a useful tool to assess what you have learned as you go through each section and the lesson planning helped me to understand how to do that easily.
I did find that the feedback on the tests seemed to be a little generic as I asked questions in a couple of my project answers and did not receive any feedback on those, which was disappointing.
But for the price I thought it was great basic course and the Tutors were very generous when i was unable to make the deadline due to an injury and kindly arranged an extension.
I have had a good experience with Star Tefl and have learned alot. Highly recommended!
Review by Éanna O' Connor, May 3, 2013
Upon finishing the star-tefl online course, I now feel I am fully prepared to teach anywhere in the world. The course content is very thorough, at times challenging, although very rewarding. The course provides ample time for the student to complete it, a year to be more precise. Most other TEFL companies offer a 3-month period to complete, however this course provides much more freedom to the prospective TEFL teacher. The content material covers many aspects of the English language, things that fluent English speakers take for granted everyday. It is important, however, that these aspects are thought to students learning the language. Star-tefl provides the content you need to do just that. After completing the course, Star-tefl aided me in finding a teaching job, contacting various employers, whilst all I had to do was send my C.V. It was that easy!
To conclude, i would highly recommend Star-tefl to anyone who wishes to enter the world of TEFL. It is a highly rewarding course, that allows you to enter a whole new exciting world. It is all waiting for you, all you have to do is go for it!
Review by Julianne Mitchell, May 7, 2013
I have just completed the 140 hour online Star-TEFL course which I found a great introduction to Tefl teaching, covering all the basics to get started.
The course allows for flexibility and ample time for students to complete in the twelve month period, however, if you need additional time Star-Tefl are only happy to help, allowing 3 month extensions for a reasonable fee; all in all, a very practical and convenient way to study.
The site was very user friendly and easy to navigate with the course being well presented (although graphically a little dull) with very clear instructions and broad content covering: History, learning styles, teaching styles, classroom management, grammar and suggestions and tips; a great over-view for beginners.
Useful features of the course: course end count down and tracking progress, however providing an end date would be useful as well as being able to go straight to the place within the module that you had last visited.
Each module consists of short chunks of learning accompanied by suitably challenging practise tests and projects to complete; very useful for building experience and confidence. Taking and submitting the tests was easy and feedback from the staff prompt. They are extremely helpful when it comes to dealing with your individual needs with lots of help, support and advice available if needed. Test feedback was a little scripted and computerized for my liking although I did notice a change in the way feedback was given for lower test results. Being able to look back at test results was very useful for revision, however it doesn’t show the correct answers when you’ve made a mistake, which doesn’t help with revision. (You can request them, but it is a little long winded).
The final test was suitably tough allowing plenty of time for completion. A worthy contender in the world of TEFL and I certainly feel that I earned my stripes.
The course is excellent value for money and more importantly flexible as I was able to complete it at my own pace. In conclusion I have had a good experience with Star Tefl and have learned a lot; it’s given me the confidence to pursue my future career in the TEFL world.
I would not hesitate to recommend Star Tefl; this is a great course if you are looking to study online and at your own pace.
Review by Jodie White, May 8, 2013
I’ve just finished my TEFL course and it is the first time I’ve tried out an online course. I thought it might be difficult without the actual presence of a tutor but the online guidance and feedback was very helpful, reassuring and made the course a lot easier!
The course content was actually very interesting and while studying, it was very easy to picture myself in the clasroom, using the information I was learning. Even as native English speaker, going through the grammar section made me realise how long it’s been since I tried to fully understand the complexities of my own language, which really makes you take a step back to figure out how to teach it to others! I thoroughly enjoyed projects of creating my own lesson plans as the advive given in the course content was to make it fun and therefore easier to learn, so it was an interesting experience, having to use my imagination to think of games that would work in a classroom.
I feel that completing this course has created so many new opportunities for me, now just to decide where it’s going to take me!!
I would definitely reccommend the online TEFL course to anyone who wants to broaden their horizons or try something new.
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