Reviews of i-to-i TEFL

3.3 Rating •
191 reviews
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Description

Discover teaching English abroad with i-to-i TEFL.

We’re TEFL experts with over 27 years’ experience in making teach English abroad dreams a reality!

We start by helping you qualify as a confident TEFL teacher, before pointing you in the right direction to our TEFL Internships in epic locations such as Thailand, Vietnam and South Korea.

Here at i-to-i TEFL, we’re proud to say we’ve trained over 182,000 TEFL graduates. And because our courses are English-Government regulated, once you’re qualified, employers prefer candidates with an i-to-i certificate.

Courses

Course Types

Online TEFL Courses

Course Lengths

Mini Courses (<30 hours)
Short Courses (40-100 hours)
Standard (120-140 hours)
Long Courses (150+ hours)

Certifications

TEFL / TESL / TESOL

Additional Features

Online Practicum
TEFL Internships

Specialist Courses

CLIL
Teaching Business English
Teaching Exam Preparation
Teaching One-to-One
Teaching Online
Teaching Young Learners

i-to-i TEFL has received 191 student reviews and has an overall rating of 3.26 out of 5 stars based on the following criteria.

Overall Rating
Course Content
Practice Teaching
Quality of Feedback
Lesson Plan Guidance
Instructor Competency
Job Assistance
Facilities/Resources

191 reviews of i-to-i TEFL

Review 30 of 191 i-to-i TEFL

Written by Luke on May 11, 2011 9:55 pm
33%
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I took the 80hr i-to-i course before embarking on my trip to teach in Asia and I definitely was disappointed however I cannot place the blame 100% on them (maybe 80%). I did the course based on the information given by i-to-i on their website. It clearly says that it is internationally recognised and will prepare you for teaching esl anywhere in the world. I should have researched a little harder.

The course teaches you some basic things like concept questions and recognising grammar structure but really what need is quality teacher observed teaching feedback. I arrived in Indonesia before I even tried to get a job and then by asking around for a job I soon realised that this piece of paper that I was carrying around with me was just that – a piece of paper. Unless I wanted to work for English First (nooo thanks), language centres are not interested unless you have actual inclass hours under instruction from a tutor. I did eventually get lucky with one language centre who took me on, on the condition I would complete the CELTA at first opportunity. The 3 months before the CELTA course started were pretty much hell for me (and probably the students). The i-toi course gave me no preparation on how to handle classes and structure lessons to suite. I had no class management skills and felt a complete waste of time. After the CELTA course (which was quite stressful) my world just opened up. The course taught me so much about teaching techniques and the feedback sessions gave me so many things to work on. No doubt the CELTA course is what you need to be fully prepared for almost any situation without being stressed. I now feel I am a competent teacher and I can really see the results in my students.

So in conclusion, sure this course is quite easy but it will get you nowhere to being able to produce quality lesson plans and deliver quality leassons.

Review 29 of 191 i-to-i TEFL

Written by Cherie on March 22, 2011 12:58 am
75%
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I took this course last year while living in Viet Nam. My instructor was in Rio. I was eager to get the certificate as I had a job lined up. She was amazing. At the end of each module I would get feed back almost instantly. The program was excellent and helpful and I started doing private tutoring almost immediately and plan to go to the on campus program in Colorado in June.

Review 28 of 191 i-to-i TEFL

Written by Odysseus on January 25, 2011 12:44 am
90%
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I’v almost finished the online course. I have to say I’ve been very impressed with it. I chose the 120Hr course as this is the amount of time for a certificate that is deemed appropriate.

Summary: Grammar is very good to get you up to speed in an active learning capacity. Online course content is on an equal footing with celta. The Resources is better than celta due to the e-version being so user-friendly but actual teaching is where CELTA trumps as well as the accredited stamp you’ll get with it.

Discussion:

– The resources and online content is all thorough and very well organized so that you can build a small portfolio of resources in neat formats such as pdfs etc and answers to the assignments for future reference.

– The level of questions and assessment is perfectly respectable.

– I think this course challenges CELTA if you already have some teaching experience and want a certificate to teach in eg Asia first and is cheaper and more accessible. In fact in terms of content it’s similar enough. What is different is the amount of classroom time that CELTA provides, but if you get that at the end then you’ll learn better “on the job” I think as long as the school is supportive so if that’s part of your intended goal then this course could be a better option despite limiting where you can apply.

– They make it clear that CELTA is a career choice where this is more of a gap-year ticket so from a needs perspective this course can be very suitable and as I repeat, the standard and content is just as good except without the classroom time.

– The standout thing is the online resources and connections. I think this actually tops a few CELTA centers and learning by yourself can be more efficient than being stuffed into a small, hot classroom taking notes while the celta teacher drones on and you clock up your classroom hours; only 6 of which are actual teaching yourself. You can learn a fair bit from other tefl teachers would be the bonus of those “live” courses.

– So in conclusion depends on the individual’s preferences and intentions. But i-to-i is very good for theory of teaching and building your own teacher resources (80%) that’s needed for tefl training and just lacks some real teaching but hopefully you get that abroad anyway if you decide to teach in some high demand countries. It’s when you want to teach in Europe that you’ll have to go the CELTA route, for sure.

– This course like any tefl will be most rewarding if you combine resources from lots of places eg get a copy of a tefl learners book and learning teaching book as well as online and the course notes and you’ll accomplish as much as training can really achieve all bar the live sessions.

Trust this review will be informative.

Review 27 of 191 i-to-i TEFL

Written by Bob on January 19, 2011 12:56 pm
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I passed the course, and 100% of its questions, first time round, but that doesn’t mean I can’t see i-to-i’s drawbacks.

Inspite of what contributor Benjamin says, I understood that the question:

‘describe when a teacher should shout, and why’

is asking for examples of when it IS appropriate to shout. It’s not asking for reasons for why it is NOT appropriate to shout. Err, if someone thinks the question means the opposite of what it says, perhaps they’re thinking in George Orwell doublespeak!

If you want to know what I mean, you can read Benjamin Crompton’s comments, 15th November, 2010, and I quote:

”the point of that particular question [‘describe when a teacher should shout, and why’] was to make you prove that you’re aware of the importance of never shouting in a classroom.”

Come on! If the question asked why should you not shout in a classroom, I would have known enough answers, based on over ten years of experience. The question quite clearly asks for egs of when it is appropriate to shout, so I gave the appropriate answer. I was somewhat bemused by a tutor’s response, which said that you shouldn’t shout! That clearly contradicts the question itslef, and the i-to-i course is not exactly a PhD in the philosophy of education. As my answer was still correct, the answer couldn’t be failed, and therefore it wasn’t. I didn’t fail any of the answers and passed all first time round.

Other tutors’ feedback was more positive, and didn’t split hairs, but considering how much it cost, I would shop around and find something cheaper, which gives a bit more back, such as direct tutor-contact, and a more flexible approach for how you submit assignments, and course extensions for compassionate/health reasons.

As I was already PGCE qualified, I was just looking for a course to add-on to that. Still, I’ve been teaching English before I even started the course, and the employer didn’t know I was planning on taking the i-to-i. I wasn’t expecting it to be a fantastic course, but thinking about the cost, I would have expected a bit more.

If the comment I submitted on 15th December was added, then pls accept my apologies for any repetition.

Review 26 of 191 i-to-i TEFL

Written by James Barr on January 12, 2011 12:02 pm
20%
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I did pass the course and wasn’t expecting a high paid job even though i now have one (didn’t put itoi tefl on my cv, some employers count an online tefl against you). I was unhappy with the repetition and the software. I think its a pretty expensive way to enrich yourself.

Review 25 of 191 i-to-i TEFL

Written by LR on January 11, 2011 2:15 pm
74%
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I just finished the i – i 120 hour online course and found it to be challenging and informative. I’ve been teaching English for several years now in Europe and used many of my own experiences with the situations which were asked to evaluate. I feel much more confident. I decided on i – i because of its online course and the tutors and because of many of the good reviews. I agree that it is not a CELTA but I do not have the time to be able to go away for a week or 2 to study. That is not an option. It seems to me those that have written poor reviews did not pass or expected the certificate to open doors to high paying jobs. I did it for self enrichment, to test myself and I ended up learning in the process! I really enjoyed reading the tutor feedback.

Review 24 of 191 i-to-i TEFL

Written by James Barr on January 10, 2011 10:32 am
40%
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On the whole I had a bad experience with itoi. I purchased the 120 hour combined course. As part of this I did the 20 hour weekend course, the 60 hour online, the grammar awareness course and the specialist certificates.

I would only recommend the 20 hour weekend classroom course. The 60 hour course basically repeats everything done in the classroom. Even most of the examples are the same. I don’t really think its fair to charge someone twice to study the same material. I also had problems saving, I did a 37 question module and lost 34 questions, it took me nearly two hours to re-do them, my girlfriend also had problems saving too. The grammar awareness course is just a multiple choice quiz which you can attempt as many times as you want. Not reall y worth the money.

The customer service is poor too. When I e-mailed the customer service department and asked for a partial refund they replied in a very rude way telling me I was wrong that I shouldn’t be dissatisfied. Basically as soon as they have your money you are not going to get it back. I know it is a cheap course but its not good enough and most countries don’t accept it as a qualification. Overall, not worth doing.

Review 23 of 191 i-to-i TEFL

Written by anenglishteacher on November 21, 2010 4:37 am
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My 100-hour online course was a gift so there was no “choice” involved for me. I have been teaching English in Jakarta for a year now, and my i-to-i education gave me enough confidence and ability to design my own course materials, create lesson plans and begin teaching within a week of certification. I never had intended to consider the traditional route as far as teaching goes since I have no degree; a more self-employed/independent approach was what I was after.

I don’t consider the course I took “flimsy”; I was reacquainted with many of the complications of English grammar and tackled them from an ESL perspective. English is a challenging language and the modules were logically structured as they guided me through varying levels of understanding grammar, syntax and usage. The certificates also gave invaluable training in areas such as teaching business English, young learners, with limited resources, etc..

My tutor, fortunately, was a good one; he gave timely responses and always answered my questions concisely. I never felt his advice was pedantic and certainly never useless. I, too, remember being baffled at first about concept questions and specifically the question about smoking. The tutor is correct, Anon! If you use the transitive verb WISH, you must get the point across to your students that this is a strong request/desire/want for the smoker to smoke less!

If I had the money, I would always invest in the best. Yet I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this online course for the self-motivated types who can work successfully on their own, not requiring a classroom situation necessarily to keep them on the right track. The knowledge I gained was not lacking in depth, to say the least and like most things in which we make a sincere effort in this life, what we get out will be commensurate with what we put in.

Review 22 of 191 i-to-i TEFL

Written by kbtravel on November 21, 2010 3:22 am
25%
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Hi All, Just so you know- I was not successful in my phone interview for apparent unknown reason only the Chinese counterparts know. I really don’t understand. English is my first language I have worked in numerous organization speaking to COOs, CEOs and CFOs and I have a Bachelors degree in an Reputable Australian Universities – I think its a bunch of bollocks. There was no reason my application should have been rejected I completed the course requirements and online assessments well before it was due. I don’t think they are professional at all. I honestly believe I was not given a fair chance. Not worth wasting your money especially if you are Australian wanting to teach English overseas. I did the course as it was a requirement of the internship program. I think people should know that it is not right. How many other people have signed up only to be knocked back by a ‘third party’ and then still have to pay for the course? Its a scam to pay for the course with the hope of travelling to china. I would not recommend i-to-i to anyone.

***Are you preparing for your Phone Interivew with i-to i???***

After reading countless blogs and not being able to find out about what the phone interview was like I thought I’d give you a heads up about what came up during my interview.

Firstly I need to say that getting them to call at or around the time they advised was a huge problem in itself.

I received an email on Friday for a scheduled interview on Tuesday. After confirming straight away that everything was good to go I waited all day for a phone call at 6pm (4pm BJS time). The phone call never came but at 7.50pm the same night I received a call/voicemail saying they were sorry for the delay and to call them back. My initial response to this was it was an international phone line and they were almost 2 hours late which led me to believe my impression of the school/company themselves was disappointing. I’ve never been late for an interview and usually if one partner is late its not a good sign. Anyway, I emailed i-to-i and the contact in China who set up the interview and rescheduled for another day same time. Thinking last night would be different it wasn’t. I waited again for the call at 6pm which came at 9.

It lasted 7 minutes and the questions I was asked was –

* Tell me about yourself and why you signed up to teach English?

* How do you feel about being placed in the other areas away from the city?

* What do you know about China/Why do you want to teach here and what have you heard about the classes in China?

* How did you feel about the TEFL course?

Im sure there was another two but I can’t remember. He didn’t ask about grammer or how I’d teach a lesson plan. the interviewer was an employee at the partner company in China. I felt I couldn’t ask him much about the school and my queries specifally questions that matter include – how safe are the building blocks and how far is it from the school and are the rooms furnished? He could only answer general questions which made it hard to decide if it would be the right school for you. (I know they assign the school on arrival in Beijing but perhaps this is what they can improve on- giving interns a better idea of where they are staying)

Review 21 of 191 i-to-i TEFL

Written by Sara on November 17, 2010 12:43 pm
28%
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i-to-i is like seeing a trailer for a movie that looks great only to realize that all the good parts were in the advert.

Although the i-to-i TEFL course is easy and cheaper than many other TEFL courses it is not worth the time or money you will invest. While the website is very accessible, there is little to no feedback from real people. The only feedback you receive is after completing the module assignments, each of which is graded by a different online tutor; the feedback is thin and inconsistent. It is more a tutorial than a class.

I also took the classroom portion of the i-to-i TEFL course. The teacher was very engaging and competent. She clearly had experience as a teacher and kept the lessons paced well. However, the material covered had no more depth than the slides in the online modules.

This was frustrating but what I find infuriating is that i-to-i TEFL certificates are not recognized by most schools. They are only recognized as a bonus in places where you could teach TEFL cert. or no TEFL cert. Additionally, the job placement services that i-to-i promises are sparse. The few placements they list as examples before you sign up are in fact the only placements they offer.

You are far better off with CELTA or a TESOL program at a major university.

(As a point of credibility I would like to add that I passed every module and am not simply upset about a grade. I am angry about the shortcoming of this flimsy course)

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