Trinity Cert TESOL

The course was very intense but really interesting, even having a decent experience in teaching, I could learn a lot and I feel more confident and overall that made me a better teacher. The group of students we did our practice with is just amazing, kind and willing to learn. Big thanks to the tutors for their support. It felt overwhelming with all the papers at first, but with their help it become doable and easy to understand. Totally recommend for all who wants to develop their career as a teacher. The best teaching training in Tokyo.

I had been teaching in Japan for 9 years before I took this course. 4 years at a private eikaiwa and 5 years freelance. I had started feeling that my lessons were getting stale and wasn't sure how to improve both the lessons and myself as a teacher. I decided to take this course to learn how to become a better teacher and develop new skills.
The course taught me even more than I had expected to learn. I feel far more confident in my ability as a teacher now. Already I have had the chance to incorporate what I've learned into my work and my students are responding well.
The course tutors are very helpful, knowledgeable, and fun.
I realized that so much of what I had thought about teaching English was so wrong or could be improved. By experiencing learning a new language from scratch as part of this course, I could see first-hand how effective these new methods were.
If you have the money and the time, I absolutely recommend the course for any teacher.

Although heavily demanding it has transformed my teaching. I would do it again in a heartbeat. The course was thorough and there was a huge amount of support from tutors. We learned as much from each other and be applying the theory to our lessons. The course was intensive but forced us to analyse the language which now means I can teach it to a student depending on his / her needs. It was very interesting to connect with my own language and I feel motivated to continue my study and further my teaching career.

I found the course very professional and I feel grateful to my tutor, Ms.Sophia McMillan for the great support and feedback provided.
I had the opportunity to revise grammar materials, lesson planning, class management etc. This is also a course to improve and enhance teaching methods.
I would recommend this course for teachers with no experience and also for those who have experience in teaching both children and adults.
You will learn everything a teacher needs to know in order to create effective lessons.
After teaching English to children for more than 10 years, I thought I want more and this course was a great opportunity to expand my teaching skills in order to teach adults also.
Now I feel more confident and really happy to have completed it. It was a great learning experience, so I definitely would recommend this course to others. There is nothing to worry about, just follow the steps, ask for advice from the tutors and you`ll get all the support needed.
Thank you Shane Training Center-Tokyo!

I opted this course although I'm a Biology teacher as I believe all teachers are language teachers. Having been said that I feel multilingualism is crucial for students in the 21st century. That doesn't mean that people need to speak 'proper British English' until and unless it builds a communication. Mostly the second language English speakers determine why English is a global language in the current world. 'English' as a language had always been more flexible, as you may call it 'American English' or include worlds from 'Hindi' like 'shampoo, jungle and so on' but in this era where bias towards the "native speakers" widely exists, this course didn't build that awareness among the cohort.
Collaboration is essential for lifelong learning which is required not just by the students but also by the teachers or as a matter of fact by everyone. Still, the course lacked to build 'collaboration' among the teachers I was working with. Instead, I felt it was a competitive environment. Even if our classes were graded on our individual improvement rather than comparative, still this fact was not brought up. It would have been wonderful if this course involved group work or group projects and a healthier collaborative environment. We didn't discuss our lesson plans or form learning objectives or learning engagements together instead it was one way within me- my TEFL provider.
Keeping in mind this is a certification, I appreciate that it teaches you a lot in such a short span but there are a very few transferable skills taught. I have seen a common way of teaching displayed by most of all 'TESOL' certified teachers as if certification is turning out productive batches of identical people. There are the essential elements like 'reflection', 'lesson planners', observation, peer review but none in practice happen in its true sense.
If I haven't been taught how to 'reflect' as a teacher how can doing it for 10-15 times make a difference. Same goes with the lesson plans, what inquiry cycle you incorporate, which things come first (backward model or not), why I'm using the template given by TESOL, no discussions on such basic issues, I can't be using the same template throughout my life. So are there any transferable skills through which I can design my own planners in future?
The things I learned are innumerable and I give credit to this course that not being from a teaching background I could easily get into the University of Tsukuba to pursue Masters in International Education with International Baccalaureate (IB Board) Educator certification. Also, It motivated me to pursue teaching as a career and I'm doing an online course-Cambridge Biology Educator certification.

I decided pretty early on that I wanted to live in Japan long-term, and while I was studying abroad in the Tokyo area as a university student, I decided to look for a full-time TESOL certificate that I could do during one of my breaks. As an American college student, I have a very limited budget and relocating to Kobe for the CELTA was almost impossible. I knew about Shane's CertTESOL from research, but no courses were offered during my break. I took a shot in the dark and emailed the course director, Sophia, about my interest, and she was more than willing to move the course start time to fit my schedule, so that was a great hint that Shane was very accommodating to my needs.

The Unknown Language is surprisingly effective, as I still remember the vocabulary and phrases. I used some of the activities from those lessons in my own teaching practice. The Learner Profile had the option to be done entirely in the school with a learner arranged by the school, so it saved a lot of time from having to hunt my own. Teaching Practice was the most valuable part, as I literally felt growth in my ability with each lesson. I am very introverted, so the practice is going to save some stress when actually teaching for a paycheck and it really helped me open up about teaching. The class sizes are fairly small on some days, which can be beneficial if one is nervous about teaching larger groups.

This course will teach a lot of phonetics, which is something many native speakers are not used to, but pretty valuable in the long run. Lots of grammar is reviewed, and there are sample worksheets and lesson ideas given with them. It should be noted that there is also a small unit on teaching young learners and business English, which typically has to be purchased separately for a lot of other courses, so a little of everything most ESL teachers may encounter is covered under the one certificate.

It cannot be stressed enough how intensive the course is, and I would probably recommend the part-time option if possible. The first day will feel overwhelming, and you don't fully appreciate the course until a few days of rest after its over. During the course, there were times when I questioned myself about doing it due to the long commute I had and the amount of work. In the end, I am hands-down very glad that I decided to take it and would recommend it to others who want to get in the ESL world, especially in Japan and specifically in the Tokyo/Saitama/Chiba/Kanagawa area. I feel very confident in being able to land a good paying job abroad after I finish my bachelor's degree, and I feel there is more mobility in making it a long-term career by having the certificate. Depending where I end up, I may even return someday for the diploma.

* What made you take the course?
I took this course because I want to become an ALT. The Trinity CertTESOL is well recognized by English schools as well as by ALT dispatch companies in Japan.

* How did you find it?
I was somewhat nervous going in, but the instructors were extremely friendly and helpful. Whenever I asked for help or feedback, their replies were very quick and consistent. The class size was small so it was always possible to speak with the instructor personally.

* What advice would you give other people on the course?
I’m currently in University and this course took way more time than my school work. You will most likely end up writing more than 50,000 words before getting your certificate. Basically, this course is a lot of work. I would recommend the full-time course over part-time course. You'll need to dedicate your life to TESOL either way, and one month of stress is better than six months!
Even if you take the part time course, I would recommend any student to finish the homework and assignments as quickly as possible. This is especially important for the guided observation journal, unknown language journal, and peer observation, where you'll be expected to remember and record specific details. I used a laptop to take notes throughout the course, which was extremely helpful.

* What did you benefit from the most?
The instructors gave us feedback based on our teaching practice, and I was able to fix many of my bad habits as a result. I now feel that I can teach students with confidence.

I took the summer intensive course last year when I was really struggling with teaching English. At the time I had six years of experience teaching as an ALT under my belt but I felt like I still wasn't sure of how to better serve my students' needs.

The course was intense, and the summer version isn't for the faint of heart, but if you're willing to stick with it till the end, I know you will have no regrets towards this investment in your own education. The class revolutionized the way I approach my students and lessons, and helped me learn how to better assess both my students' progress as well as my own day-to-day progress as an educator. I can honestly say this truly changed and improved my life and my career.

My instructor Sophia was so kind and really helped me during the course of the lessons and even after the course was over, continued to give me support and continues to support my progress now. It's a good feeling to know that if you have further questions or need advice, your education doesn't stop just because your course is over.

Since graduating, I've become a better teacher, and even got a promotion. I'm now the head of the English department at a three-school campus and continue to use what I've learned on a daily basis and pass that knowledge on to trainees of my own.

If you're on the fence about whether or not to start at Shane, don't hesitate. A brighter future is waiting for you. Sign up and complete the course. You'll really be glad you did.