 Hello, hello. It's Lisa here. While I'm waiting for more people to join us, let me introduce myself for those who will watch it as a recording. So my name is Lisa. I am a TEFL expert at ITT team and I'm also a self-employed online ESL teacher. I'm a non-native speaker, and I'm based in Ekaterinburg, Russia. So I hope that today's session will be useful for as many people as it is possible because it basically covers one of the most controversial topics in TEFL certification. So to be more exact, the main point of today's session is what are some differences between TEFL, TESOL, and the other certifications which are CELTA and DELTA. And right now, please let me know if you can hear me clearly and see me well. There is a chat box so you can communicate with me via the comments. So if you hear me clearly, please let me know. And I also hope that today's session will be quite brief and it won't take too much time so that everyone could just spend some time here and then go to do their own business. Okay, I can see that here is Selma. Hello, nice to see you. And guys, while joining me, please let me know where are you tuning in from. I stay in beautiful Yekaterinburg, Russia. Today is quite cold, about 20 degrees below zero. And Tuesdays are my favorite days, actually, because I go skiing right after these sessions. So I am so amazed and happy to see you and then go to my favorite hobby. Go to do my favorite hobby. Hello, guys. Welcome to today's session. Okay, there is Ali from Pakistan. Nice to see you guys. Okay, Karen from Australia. Welcome. Thank you for joining me today. And here is also Melanie from the Philippines. Nice to see you here. And thanks for coming. Okay, today's session is a bit different because the introduction is so long. For some reason, many people are joining a little bit later, like after three minutes from the start or something. Okay, and let's just go to the main point of the presentation because I have already introduced myself. We are going to talk about some differences between TEFL, TESOL, CELTA and DELTA. So these are the most famous teaching certifications and many people who want to start their career in ESL teaching are doubting about which certification to enroll in. That's why I'm going to dwell upon this topic. So let me change the slide and please let me know if you see me clearly and hear me clearly. Okay, there is a chat box and you can constantly communicate with me so that I know that I'm not alone here. And you may probably hear that I'm a little bit nervous. That's because I'm usually a little bit conscious about my speaking. It's something I don't do on the regular basis, I should say, just because I'm not a native speaker and I don't have this environment and the only source of English communication is these sessions. So hopefully this session will be comfortable for you from my side. I mean, I will deliver it effectively and things like that. And let me start with this slide by introducing you these different certifications. So there are actually more of them, but the most famous ones are TEFL or TESOL and CELTA and DELTA. And usually when students want to take one of these certifications, want to start their teaching career, they just ask what's the difference. And as you can see, TEFL and TESOL are actually equal. But there is a huge difference between TEFL and TESOL and CELTA and DELTA. And let's see what are they exactly. Oh, sorry. So when we talk about some basic preliminary teaching skills to obtain, we usually refer to TEFL or TESOL. These two certifications do not require any previous teaching training or previous teaching experience. And to take one of these certifications, all you need is your fluency in English. So basically, if you have B2+, if you have the level of English equal to B2 or above, this certification is possible for you. And if, for example, you was trained as a manager or, I don't know, a doctor, but you want to change your career path, this certification will be more suitable to you because it covers the most primary skills in teaching. The most important factor to take this certification is that it helps you to understand what is teaching English in general. For example, I can share my own example. I studied at a linguistics department and I learned English by heart, but I didn't study how to teach English. And here is the most challenging issue. When I finished my university, when I obtained the bachelor's degree, I was like, what should I do? And the only option I had like back six years ago was to start tutoring because I was fluent in English and it was like quite easy because no one asks you about your degree, about your experience and whatever. So I decided to become a tutor and later on I wanted to go to China. But I just didn't have this understanding how to prepare for my lessons, how to explain different grammatical things to my students. That's why that was the best idea for me to take a Tafel certification. And here is actually my certificate. If you ask me what type of certification I chose, it was certificate in teaching English to speakers of other languages, which is TESOL. So here at the bottom of this slide, you can see what is the main difference in these two abbreviations. So Tafel stands for teaching English as a foreign language and TESOL stands for teaching English to speakers of other languages. So who can take Tafel? These should be people willing to work in their native, in their English native speaking countries and teaching English to those whose first language is various from English, but they live in a native speaking country. And the reason I chose TESOL was that I wanted to go to China and the country of my origin where I had my tutoring position was also various from native speaking country. So I taught in Russia first and then I went to China. That's why I decided TESOL would be more appropriate for myself compared to Tafel. But these two certifications are basically just equal and it's just up to you which heading to choose. And let's see what benefits these two certifications have. So first of all, if you take it with ITTT, you will be sure that your certification will be accredited and Tafel and TESOL are both worldwide recognized. So you just can be sure that this certificate will be recognized by almost all employers around the world. And when I applied to different positions in China, this certificate helped me to find a position quicker. The other benefit is that it is quite a fast training. For example, if you take an online course, it will last up to 180 days. But most of the people can undergo through the course, through all of the units of the course within two or three months. And when I passed this certification, it took me two months to finish all of the units, all of the theoretical units. And I spent about a month to finish my writing assignment, which was quite challenging, I should say. I needed to create a lesson plan. And just because probably because of my previous experience, I was a little bit unaware of my planning. So that was the most difficult part of the course for myself. And probably the most beneficial thing about Tafel or TESOL courses is their prices, is their pricing. So here you can see that the basic Tafel course at ITTT starts from $239. And it's quite affordable for many people around the world. And I will just show you the difference with the following courses. And you will see why it's this affordable. Okay. And then when you talk about some initial but advanced teaching training, you will probably choose SELTA. It is not the same as Delta because SELTA is a certification and Delta is the diploma in teaching. So SELTA would be the initial teaching training, but more advanced compared to Tafel and TESOL. But it actually requires to be over 20 years. And you should have a clear C1 level or above. And if you look at this grading, you will see that, for example, if you passed IELTS, you will need 7.5 plus in writing and in speaking. And I also have my IELTS statement here. And unfortunately, according to my IELTS, I cannot take SELTA, but I believe it's also very subjective. So if you enroll into a course, the training center will probably assess your speaking abilities and writing. So if you, for example, have scores in writing a little bit below this number, they will just assess you and give you an opportunity to take the course. But what are some... Yeah, one more thing to mention is that SELTA used to be a certificate in teaching English to adults, but nowadays it's a general course as well. It's a certificate that focuses on teaching English to speakers of other languages like TESOL, for example. But it's more advanced. And here are some benefits and drawbacks. So I believe that TAPL and TESOL do not have just visible drawbacks compared to SELTA or DELTA. Well, SELTA is also recognized worldwide. It also has a really strong theoretical base and when you take a full-time course, it includes a really intense teaching practice. So it's just the main difference between this course and TAPL and TESOL. Because if you take a TAPL and TESOL, you can choose between the online option in class and mixed. But as for SELTA, it should be taken in class and there are just two different options, full-time or part-time. If you take it as a part-time training, you will need to spend a little bit more months to pass the whole course. And the most considerable issue is the course pricing. So basically, because it's a full-time course and you need to visit the test center regularly, the training center regularly, you will need to pay up to $2,800. It can be even more in some other test centers. But for example, in Russia, they charge you with this amount of money. And not every training center can provide you with an appropriate SELTA training because only Cambridge accredited test centers can provide this course. Okay. And one more thing, you have to study like three months non-stop. It's not self-paced at all because you need to have a constant communication with your trainer and with the group. Hello, everybody. I can see your comments. And I will go back to the comments section a little bit later when we have a Q&A session. For now, I just want to concentrate on the main point of the presentation. But stay tuned because at the end of the main part, we will have a quick chat and we will also share a bonus with you. Okay. And going forward with the main point, when it comes to the more advanced teaching training, people choose DELTA, but the main problem to take DELTA is having a reasonable amount of previous teaching experience. And unfortunately, you cannot take DELTA if you don't have a prior TEFL certification. So, basically, when you apply for DELTA training, you need to first have an international TEFL certificate. It can be a TEFL certificate or a SELTA. And sometimes the test centers also consider applications without TEFL certification, but otherwise, you have to provide your university statement like that, for example, you finished BA in education or English teaching. The minimum amount of experience should be up to two years or even more. So, you need to be experienced in teaching practically. And also, you must be able to work with various groups of people. Yeah, of course. And your English level should be from C1 to C2, but probably they will look at your C2 proficiency. Okay. And here are some benefits. And I believe that the most important thing about DELTA is that it enables you to develop your career and prepare for senior teaching positions. So, for example, you have been teaching English for several years already as an ordinary teacher at a school. But you want to become a teacher trainer or, I don't know, elite teacher at your school. So, for this reason, you will need to take DELTA. What is also important to know about this diploma is that it consists of three modules. And basically, you can prepare to pass those modules on your own. You don't need to take any special trainings or courses. You can just prepare by yourself and take any module you want first. So, for example, if you want to finish the theoretical module faster, you can schedule your exam and take the first module first. If you want to get the practical skills, you would choose a different module to pass first. Yeah. But some other things may be drawbacks for you. And the most important one would be that this certification takes a lot of time and efforts. So, you, of course, you can prepare by yourself, but you need to make sure you understand everything just completely. So, I know that many teachers, many teachers prefer to take courses prior to this examination. And together with the courses, the price becomes just really, really unaffordable. And you basically pay for each module separately. And as an example, the second module is focused on training teachers. When you become a senior teacher or something like that and allow to work with people who are specialized at teaching other people. Yeah, you need to pay around $2,000 to take this module, which is really, really huge, I should say. And you will get your Delta diploma only after you finish all of these three modules. So, that's probably it about the benefits and drawbacks of Delta. And here is where I finish the main part of this presentation and start my Q&A session. And I can see that there are some comments in the comments box and I would like to look at them. But if you have any questions, please use the comments section and let me know. And I'll try my best to help you and answer as many questions as it is possible. All right, so, yeah, Katia, I hope that I pronounced your name correctly, suggests that it is important to finish reading first for module one and take a course to prepare. Yeah, I believe it's probably to stay on the safe side. If you want to pass this module successfully, it's better to take some primary course, preparation course or something like that. Okay, all right. I can just see that there are many greetings from different places. Thanks, guys, for joining me today. I hope that today's session will help you. Okay, so Katia asks me to talk about module three a little bit more. Unfortunately, I cannot dwell upon this topic because I'm not specialized in Delta. And the only thing I know is what is written on the Cambridge website. So, unfortunately, I'm so sorry. I just don't want to mislead you right now. And I don't want to give any irrelevant information. What I suggest you to do is to refer to the Cambridge website if you want to know more about Delta, because this training is provided only by Cambridge test centers. So that's it. And, okay, one more thing to mention today. We share a 30% discount. And if you want to take a Tafel course with us, please consider this QR code. If you scan it right now, you will have a link with this 30% discount. So with this coupon. But I'll also share a direct link right now so that you can just click on it and go to the website directly. Okay, so Katia says that she has already taken module one. Congratulations. Well, I hope it was easy peasy lemon squeezy for you. I am willing to take Delta, but right now I'm preparing for proficiency for the Cambridge proficiency test. I hope that I'll pass it maybe in December or January. I'm not sure yet because I know that I have to work a lot on my English speaking and on my general English skills. So I believe that teaching certifications will be after that. But yeah, Delta is something really interesting for me because I have already worked a lot on my teaching career and I believe it's something really valuable. Thank you Katia. And I hope that your experience may be interesting and useful to other people. And well, what if we have a chat with you sometime? Let us know, you can direct message me and maybe we will have a talk about Delta a little bit more. So, all right. Other online courses equivalent to the in-class ones. When you get your TEFL certification, there is no statement that you passed it online. So for example, here is my certificate. I hope you can see it. But here is no information that I passed it online. Which makes it equal to the in-class certification. Well, of course, it's up to you whether to let know to the employer that you passed an online training. But well, if you want to make sure and stay on the safe side, just mention that you have the certification and that's all. And your employer can also check that the certificate is real because there is a number. And on the ITTT website, there is an option to check if the certificate was taken by you or by someone else or it's fake. So, basically online courses are equal to in-class courses. Okay. If there are no more questions, let me show you something else. I know it's like a kind of advertisement, but if you are on Clubhouse already, find me and Linda because we are willing to network and create a room about TEFL teaching. I haven't come across with any teaching rooms yet or teaching clubs. So, what if we become the first ESL teaching club on Clubhouse? So, if you are on this app already, find myself and Linda. We will be really happy to communicate with you and maybe have a chat related to teaching sometime. Okay. So, here are our profiles. So, I hope to see you sometime on Clubhouse. And the last thing to mention, ITTT is presented on various social networks. We constantly try to communicate with our graduates and those who are just willing to start their career in teaching. We share different useful stuff on a regular basis just daily. So, follow us on Instagram, Facebook or whatever social network you like. And yeah, our IDs as far as I understood on Clubhouse. So, this is the here. Linda goes this and this is my profile. Okay. So, I hope to see you on Clubhouse sometimes. And here is another question on TEFL. Okay. What's the difference of taking masters in TESOL and the course you're offering? Well, the difference is that probably with masters in TESOL, you are studying at university and you will get a teaching diploma from university. We are providing TEFL certification. So, this is the main difference, I believe. And TEFL certification is probably a great addition to those who don't have this professional teaching training. So, if for example, a person finished university as a manager or, I don't know, as a doctor or someone else, they may take a TEFL certification to start teaching and change their career. Yeah, something like this. Thanks for the question. And if you guys don't have any further questions, I think we can finish today's session. It was really, really productive and I hope that you found something useful and you will have a clear understanding of TEFL and other certifications. And I wish you good luck with your teaching. See you soon. Linda's live stream will be next Friday, I believe. And my live streams are on Tuesdays. So, see you next time. And don't forget to like us and subscribe. Bye-bye, guys. Thanks for joining me today.