ITTP-TEFL-Prague-Reviews-from-the-archives

1/07/2010 : Dave
I have very recently completed their onsite course in Prague and i have to write that the trainers were absolutely top notch superb. Location is bliss too. Would highly recommend this programme if looking to gain the international teaching English certificate. Well done ITTP and thank you so much!

24/07/2010 : Sarah Gibbs

Hi. My name's Sarah and I took the ITTP international TEFL/TESOL Combined course this month. This was the Prague Online/Onsite course - I took the Online part from my computer in S.England, and took the Onsite part of the course in Prague as part of teaching practice modules. My friend took a TEFL course with another school in Prague so I feel as though my opinion is balanced and a good representation of the local Prague TEFL market (in comparison to my friend's experience with her school). Firstly the Online part of the course It was TOUGH going and I would only really recommend the combined course option if you are motivated enough to sit and work through each of the 12 course Modules - even though it can be at your own pace. It took me just over 8 weeks to complete the Online segment of the course but this was mainly because I had other work obligations at the time and I had just 15-30 minutes per day to work on the course on average. I started strong, experienced a dip in motivation during Module 5, and then also finished strongly towards the finish. This was a great solution for me because I didn't have the time to travel to Prague to take the full Onsite course BUT once again, be prepared for an intense study programme whilst ploughing through the 12 Modules. I can honestly write that the Modules provided an excellent platform for my Onsite practicum in Prague and even though it was tough going I did complete the last Module feeling I had got my money's worth and also feeling ready to begin the teaching practicum part. Now the Onsite part of the course One of the reasons why I chose ITTP was because I wanted to teach in Prague and they are probably the only school to offer the combo course. The other reason was because I wanted to study actually in the historical centre of the city - as opposed to traveling everyday to some remote section of the city where some of the TEFL schools are located - my friend's for example was located all the way out in Prague 9 even though her school gave the impression it was located in the beautiful centre! So there's the first big plus for me. I was a bit disappointed that I didn't get to meet any of the current Onsite students of the July program but I did get to meet up with past students of the program and they basically confirmed my impressions of the school - that it says what it does on the pack and you can teach with the certificate. I ended up teaching just Business English classes because the Elementary School was on Summer holidays but this didn't faze me at all because I had come to Prague to teach Business English. I was REALLY impressed with the fact that my classes took place at Citi Bank Corp and Unicredit Bank. Whilst I had access to excellent resources I did feel that I could have received slightly more Lesson Plan Guidance and slightly more in-depth Lesson feedback. Also, I wished I could have taken advantage more of the projector in class but on the day I wanted to use it this was being used in the Onsite class. Otherwise and on the whole I was completely satisfied with my Onsite practicum - all which took place in the centre of the city (near the ITTP Main Training Centre). My biggest compliment with the school? I got a job teaching the week after finishing up the course and although I was told I could I didn't fully believe it was possible until it happened. Prague is a wonderful city and the ITTP programme comes recommended. Na Zdravi!

11/08/2010 : Jas ace

I'm currently in the UK teaching Engliah at a Summer camp and I would never had either found this job neither had the confidence to teach my classes had it not been for the course and staff at ITTP TEFL Prague. This was a wonderful experience and an investment which I will take with me for a long time yet. After this summer I'm off to Hanoi to teach there. Teaching English rocks and if you are looking for the right course to take the training with then I'd completely recommend ITTP TEFL Prague. It was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

14/01/2011 : Aaron

I don't normally write reviews but felt compelled to write this one, not only to praise ITTP Prague TEFL but also to spread the word about teaching English abroad as a foreign language. This is something which I had never even heard of until I met a guy in a bar in Perth and he told me about the possibility of traveling and teaching English. I have been teaching English now in Prague for the past 4 months and I am enjoying every single minute of my experience in this wonderful city of golden spires. There are many TEFL program options in the city but I was recommended to take the ITTP Prague TEFL one as it is considered one of the best and I signed up when they were running a really good course price deal. The trainers are extremely good at what they do and I must write that the training was top notch excellent. They also made us all feel really comfortable in class. Another positive was that the course covered more areas than just teaching English to groups of adults. We also all had our go at teaching the kids at the local Elementary school and I got the opportunity to teach at a couple of reputable high street banks (at first it was a bit nerve-wracking but I soon found my footing and Czech students are a pretty nice bunch overall). I stayed the month in the ITTP apartment close to the Prague Castle and I found it to be a really good deal and it was a well-represented apartment in a safe area. For short term accommodation options in the city I doubt you could do better really and the price was really good. The only negative I had about the program was connected with the student apartment and that was that there was no clothes dryer. Instead we had a metal clotheshorse to lay our clothes on to dry. It turns out though that electric dryers are not a common feature of Prague apartments and although the clotheshorse did its job I did miss the quickness of a dryer. Other facilities in the apartment though were excellent and the high speed internet was high speed and hugely welcome after the internet drought I had experienced at home prior to coming to Prague. All in all ITTP Prague TEFL was an excellent experience and I am now, as promised, teaching English in Prague. I'm giving the program the top marks of 5 out of 5.

6/06/2011 : Matt

My name is matthew nace and I took the ittp residential onsite course in prague in summer 2010. For the sake of system i'm splitting this review into 2 sections. 1 section for positive reviews of the ittp program :-) 1 section for negative reviews of the ittp program :-( :-) : - throughout communication was excellent and key for me when making the decision to take the leap and sign up for the program. emails were always answered promptly both before and after payment sent. My email questions were always answered fully and personally and I felt that I was provided with accurate and unbiased information regarding the program and general prague life questions (as i found out having taught in prague for almost a year now). i think that for me the point when i felt completely comfortable with the program was when my initial course deposit was sent off at 3:21pm and i got back an email confirming my payment from the ittp staff about an hour later. again, not an automated response but an actual person from the school writing a personal email to me. - i thought the accommodation was good value for money and i thought the location was unbeatable. the prague castle was a short walk and i liked the fact that the apartment is situated in a leafy, secure part of the center. a heap of great bars and restaurants around and a grocery store on the ground floor. decently priced and free internet. for me it was a bargain but i didn't really understand how much of a bargain it was until i began renting my own apartment in the city. where i am teaching now though (znojmo) it makes prague real estate prices seem like manhattan. - the course instructors were simply awesome. period. - the school's job guidance support was for me an unexpected bonus of the course because i hadn't realized that this came free with the course. initially i began teaching in prague but have recently moved from the city to the country. ittp helped me find both my prague and current school. i think i would have found a teaching position on myself though as it isn't that difficult to find teaching jobs in the cz but having a bit of backup to steer me through the right direction was definitely a bonus and additionally if i want to leave znojmo then i know i can use ittp again to look for work elsewhere. - the course itself was pretty intense but doable and i was pleasantly surprised that we had long weekends available to go explore. - i felt that the honesty of the school was important for me. receiving back my accommodation deposit in full and promptly left a sweet taste when officially leaving the program. :-(: - i did have some issues receiving my certificate because nobody told me that i would have to write my name on my letterbox in order to receive post. as a result it took 3 whole weeks to receive my certificate because it was automatically redirected back to ittp. i wish they would use a courier service like tnt or dhl instead to avoid this unnecessary inconvenience. - I did find their pre-course recommended reading list a little misleading in that 'recommended but not compulsory' sort of prompted me to gather that i didn't really need to read the books and so i didn't really bother. when i arrived i soon gathered that most of the group had bought 1 or 2 of the titles and i did initially feel concerned that i was lacking some foundation knowledge and especially basic grammar terms. they don't teach us grammar in high school and anyway, that was a while back now. my tip is to grab yourself a really good grammar book and take it with you on your flight over to munch on so you have a general idea before beginning.   Overall the positives for me about the ittp program in prague heavily outweigh the negatives and like others i would definitely recommend the program. My email address is MattNace@centrum.cz . Feel free to pop me an email if you have any questions. Matt.

2/07/2011 : Nick

Took the ITTP Prague onsite course at the beginning of the year and had an overall excellent experience with this school. As others have mentioned, communication throughout the pre-course experience is top notch. The actual training itself was also top notch and I couldn't imagine having a more experienced or more able set of trainers - Mila and Andy were awesome infinitum. I imagine that every group has at least one moaner and unfortunately we had 2 professional moaners on our course who it seemed had already made up their mind that they weren't going to enjoy either Prague or the course, and spent their time picking holes in absolutely anything they could find. It's a shame really to spend so much money on an experience only to arrive and complain about how Prague is different to back home. However, the rest of our group's enthusiasm for Prague and the course wasn't affected by this :) I took a room in the school accommodation and honestly thought it was great value. Dejvicka has some of the highest rents in the whole country and I just don't see how I could have got a better deal compared with the few hundred bucks I paid for my room in the ITTP apartment. The apartment is located in a building which has a grocery store on its ground level so this was one massive bonus for us in terms of shopping convenience. The Prague Castle was a short stroll up the hill and tourist craziness was a 4 minute metro ride. I particularly enjoyed the green spaces which dot the area where the apartment is located and also of course the AMAZING choice of bars and restaurants in the local :) The area is very safe and I felt comfortable walking around any time of the day or night (something I couldn't say about some area of the city). When I was searching for a place to live for after the course I realized that the price I paid in the ITTP apartment was very fair considering that now I have to pay my rent AND utilities, etc., but the ITTP apartment rent was inclusive of all these extras - hence an awesome option and recommended. If I had to list any niggles I'd have to express dissatisfaction with the amount of library time we received. The ITTP library is excellent and we of course had access during class hours but a few of us were hoping we could also have access after class hours, weekends for example. I feel that this would have provided us with additional valuable research and lesson planning options. I did raise this issue with ITTP and they responded that library access was for 'scheduled class times only'. Whatever. oh well, not a huge issue but it would have been a welcomed perk. I really love teaching in Prague. It never gets old. My 1 tip (as others seem to have done on their reviews) is to recommend Summer Camp teaching, Apparently during the summer it can get pretty slow in Prague regarding teaching and summer camps allow you to fill in the teaching gap between July and September, teaching Czech teenagers in the countryside. I don't know if summer camps vary in what they offer but I get food, drink and accommodation paid for plus a wage of 6,000Kc per week. Not bad considering that it isn't full-time and most of the teaching is essentially just hanging out with high school kids in idyllic nature. I got my summer camp teaching work arranged weeks in advance and I know that the last available teaching places are now getting snapped up. If you come to take your course either in Spring or early Summer then make sure to ask ITTP if they know of any summer camp teaching vacancies. Definitely recommended as is the ITTP Prague onsite program. Enjoy! :)

12/07/2011 : Nigel
Recently completed their onsite course in Prague and had a fantastic time. Finding work after the course was pretty easy too. All in all a highly recommended experience. Thank you ITTP Prague!

9/09/2011 : Sharon

Taking my international TEFL/TESOL at ITTP Prague TEFL was one of the best decisions of my life and my first away from home country experience. At first I did have worries about traveling half way around the world to take a course with people I had never met before, and I was worried also about getting a job for after the course but at the same time I had a friend who took the exact same course a year earlier so I knew that as long as I overcame my initial apprehension that I would be fine. It was also an incredible bonus for me that my friend was still teaching in Prague and so I did have a connection as soon as I touched down at Praha Ruzyne. This course does everything it says on the can. Prior to signing up for the course Neville at ITTP Prague was extremely helpful in answering all of my questions. Also even after I had paid his responses were just as quick and responsive and this did make me feel additionally confident that I had made the right course decision. The course itself is, again as advertised, intense but fun. This is a VERY organized and well-prepared course and you will come away from it with a head full of knowledge. I particularly liked the teaching practice classes which we all taught. In the 4 weeks which I took the course I mounted up 18 teaching hours! I was in contact with a couple of people who took another different TEFL course in Prague and whereas they just taught 6 hours and to other members of their class (lame) we at ITTP Prague taught overall each between 15-20 hours and got to teach actual real students - not just at ITTP but also at a local school and at businesses and banks dotted around the city center. What an amazing introduction to the world of teaching English in Prague!!! My biggest compliment of my ITTP Prague experience though was the fact that 1 week after graduation I was employed full-time, teaching for a wonderful language school both adults and kids. From start to finish my ITTP Prague TEFL experience was a highly positive one and as other reviewers have done I can totally recommend this school. Sharon

21/09/2011 : James Swain

My decision to take a teaching English course in Prague was heavily influenced by my partner being based in Prague and our short term goal is for me to teach English for a year while she finishes up her university studies. Then who knows. We haven't ruled out staying on in Prague more permanently but on the other hand we both have a strong inclination for travel and a TEFL certificate is one way of fulfilling this dream. ok, so that's the easy part. The difficult part was choosing which school to take the damn certification with as Prague has a few TEFL schools and all seemingly offering the same thing. I began looking through course reviews and found this website to be a good source of reference and I did initially write to all the schools in Prague offering the TEFL, rating each school on the speed of response to my initial email enquiry. But also whether the answer was automated or an authentic response. In the end I decided to choose the ITTP Prague TEFL/TESOL residential course and I opted to stay in accommodation provided for by the school (partner currently living with her parents). What other reviews have mentioned is the consistency of communication throughout the application, payment, and post-application process, and I was also very much impressed by this aspect of this company. I made my course deposit at 6:01am on a Saturday morning and I received a personal written email confirmation of payment received at 7:42am the SAME DAY! My first choice of course date was honored and I was provided with various accommodation options to choose from - all in the Prague Castle area of the city (a FANTASTIC location). Again, I made my accommodation deposit at 4:37pm (Tuesday) and received a personal written email confirmation of payment received at 7:01pm (same day). I did try and limit the amount of questions I had before arriving to Prague as I didn't want to come over as being just another lost newbie, but the questions which I did send in were all answered promptly, in detail, and always in a very professional and friendly tone. When I arrived to Prague I took advantage of the ITTP taxi pickup, settled up my remaining balance (finally meeting with Neville himself), and settled into my room. I'm not overreacting if I describe the area as 'amazing'. It IS amazing. To begin with you have a grocery store on the Ground Level of the building and this is sufficient for getting your daily or weekly shop done. Within a 5 minute walking radius there is a bank, 10+ restaurants, 5+ bars, a Starbucks, library, Italian food and wine shop, a second (much larger) supermarket AND 2 casinos (LOL). AND, it is perhaps the safest area to live in Prague so that in my mind adds a whole lot of additional weight to the general awesomeness of the area. I've never had any issues living in Prague but some parts of the city are either run-down or a bit skanky with the usual unsavoury characters lurking around. The area where the ITTP apartment is located is clean and safe and the apartment is good value for money. The only negative I would have to write about the apartment itself is that the kitchen facilities are electricity and not gas. I do prefer gas to cook with. Not a huge issue but give me gas any day over an electric oven. The real show case though is the course itself. Having no prior teaching experience I must admit that I was a little nervous and not sure of what exactly to expect. However, I soon realized that most of the other students also had no teaching experience and as I did take advantage of the ITTP precourse reading I at least had a pretty good overall knowledge of the terms which we were speaking about in those first few days of the course. You definitely get the strong impression that the course has been designed by professionals in the industry and the logical steps definitely help ease some of the inevitable nervousness and apprehension which comes hand in hand with doing one of these intensive courses. The teaching practice element of the course was my favorite element of the course partly because I do like to perform but also because we had SO MANY opportunities to teach and so many varied forms of teaching practice classes. By the end of the first week I had already taught my first General english and Business English classes and looking forward to more of those plus teaching the kids in the second week. By the end of the course I had notched up over 20 hours of teaching practice classes and this a wonderful way to prepare for real teaching life. I do have friends in the city who have taken other TEFL courses with different companies and I do know that they had nowhere near as much teaching practice sessions as I did and this section of the course was invaluable and a reason in itself for signing up for the course. To top the cake with a cherry I was teaching the week after the finish of the course. The very next Tuesday morning. The ITTP TEFL Prague course comes with 5 golden stars. Totally recommended!

9/10/2011 : Aimee

I encourage reviewers to keep reading the reviews above. I'm not sure I can add much versus what's already been said. If you're looking for a super well-organized international tefl/tesol certification course experience, with 100% job guarantee success rate then ITTP Prague is the place. My boyfriend and I were searching for what seemed like months for the perfect location and school where to take our teacher training. This place hit the mark in so many ways: The stunning architecture, affordable prices, deserted countryside to explore, and the awesome bohemian vibe of the city of Prague; the awesomeness of this wonderful city cannot be captured in pictures. Mila, Lalie and Steven were fantastic teachers...very easy going, extremely knowledgeable and helpful, and funny. The school accommodations were a neat treat...no one upstairs or on the other side of the wall making noise. The teaching practice was fantastic. The Czech beer addicting ;-). It was an utterly fantastic experience. Be warned though! One teacher who I met wasn't as lucky as we were and she took a different course with a different provider in Prague who promise 95% success rate. Turns out there are quite a few students who fall into that '5%' fail rate and she had to leave to go home early. Tip: I think someone else mentioned this as well: don't bother purchasing all the books on the recommended reading list. I arrived armed to the teeth with literature and quickly discovered I was one of the few who had...the course teaches you everything you need to know.

9/01/2012 : Courtney

The positives about taking the ittp tefl prague course for me definitely outweigh the negatives and I had an amazing learning experience on the course and am having an amazing teaching experience post course. The only complaint I had though with ittp tefl prague was that a whole hour each week is put aside to learning Czech and if like me you have no intention of learning the language then that hour in the curriculum is a complete waste of time. Apart from that though it was a spot on course and definitely recommended.

11/01/2012 : margaret lonergan

I recently completed the ittp tefl prague onsite residential course in the city of prague in czech. I have spent most of my life in education in one form or other and I can honestly say that ittp tefl prague are definitely up there with my most positive learning experiences. The training at this school is top notch. The location of the classes and the accommodation is perfect within walking distance of all prague's amazing sights, cafes, restaurants… and of course the prague castle and charles bridge. Prague is SUCH a BEAUTIFUL city and if you get the chance you must visit!!!!!!! The course comes highly recommended to both young and old students /as was demonstrated well with our very mixed group/ and I have already recommended this course to two of my friends back home!!!!!!! The staff are darlings and neville was so helpful with our pre course planning. I had so may questions and he showed professionalism and patience throughout. I was generally very surprised with how friendly everyone was in the city as I read that the locals could tend to be a bit rude. Quite the opposite in our experience. Back to the course, both me and my husband agree that the most enjoyable part of the course was teaching our one on one students at the bank and I do tend to agree with the school that teaching practice is their strength and outshining their competitors as we did also meet up with tefl students from other courses so I feel we have good ground for comparison. The only negative which I experienced /and someone else mentioned this/ was that although the free czech lessons were eagerly embraced by the majority of our group a few of us /my husband and I included/ did find the one hour czech class per week a bit of a waste of time. Please don't judge me as lazy or ignorant but it's just that we planned only to stay in the city for the month of training and now these two months of traveling czech and surrounding countries before we leave for a teaching assignment in nagoya so learning czech isn't our number 1 priority. Completing this course significantly aided our japan teaching applications and we were offered the positions based on our experience and the certification. So, we are both really satisfied and we made some great new friends on the course. We are looking forward to our japan experience but will miss prague. We were offered work in prague straight after the course and in fact my husband was offered work even before the third week had finished but we both declined because we did want to use the time we had and have to travel so I can't comment I'm afraid on what teaching in prague is like but the rest of our group all seem very much happy with their experiences so far with it and all began teaching soon after course completion. If anyone does have any questions then I'll be more than happy to respond. We had a delightful time on the course and I don't mind spending a bit of my time passing on the good word. Margaret margaretlonergan@rocketmail.com

17/01/2012 : Andy

This course seems to really differ from the other courses available in Prague. I know this for a fact. Before I committed to a course I did have the advantage of being able to make a preliminary trip to Prague and I personally visited all TEFL/TESOL schools in the city to speak with current students and in some cases (as was with the case with ITTP) school members of staff. What turned me round to deciding on ITTP was the overwhelmingly positive feedback I received from ITTP students regarding their teaching practice experience and this was also reflected on my course where we taught what seemed an insane amount of hours. With the exception of one 60 minute class where no students showed ALL our classes were teaching real students. This meant teaching the Czech students who arrived every day for their general English classes. Teaching the adorable pre-teens and less adorable teens at the Old Town Elementary school. Teaching my one to one students Jana and Michal at the bank. What more could you ask for?!!! All my classes were very central (accommodation too) which made sightseeing before/after classes very convenient. The Charles Bridge, Old Town Square, Prague Castle were all within walking distance (I'm not a big walker). I found Prague to be safe and a lot more affordable than my home city. You do need to be careful though choosing where you go because prices do fluctuate alarmingly between one place and another for pretty much an identical product or service. Take coffee. 14 koruna from the kiosk outside my apartment. 22 Koruna from McDonalds. Cc. 75 Koruna from Starbucks. 100+ Koruna from Nespresso cafe on Pariska street. The best news of all for me was that within a week of our job guidance class in the first few weeks of the course I had two generous teaching English job offers. So I decided to accept both I teach part time for both schools and this works just fine for me because job security is very important for me (I am non EU). Not all schools assist with job searching. ITTP does. The only (small) gripe which I do have with ITTP is that their housing is a bit on the expensive side for the city in general. Now I do understand that all the TEFL/TESOL schools in the city charge similar rates but with ITTP you either get a really affordable option or a really expensive one so my advice is to book up early and grab one of their more affordable ones. I booked up last minute and found that only the less affordable options were available. My bad. Oh well. To sum up. ITTP is a reputable and well-known TEFL/TESOL school program in the city of Prague. I took the course to become qualified to teach English, and to land a job. ITTP did well on this and the course does what it says on the tin. They also provide very well-located accommodation (the location is safe and Western-friendly) and while this does come recommended I must advise that you ask in advance if the more affordable options are available. If not then I'd see what else is available from other sources (sorry ITTP). Prague is fabulous and you really must come visit. Even if you are not taking a course. You will immediately fall in love with this city. If you are taking the course then enjoy (!!!) Andy

27/01/2012 : Sam

My TEFL experience at ITTP has been thoroughly worthwhile and fulfilling. I had no problems with the accommodation; the room was exactly as it was described to me and everybody else here was able to live together in a happy, civilised manner. The course training itself even managed to exceed expectations. Our teacher, Mila, was professional, super-intelligent, well organised, well informed, and above all, was always willing to lend his help and support with regard to lesson planning and job hunting. I have recommended this course to friends of mine also interested in pursuing this career, and would happily recommend it to others.

31/01/2012 : Emilie

I was on the same combination online/onsite course as Margaret (December 2011) and I also wanted to add my voice in that I had a thoroughly wonderful time on the course. As a US passport holder I did initially have my reservations about how difficult it would be to find work after the course and we did need to wait until after the holidays to really get the ball rolling. To my welcomed surprise I was offered a handful of teaching positions in early January and two of the schools also offered to help me get my work permit visa. I did settle on those two schools and I am very satisfied in my current teaching posts, teaching part time for one and almost full time hours for the other. I really don't know what the commotion over getting the visa is all about because it has seemed pretty straight forward to both Margaret and myself. Margaret is off to Japan but I am sticking around for the long haul and my work permit just cost $50 (US) and not the absurd amount quoted by a previous reviewer. Yes, you have to run around getting documents collected but I found the whole process a lot more painless than when I needed to gather my visa application together for South Korea (where I taught for a year before coming to Prague). I really don't know what all the fuss is about. The only pain with the visa application here is that you do need to submit the paperwork at either the Czech Embassy in Vienna, Bratislava, or Dresden. Even then though surely it's an excuse to take a trip out of the city and anyway the train journey down to Vienna was peanuts. So if you come with a can do attitude then you shouldn't have any issues whatsoever and ITTP prepares you anyway for the job searching and visa process. I had absolutely no issues at all with the accommodation which ITTP provided and actually felt a bit sad when it was time to leave it. Yes, the apartment has no TV but otherwise has all you need and I was very satisfied with the apartment, the apartment location, and the immediate neighborhood. I particularly liked the 20 minute walk in to the Charles Bridge and I'm sure I lost pounds exploring the city in that first month. The training was excellent too as was the general support from the ITTP administration throughout. ITTP TEFL Prague is a rewarding program and I really can't think of any reason not to take this course if wanting to take an international TEFL/TESOL course in the city of Prague. Highly recommended!

5/02/2012 : Harry Shires

I took the course onsite in Prague in November 2006 - more than five years ago and I still could not rate this course any higher! I gave up everything to do this course down to my last penny and gained absolutely EVERYTHING from it to the point at which I actually had to turn down work at the end of the course as the offers were just pouring in thanks to the guidance and advice of the course tutors. Speaking of the course tutors, they are all highly trained, professional individuals and alongside the management team, I have remained in regular contact over the years. The post-course support is simply amazing and I couldn't praise it any higher. Every query and every email have all received a quick response and if you don't believe in friends for life, you will after doing this course. The course is intense and over the four weeks you will learn everything you need to know to pass your exams and get a Distinction - I did. Not to mention a LOT of practical experience teaching that you don't necessarily get anywhere else from children in primary school through to older adults in commercial companies and enterprises. The breadth of experience you can get is great. Prague is a wonderful city and I really enjoyed my time living; learning and working there. There is so much to see and do and you can get around the city extremely quickly thanks to one of the best transport systems I have ever encountered. If you are thinking about doing this course, don't think - just do. That is my advice, and you can contact me on harry@harryshires.info for any questions about the course as I will be happy to help. Harry Shires

9/02/2012 : Jessica

When I first decided to pack up and relocate to Europe my first big question which I had for myself was which part in Europe I was going to settle for, and in the back of my mind I had an unexplained sense of longing for the Eastern half of the continent. I had heard stories of Prague from friends who knew friends who had visited and as a laid-off English teacher trying to survive the worst economic climates since The Great Depression, I was familiar with the works of Kafka and some of the more well-known stories set in Prague such as The Golem. So my initial attraction for this country was through its great works of literature. Once I was firmly set on Prague I began internet searching for types of work I could do there and I came across TEFL. Perfect. Next I Googled 'TEFL Prague' and I had my shortlist of schools where I could earn the widely recognized international TEFL certification. In the end it really boiled down to two schools and ultimately I registered for the ITTP TEFL Prague program. Why? I was impressed with their speed of response to all my emails mainly and unlike some of the other schools on my list ITTP TEFL Prague did seem to have a greater focus on the study program (rather than on the social aspect). I like to party as much as the next guy but I knew that TEFL courses were intense and I wanted to take one which would prepare me well enough - the partying would come after. I do also want to highlight that during the payment process I felt completely at ease with the whole process. Hey, when I signed up for the program I didn't know these guys from Adam or Eve and when you pay for things online you tend to find that once they have you then the service tapers off considerably. Not so with ITTP. Within MINUTES !!! of paying for the course online I received a personal email thanking me for choosing ITTP and confirming my place on the course and remaining balance. Maybe this is the case with all schools in Prague. I don't know. At least for me though at this point anyway I new that I had made the right decision. During the transition from payment to arrival I did have a load of questions, which were all answered promptly. I really liked the fact that one of the owners takes the time to keep a blog where they answer FAQs and provide other course and teaching related information. I know I had one particularly complicated question about how to go about opening a bank account in Prague and I was immediately directed to a blog post written by an actual bank in Prague which explained all the ins and outs. If there was a negative then a recommendation for the school would be to perhaps provide more detailed information regarding arrival at Prague airport. When I asked about Prague airport customs and passport control I received a 'all will be fine' reply, and it was, but I would have liked a bit more information about the actual airport layout; how far it takes to walk from the plane to passport control, etc. This is a very small point but something which could be next covered in the school blog perhaps? I did like the taxi pickup at the airport - very convenient!   I have only positive things to write about the actual course and actually being a qualified teacher I still found the course engaging. In the first couple of weeks I definitely felt ahead of the rest of the class and I was stunned that towards the end of the course pretty much everyone was performing at the same level as I was in terms of teaching ability and confidence in the classroom and also regarding knowledge of all those essential English grammar rules. So from this I concluded that yes, the course is for all native speakers but you do need to work. There is a reason why they call these courses 'intense'. The ITTP staff were absolutely wonderful and I can only reiterate what some people have already stressed, and that is that the Trainers are incredible. Really. Finding work was MUCH easier than I thought would be and I can't but help wonder when this bubble will burst because it really was that easy getting onto a school's books. Not only myself but also for the rest of my group of mostly US passport holders (although it is true that the Brits among us found it even easier). The money isn't going to pay off the mortgage but it will support you for your stay and if like me you teach a few private classes as well as normal teaching hours then you can definitely save a little too. Come with a mind that you will get by ok and experience Prague; something like a paid holiday. Don't come thinking that you are going to pay off all your student loans. I do just fine here. I take home between 25 and 30k per month, depending on how my privates go that month. My apartment rent is 12k so I have a good chunk of change left over for going out and taking the odd trip here and there. If I wanted to I could limit my spending and save a few hundred bucks a week and that is precisely what I am going to hopefully begin doing fairly soon because I have my eye on teaching in Thailand next and I will need a bit of money saved up for that journey. That's the great thing about getting TEFL qualified and that is that you can teach practically anywhere. Once again, I cannot comment on other schools in Prague. they might offer the same as ITTP does. I am only writing from my own personal experience. If you go with another school then I'm sure you will have an equally positive time. For me though I chose ITTP and as you can see, I recommend it. My tip is to definitely read the ITTP blog. It really prepared me for the move and I still do find it useful even though I am now more local than newbie. Here is the blog address: http://ittp-tefl-prague-tesol.blogspot.com/. I like to catch up every Monday on their Monday's Prague Tip posts. Last week's was awesome :) I'm not sure what this site's policy is regarding outward links so if the link doesn't show then you can easily Google it up. All in all I was extremely happy with my choice with ITTP TEFL Prague and I hope you also enjoy your time studying TEFL and living in Prague!

28/02/2012 : Keith

Back in the US, waiting for my connecting flight. Thinking back over my last year spent in Prague teaching English and wondering if I shouldn't have stayed longer. You know, a period of reflection. I couldn't stay for ever I guess. Have a bit of time and funnily enough remembering what Neville said that in business one happy client will recommend a business to one or two friends and one unhappy client will tell a hundred plus people. So here is my ITTP TEFL Prague review. My whole TEFL course package experience with ITTP TEFL Prague was through and through excellent and I'm happy to write this review as I wait for my delayed flight. I'll go through all the main positives and then list the one negative which gives the overall score a 4 and not a 5. 1. Communication. Excellent. Really. All emails answered within hours (we joked that Neville must have a computer strapped to his internal organs or something). Secure credit card payment area and again payment was confirmed within hours. This reinforced my opinion of the company. 2. Training. Excellent. Again really excellent. We were lucky to be trained up by incredible professionals. The course is very very well organized and like others I enjoyed the variety of teaching practice instead of just teaching one type of student. Teaching from day one was nerve wracking but I believe made us stronger teachers earlier in the course. 3. Our Group. I will miss you guys for always. You rocked! I just loved the small group size because it gave more trainer individual attention and meant we formed a strong compact group of friends. 4. Job Guidance. Did what it said on the packet. I along with the rest of the class began our first paid classes a week or two after that last day of testing all those months ago. 5. Continued Support. Yep, it's true. They do remember you. I don't like to bother them too much but once in a while I have a question which I can't seem to find anyone else can answer and they (ITTP) usually respond within a day or two with a really helpful reply. Sure, a bit slower than when I was signing up for the course or when I was on the course but I figure that is still pretty God damn good. Plus, they gave me a stunning reference just recently which will kick butt in any type of job application. 6. TEFL Power. I can travel anywhere I want now and teach. What an investment! 7. They have been around for donkey's years and this was important to me because I didn't want to take a gamble on a new outfit which might go belly up before I even arrived for the course. 8. The Negative. The accommodation really let them down. Yep, the location was really good. It had pretty much everything we needed. Was secure. But it was definitely frayed around the edges and a little over priced. OK, I know you would be hard pressed to find anything else in the area for the same price per person but combined between all of us it was pricey. Word on the TEFL grapevine is that they have found new offices and housing for the Summer 2012 courses so that will definitely improve the overall service and this leads me onto my last point of number 9. 9. They listen. They give a crap. They will take good care of you if you are good to them. They are pretty much a family business and I understand they are involved in local charity work. So, overall I give ITTP TEFL Prague a recommended 4 out of 5.