Anyone wishing to take the course must be 17 years of age and have completed year ten of secondary school. There are no other academic requirements for attending TESOL. (Students who do not yet meet these requirements can still access the course and complete the modules, but may not receive full credit until they have met the age and academic requirements.)

No. We feel that some of the best teachers are those who speak multiple languages, and if that’s you, we know that you are going to make an excellent teacher. If you can speak and write in English and be understood by others, then you should be able to do well in the course.

Similar to any course, you will need to follow instructions carefully and understand information that is presented to you in a variety of media, including video, audio excerpts, and written text. So in addition to speaking and writing in English, you will also need to have decent skills in listening and reading. However, English does not need to be your native language and multilingual students are encouraged to join this course!

You can access the course’s online learning platform by going to goandteach.citizenstesol.org or clicking the ‘Get Your TESOL Certificate’ button in the main menu above. There you can explore the free ‘Course Introduction’ module and familiarize yourself with the platform before the course begins. When you visit the platform for the first time, you will be asked to create an account (takes about 1 minute).

Anyone can access the course for a limited time without applying for credit as an official student, however, there are a few options if you wish to apply for official credit with YWAM’s University of the Nations.

If you’ve not yet applied as a student through one of our partner organizations (such as YWAM Boston), then you can apply for credit with YWAM Montana. Please go to apply.ywammontana.org, select ‘TESOL’ and the next available date (2023, etc.), and complete the application (takes about 10 minutes, however, additional enrollment forms and fees may be requested). One of the course staff will contact you about your acceptance (please allow at least one week for their response). To further inquire about your acceptance, you can send an email to: tesol@ywammontana.org

To inquire about receiving credit through YWAM Boston instead, you can send an email to: tesol@ywamboston.org

Our course works best on desktop computers with current versions of Chrome and Firefox, as well as mobile devices using iOS Safari, Chrome, and Samsung Internet apps. Some of the activities in the course will not work properly in other browsers. If you are using Safari, Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer, or another browser, we highly recommend downloading Chrome or Firefox for your desktop computer before continuing the course. You can download Chrome for free here.

That depends on your situation and how much time you can commit each week. This course is designed with working or part-time students in mind, and our goal is to make it accessible to students who volunteer their time elsewhere, have jobs, have families, or have other responsibilities. Students can choose to complete the course in a few weeks or several months. In order to finish the course in 6 weeks, you should anticipate at least 20-30 hours of coursework each week (or 10-20 hours per week to finish the course in 3 months). Students who need to take additional time to complete the course may do so, and they can finish the course in 12 months by working an average of 4-6 hours per week.

Each module consists of a wide variety of content that includes: short videos and reading assignments on each topic, interactive discussions, ungraded exercises to help you check your own understanding, and graded projects to apply what you're learning and put it into practice. In the final module, you will create a Teaching Portfolio that will include all the lesson plans that you designed and taught during the course; and other teaching resources you will have collected by then.

We have an extensive network of Partner Locations around the world that are in need of teachers. To learn more about these locations, see their pages here on our website where we’ve made it easy for you to connect with each location by email.

If you are interested in volunteering with another YWAM location, you can contact MBI (Mission Builders International) to find out what YWAM locations are requesting English teachers and MBI can help you connect with the right location. They have a separate application process that will help you decide where and when you will be teaching. In many of these locations, English classes are one of their main community outreach programs and teachers are an invaluable resource to them.

There are many different kinds of online courses, but we have strived to make this particular course as engaging and interactive as possible. Together, our staff team has decades of experience with traditional face-to-face courses and online courses at the professional and university level. Whenever possible, we’ve included the same kind of interactive activities in this course that students enjoy in our more traditional face-to-face TESOL courses.

You will also be able to participate in numerous discussion forums where you will interact through written posts and comments. During these interactions you will be able to engage with students from around the world in a style of informal written conversation that is quite similar to Facebook or Instagram.

In addition to these written interactions, our course also includes asynchronous video conversations where you’ll discuss topics with your classmates using the camera on your mobile device or computer. We’ll be utilizing several of these new tools and technologies that will allow you to share ideas, collaborate, give and receive feedback on important assignments, and add your voice to interactive conversations—either in real-time or whenever you’re available to participate.

We have a team of knowledgeable staff who are committed to helping you finish the course. They will be engaging with you and your classmates throughout the course, giving guidance and answering questions through written and video responses that are built into the course. In addition to this, we will organize Virtual Office Hours for you to be able to reach out to a staff member who can answer any questions you have and give you personalized support if needed.

Finally, we know that your peers can give excellent guidance as well, so if there is ever a question about a specific assignment or activity, you can share your question in any of the discussion forums throughout each module where you’ll be able to receive help from your staff and classmates alike.

We think you’ll love your experience as a teacher and a role-model, bringing hope to desperate situations—even those miserable grammar lessons that many language students have faced. While grammar is certainly part of learning languages, it is not everything. And not all English teachers spend their time teaching it.

We will give you some super practical tips for how to teach tricky subjects like grammar, and how to do so without anyone feeling helpless or inferior—including you as the teacher. There are plenty of ways to help your students with their grammar without spending all day studying it. We will share with you all of the same tips and tricks we use in our own classrooms.

(If you happen to love grammar and all the intricacies of learning a challenging subject, then you’ll enjoy teaching languages very much. But you probably already knew that.)

Our online learning platform is quite intuitive, and will guide students through the course step-by-step so that students only need to click the ‘Continue’ button to move on to the next part of a lesson. Like many new technologies, it may take students a day or two to become familiar with the platform before they are comfortable with it. But we are confident that you will be able to navigate the course, and we will have video tutorials to walk you through any difficult processes.

If you ever need help on a specific assignment or activity, you can share your question in any of the discussion forums throughout each module where you’ll be able to receive help from your staff and classmates alike.

New students in the online course can start anytime. If you are interested in an in-person experience, we have ‘hybrid’ cohorts and certificate courses starting in April 2024 and April 2025, with additional in-person experiences such as practicums and internships available throughout the year. For more info about those courses click here.

Let us know if you are interested in joining one of our courses, and what time of year works best for you. Reach out to us at team@citizenstesol.org and we will gladly get back to you.

Dates for the previous academic year: The October 2023 cohort is currently in session, and enrollment is still open. This online cohort began on October 1, 2023 with an ending date of October 1, 2024 when a new academic year will begin.

Students in the October 2023 cohort will have access to the course’s platform for a total of 12 months in order to complete assignments, and if you need more time then you can extend your access to the platform through the Course Explorer option.

If you run out of time and lose access to the platform, your coursework (ie. quizzes, some discussions, and other assignments) may be archived but it will not be deleted. You can regain access at any time through the Course Explorer option. You’ll also continue to have access to the many practical resources you received during the course, and you will be part of our Citizens of Hope community of teachers and all of the resources and support that comes with it.

If you would like to keep your access to the course platform and all of its content and community features long after your course finishes, then check out the Course Explorer. It is a simple all-access pass that allows you to pay a small fee each year to continue having access to all of the amazing training and resources as long as you like. This is a great option for anyone moving into a teaching position after the course.

In most cases, the UofN certificate and credit is included in the price of the course, however, an application or enrollment fee may be requested by your UofN location.

Currently, the ACCD certificate can be obtained for an additional fee of $200. (Note: this third-party fee price is not determined by Citizens TESOL, and therefore subject to change without notice).

Upon completion of the course and all of its components, you may contact your course staff at team@citizenstesol.org to request your certificates. Once they have verified that you’ve completed the course and no further work is required, you will receive a printable digital copy of your UofN certificate by email.

Once our partners in Australia have verified that you’ve completed their criteria and no further work is required, you will also receive a printable digital copy of your ACCD certificate by email. You may contact admin@itateach.com if you have a question after receiving your certificate from ACCD, or if you need to request an additional copy. (Please remember that this certificate is not issued or controlled by Citizens TESOL, and an additional fee is required.)

Please allow up to four weeks to receive your certificates after the course. Please inquire at the email addresses above to check on the status of your certificates.

Books

No. You do not need to purchase any books for this course. All of the required readings are viewable on the course’s online platform. If you enjoy reading, then we will be recommending a number of books throughout the course that we find to be extremely practical, as well as a few that have kept us inspired over the years.

One of the teaching books that we recommend the most (and we’ll be mentioning it during the course) is Teach Like A Champion by Doug Lemov. If you’d like a hard copy to refer to, you can find used copies of this book for a few dollars on Amazon.com or at your local library, as well as the newer updated editions, Teach Like A Champion 2.0 and Teach Like A Champion 3.0.

Any of the books in this series will offer a wealth of tips for teachers of all subjects (English, Mathematics, Science, Music, etc), and therefore, getting one of these books is highly recommended but not required.

Teaching Supplies

Depending on where you are teaching you may need to purchase your own materials for your classes. Some places have a curriculum that teachers follow and may have some resources to help supplement that curriculum. If you are planning on teaching overseas, some materials may be harder to come by in that location and they may be cheaper or more expensive than you are used to. You should contact your teaching location for specifics according to that teaching opportunity.

In these times, especially now as COVID-19 has changed much of the way that organizations and schools function, we want to inform all students that the prices, locations, dates, and availability mentioned on these pages are subject to change. We are doing our best to plan for any events but cannot foresee them all. We thank you for your patience and understanding during this season. And we’re excited that you are part of this adventure with us!

Feel free to send us your questions at team@citizenstesol.org