TEFL Certification Program — Costa Rica | Guatemala | Peru

I completed the TEFL program in Cusco in October 2018. I had done a previous TEFL program online and this COMPLETELY blew it out of the water. I cannot believe I learned so much in only one month. The program was incredibly well organized, structured and taught. The instructor, Sean, was absolutely fantastic. He is excellent at preparing TEFL-trainees to be teachers, I cannot imagine a more dedicated and professional TEFL trainer. The program offers a rigorous grammar study and immediately gives you experience standing up in-front of a class. The course moves incrementally, so you begin teaching a three minute class, then move on to twenty minute classes, and finally teach a full week of one hour classes.

To summarize - the program is excellent and Sean is a one-of-a-kind TEFL trainer. If you want to travel and get certified to teach English, choose Maximo Nivel Peru!!!

The TEFL program was a wonderful experience and I would do all over again if I could. The TEFL course was challenging, exciting, activating, and great smooth way to get out of your comfort zone. That is why I enjoyed the TEFL program so much because the instructor (Sean) and his assistant (Yobi) did a terrific job of transitioning the TEFL participants in and out of their comfort zones. I will not only miss all of the individuals that played a role in the TEFL course but I will miss everyone that works at Maximo because they are friendly, the will help you out with anything you need down, and they are always available.

I am nearing the end of my TEFL/TESOL Certification course with Maximo Nivel and glad to honestly share my experience with you, online readers. Maximo Nivel is a great company from what I know of several weeks into their Costa Rica TEFL course. Everything promised has been provided. The course expectations are clear, the workload is manageable and most importantly the staff is personable and familiar. I haven't had met one sour person associated with the organization here. The location in Manuel Antonio is beautiful and there are added perks like an pool accessibility, great coffee, and fast WiFi. Audra, my TEFL Trainer is an outstanding human being. Dani, her assistant is equally as helpful. All-in-all, MA is a beautiful, safe, and relaxed location to study English and Spanish at your current level and pursue the Maximo Nivel as your GOAL!

If you are looking not only for a wonderful place to grow spiritually and emotionally as a person, but to also have an amazing adventure a long the way I highly recommend going to Cusco, Peru! Maximo Nivel offers a plethora of programs. If you want to learn Spanish, Maximo Nivel has experienced and helpful teachers that will gladly help you. If you are like me, someone who wanted to learn how to teach English to non-native speakers, then the TEFL program is what you are looking for. My teacher and classmates are people I will never forget and I cannot express how fun this program is! It is quite challenging, but at the end of the day I am extremely thankful I can now use my TEFL certification to travel and teach in different countries. There is also so much to do in Cusco, Peru it was almost overwhelming! There are so many agencys that will help you go paragliding, white water rafting, bungee jumping, and so much more!

I can honestly say I wasn't expecting to have as much fun as I did during this certification course. The instructor (Claudia) is amazing and her teaching style is very straightforward and accommodating. The course is intense, I won't lie, but if you've ever taken a college level course, I guarantee the workload is manageable and you'll still be able to travel and see Peru on the weekends. The staff and international team are incredible and amazingly supportive, I cannot recommend this program enough!

I wasn’t expecting the high energy I experienced on this course when I signed up. I knew that it would be very intense, and it was, but the Maximo Nivel team were so supportive and encouraging, and I genuinely had so much fun with my teachers and my class, despite the fact that a school environment has never been my thing. It wasn't easy, but I don’t think I’ve ever taken such a high quality course, where every little detail is taken into account. The teaching style was excellent: clear, fun and really didactic, and there were a lot of opportunities to practice teaching. I definitely recommend taking the TEFL course with Maximo!

After graduating college, I wanted to make a smart choice about how I should move into this next phase of my life, one which would inspire me, provide me with unique experiences, allow me to use my strengths, challenge me to grow, and still advance my future academic and professional career. After months of searching for the perfect TEFL program, I was confident in my choice to study through ITTO with Maximo Nivel in Cusco, Peru. However, I found myself very unsure the night before the course as to whether the program would be as exemplary as advertised. I was both ecstatic and relieved to find myself enrolled in a program which aligned with my own teaching values, challenging TEFL students to facilitate language learning instead of teaching through lecture or translation. I knew I was in for a demanding month, but I was ready to use the multiple resources that the beautiful Maximo Nivel learning center provides its TEFL students to grow into confident, informed, and well-rounded English teachers.

I was consistently amazed by how quickly we could cover material in this course, while still retaining and applying that same information. The instructor’s passion for the material was evident as she epically modeled each teaching technique and made herself always available for support or discussion outside of regular classroom hours. Now, I feel able to confidently walk into a room full of a variety of people, who speak no English at all and whose language(s) I do not speak, and be able to effectively communicate and teach.

I believe in being a part of the place that you are visiting, and this certification will allow me to provide a community that I spend time in with something in return for allowing me to experience their part of the world. Outside of the actual course, the centrally-located facilities and welcoming staff of Maximo Nivel made my entire experience in Cusco smooth and exciting. The course was organized so that I still had plenty of time to explore Peru and make lasting connections with my fellow TEFLers. I am so completely proud to have graduated from this internationally-recognized program, and I will never forgot the experience.

I had clear expectations prior to the course that it would be intense and I was absolutely right, however I lost count of the amount of times we would laugh, sing, dance and be silly everyday. Exactly the right atmosphere to help lighten our load.

Our group was very small, with 4 students in total, which meant that we equally received more than enough time and guidance from our teacher Karen. She went out of her way to help us get to know each other and the students easily formed a very nurturing and supportive group, whereby we encouraged and praised each other from the first day of the course up until until we graduated and beyond. Solid friendships were formed :)

On our first day of the course, Karen told us that we'd be teaching a mini-lesson that same week on the Friday, and as daunting as that initially sounded, she built up the methods we would require throughout the week with ease. Karen assisted us with every single step from brainstorming lesson ideas, practicing the ESL techniques, planning our lessons, to preparing our materials and giving us incredibly positive yet constructive feedback at the end of the lessons. We each couldn't believe that we had taught, and that our students had had so much fun. That was a great end to a very rewarding first week.

Re-learning grammar was tough for most of us since we were all native speakers that had acquired English as opposed to having 'learnt' it in the traditional sense but Karen really helped to break down the various topics into digestible chunks, which we easily grasped, especially as she went out of her way to make her classes as fun and creative as possible.

The practical teaching element of the course had again initially sounded daunting but by the time the last week of the course had rolled around, we all felt extremely confident and were prepared with all of the tools and support required to teach a class for a full week.

Studying in Antigua was the cherry on the icing on the cake! Throughout the course, we had many materials to read and papers to write, yet working from the rooftop terrace of a cafe overlooking the lush Central Park and volcano in the distance made it a breeze. The daily walk to school each day was an absolute delight for my eyes, and taking a lunch break surrounded by gorgeous colloquial buildings, ancient ruins and colourful streets was exactly what we needed to recharge our batteries before the afternoon class.

Overall, it was an incredibly fulfilling 360 experience to have grown from being a student in a classroom, to a teacher that taught students grammar! I cannot recommend this course and Antigua enough to anyone who is considering becoming a TESL/ESL teacher. It really was a well paced course, in an incredibly supportive environment with the backdrop of such a stunning and fun town of Antigua.