TtMadrid TEFL Certification Course in the Center of Madrid

The TEFL course was very fun and dynamic .TTMadrid has friendly environment, qualified trainers and professional support . Although the course was very intensive, with the help of Andrea and Brittany, I was able to fulfil every task on time . In addition, I have learnt so much skills what will always help me in my professional life. However they don't only train you how to teach but also they are always here to help you and guide you how to get a job etc. I am so happy that i have done my TEFL course with ttMadrid.

It was an amazing experience because I got to meet a lot of people who became my friends. Studying at Tt madrid was like learning with a family because you will enjoy every minute of it. Great course, intensive but definitely a different taste of experience. The teaching methods you will learn and teaching experiences via online and presential will help the aspiring English teacher to build self confidence in rendering the lesson effectively and in a dynamic way. Doing also student analysis is an important aspect to know your student and in Tt madrid you will learn how to do this things.

The instructors at TtMadrid ran a month-long program I was a part of, like an American high school popularity contest and the instructors were “the most popular kids” and they chose who could be in their clique. These instructors abused their power, in an overall lowbrow way but did it nonetheless. I want to make clear that 99% of tefl students who end up with TtMadrid will not have problems to the degree that I did.

On week two, at the end of the day myself and a few others were called to go with the instructors to another room. Everyone that did not get called in the class knew exactly what was going on. The instructors did this with the intent to embarrass the students. They told us that we “were behind” when another student and I asked them to provide examples, they just raised their voices and reprimanded us. They never told me or gave any examples of why I was “behind.” Later on, when I was chatting with a couple of the other students, they confessed to me that they could not understand why I was called in by the instructors. When I taught English in China many years back; I had no complaints. The parents gave me good praise. A TEFL certificate certainly was not required, only a Bachelor’s degree. I also thought the whole point of this TEFL course is to learn the skills we need to teach English. Since we paid an excess amount of money to take the course at TtMadrid we were going to get the TEFL certificate one way or the other. Whether we are fit to teach English well should only be to the discretion of our future students and that is it, not the instructors. Oh, and one day the instructors taunted me that “I would never be an English teacher” and I cried as they continued to do it. The instructors should only be there to refresh grammatical rules we learned in school as children and how to prepare lesson plans, which at TtMadrid they used the PPP method (myself nor other English teachers I have spoken to have not been required to use PPP method lesson planning in any of our (paid) lessons, which are either already provided or the teacher is given freedom in their lesson planning according to the level being taught). As a side, I will say PPP is a good format to learn. However, the instructors are not there to stroke their egos and abuse their power. So why did they feel the need to taunt and embarrass students that they claimed “were behind?” Especially if each set of students in a program are only there for a month, then they never see us again. We were not part of the “cool kids group” I guess.

The instructors themselves were TtMadrid tefl students in 2013 and 2015. Imagine if I would have decided to do this just a few years ago and they could have been students like me in the same class. There you go they don’t have Master’s degrees themselves in English Literature of Grammar or anything like that. They are all smoke and mirrors. Not genuine people to say the least.

Anyway, the point is, for example, I have a Bachelor’s degree. In order to receive that degree, I had to pass College Algebra. I was not very good at Algebra and went to the tutoring my college offered; not once did my Algebra Professor taunt me because I was not that good at it or was behind.

Afterwards, I went to the front desk and asked to speak to the owner of the TtMadrid. I went into her office and explained to her what happened. I told her that the instructors had a personal bias toward me. The owner was acting sympathetic to me. In addition, the instructors like to pride themselves as if they are Ivy League Professors. It is a TEFL course. As I was talking to the owner, she even said this is not “rocket science.” I was like yeah exactly. After they found out I had spoken to the owner they were clearly not happy. They may have thought it would have caused a slight blip to their agenda, but clearly it didn’t. This made them more hostile toward me for the rest of the program.

One morning I was running late. I was entering the TtMadrid building with my phone in my hand. Classes start at 9:30. At 9:31, while in the elevator, I got a whatsapp message from one of the students, that an instructor was waiting for me and where was I. Before this happened on other days, some students would come late on some mornings and he would wait until 9:33-9:35 to have one of the other students whatsapp them.

I got reprimanded by the instructors one day because I was in the bathroom for “too long” when I was gone no longer than any other day. Then when I tried to reason with the instructor he threatened me. (That I was going to be kicked out of the program).

One of the students was a lovely woman from a non-Anglophone country. She spoke very broken English that I had a hard time understanding her. With all due respect the English she spoke was so broken that I do no feel she is qualified to be an English teacher; while she knows written English better than she can speak it. I think it is general knowledge that non-native English speakers need to do especially an oral interview test before they get accepted into any TEFL program. In any case, TtMadrid did not care and took her money.

It turned out I was partnered with this woman too. As part of completing the course we need a partner to do a long project of various tasks. I had a very hard time communicating with her because of her heavily broken English. This put additional stress on me and I had to do more work to make sure everything was curated and ready to turn in.

When I was teaching one of my mock classes. I created flash cards that I did with colored pencils since I had to create the lesson myself. I am an artist and I think the cards were drawn up very nicely, colorful and neatly. After the lesson, when an instructor had to give me a report she reprimanded me very rudely about how my flash cards looked “unprofessional.” Another requirement is that students have to sit in and do a report of other students as they teach. More than once, I saw students make teaching materials like games writing with ball-point pen and highlighters on notebook paper not written very neatly (looked like chicken-scratch), not cut pieces, but torn paper. The instructor was observing those same classes and never reprimanded them for having “unprofessional” material. Then she continued to give them higher marks than I got.

I signed up to take a TEFL course in Madrid via International TEFL Academy. (In addition I took the ITA Teaching Online course, the instructor for that one was very nice. She gave me A’s in all the sections, including the intro video. Which I had a hard time with since I am not a vlogger. I got an A overall in the course too.) Well anyway, after I signed up for the Madrid TEFL course I was redirected to TtMadrid. The way those instructors treated me, they could sense I am a sensitive and anxious person; also for sure there was something about my face/appearance that made me a target for them. They really wanted to break me and gaslight me. I paid an excessive amount of money, so I was stuck. I could not just quit. The instructors did try their absolute hardest to make me quit the course. There was no way I was going to do that.

If you're looking for a TEFL course, look no further. This is honestly the best program out there. The team is comprised of individuals that are passionate about what they do and truly care about each student. At TtMadrid you will get the support and encouragement you need to thrive in every stage of your TEFL journey. They are also so incredibly aware of the challenges of moving to a new country. I have moved across continents enough times to know how daunting the process can be and it is so inspiring and comforting to know that a place like TtMadrid exists where such a solid support system is available. And it doesn't end once you finish the course! I am absolutely delighted to be a part of the TtMadrid alumni family and so thrilled to have found a community whose core values and vision align so closely with my own.

Amazing 4 week intensive TEFL course with the most educated, loving, supportive, and best looking instructors I've ever seen. Alina, Molly, Rory, and Héctor are SO knowledgable and passionate about teaching and learning! Best of all they are all so patient and encouraging to all students. Best decision I made and so grateful for all the classmates that turned into friendships!
There is extra help if needed and their door is always open! :)

After graduating from my university and having no idea what to do career wise, I was dying to figure out a way to move back to Spain as I completely fell in love with the people and culture while studying abroad here years ago. After countless hours of research of what I could possibly do in Madrid, I was ultimately recommended TtMadrid by a friend of a friend as a way to be an English as a foreign language teacher here in Spain. She had the nicest things to say about how amazing of a program the TEFL course was at this school so I thought, ¨Hey, what have I got to lose?!¨ So I packed my bags and moved to Spain and I never looked back. Right from the beginning I was put in contact with Helen, who helped me with everything and was there to answer all my endless questions about the program, where to live, and even how to open my own bank account. Out of all the TEFL programs out there, I can honestly say that nobody does it better than TtMadrid! The month-long course was completely hands-on with countless support from their incredible staff. I would have never felt fully confident in myself teaching out in the world if it weren´t for this program. The super approachable teachers are there to make sure that you feel comfortable and don´t let you leave until you do. You get personalized feedback after every practice class you give, down to the last detail. They set you up for success so you feel ready to be the very best English teacher you can be once you graduate from the course. Even since I graduated from the course almost 2 years ago, I still go back to the school daily just to chat it up with staff there. I feel thankful for my TtMadrid family!!! Thank you for everything!

Well. To say I was not hugely excited about doing a TEFL course was probably fair. I was doing it as a means to move to Madrid and finally, eventually, hopefully learn Spanish and probably, I'd imagined, marry Cristiano Ronaldo someday! But oh how that changed once I had my first day at TT Madrid. Laura, Monica, Valentina, Steve, Tash et al made the experience so much fun! Their approach was to help us learn by recognising that we were probably going to do that best if we were having a laugh as well and I had a lot of laughs, giggling like a teenage boy (I'm a 32 yr old woman) at the back of the class.
There was a huge emphasis on support; supporting each other as students, staff supporting the students, generally everyone supporting each other. Not just with the course, which was important, but with the transition of moving to a brand new country, which I hadn't anticipated would involve as much as it did. But this was made a lot easier by the TT Madrid team who supported us all, every step of the way.
Being a slightly more (ahem) mature student I was seeing the move to Spain as a long term gig and so it was really important for me to get a good job early on. Alas, by week two of the course I already had a permanent job, 25hours a week, with some really great people and all thanks to TT Madrid setting me up with a past pupil of theirs. THANKYOU.

Since finishing the course I am certain of several things:
-I could return to TT Madrid at any point and be warmly received and ask for help.
-Teaching is brilliant! You meet so many great people and Spanish people are FUN!
-I definitely chose the right course and it was a bargain for the ongoing support you get.
-It is seeming less likely that I will marry Cristiano Ronaldo.

My only regret is I wish I would have done it sooner.

Teaching English abroad was nothing I ever imagined myself doing... I received a call one day from my best friend asking if I wanted to move to Spain for a year. As an upcoming graduate, I thought I had life planned out: a big girl job in the city; a big girl apartment; a big girl life. Moving across the world just wasn't a part of the plan. And besides, I had ZERO teaching experience! My friend, who graduated with a Liberal Arts degree and received her teaching credential, never had the opportunity to study abroad and was looking for an adventure. Her two cousins completed the Tt program one year prior, and were attempting everything in their power to encourage her to join them. That's when she called me. They, like me, had no previous teaching experience, and assured us that previous experience was not necessary - that Tt gave you all the tools you needed... and they were right!

The instructors made us feel so comfortable, and made me feel confident in my new-found teaching abilities. Since graduating, I have had the opportunity to work for the Spanish Army, the Spanish Senate, and now I work for the Department of Education of Madrid as a Language Assistant Coordinator. In that time, too, I have been able to travel to so many new and wonderful places. Aside from exploring Spain, we have traveled to Portugal, Italy, France, Germany, and even Morocco! The opportunities you gain from doing a program like TtMadrid are endless. And thanks to these experiences, I am looking forward to returning to the United States in the fall and entering a job-field that I did not imagine myself to be a part of - education.

Without a doubt, the most frightening thing about moving abroad is the idea of feeling lost and alone. TtMadrid makes all those fears go away. The friendships you make last throughout your time here, as you realize right away that you are not alone: most everyone there has taken the same plunge as you. And even a few members of the Tt staff were once in our place... They assist with finding housing, setting up a bank account, obtaining residency, FINDING JOBS, and every other kind of support you could possibly need.

The best advice I could give a prospective student: just take the plunge. Take the course. Travel the world. Live your best life abroad. You will be so glad you did.