i-to-i TEFL Vietnam Internship

Jafin

Hi everyone. A friend and I both recently signed up for the Vietnam internship that i-to-i offers and have started doing the 140 hour online course. It was something we both had been thinking about doing for a long time and finally took the plunge last week. I did my research, or so I thought, but then when I went really digging a couple of days after we paid our deposits I started finding horror stories about i-to-i as a company. Now I will be honest and say that I saw just as many good reviews as I did bad ones, but the bad ones stick out in my head because they were really bad. It seems like I can't find any kind of review or video whatsoever of anybody's first hand experience for the Vietnam internship. I have found a few vlogs and stuff from China and Thailand, but nothing on Vietnam.

I was just wondering if anybody had some first hand experience with i-to-i as a company, or even better if they had first hand experience with one of i-to-i's internship programs. They offer internships in China, Thailand and Vietnam currently, so even if you went to one of the other two countries I would love to know how you got on in terms of everything being as advertised and whatnot.

CiboC

Personally I would be sceptical, i-to-i are good at glossing over detail they prefer you not to have.

I-to-i proudly proclaim on their website that their courses are internationally recognised but when you dig into the detail they are very coy about telling you who recognises them. There is a vague reference to 'We have relationships with over 600 employers all over the world' but that is about it. Truth is they are not officially recognised by any independent body.

An i-to-i course does not qualify you to teach in a recognised school in Ireland, for example.

Witchie

Hi, sorry to resurrect an old thread....

I have been looking into doing one of their 6 week placements in Colombia for October and was wondering how you got on Jafin? The reason I am looking at i-to-i is that I did a course with them for free a few years ago through work and since my cert is still valid according to them, I thought this might be a good refresher to do.

You basically do 120 hours online, then go to work for a few weeks in Colombia (or Cambodia or Thailand) that they set up. I thought this might be a good way of getting some experience since I have none and refreshing the TEFL course at the same time.

Has anyone done any of these?

Thanks.

dwayneshintzy

If possible, I'd definitely recommend getting a recognised cert (CELTA, CELT, TESOL) if possible. They're actually very useful, worthwhile courses (unlike i-to-i's online cert) and are sufficient (along with a university degree) for English teaching in many, many places.