Transworld Schools

I guess someone get paid to write those reviews. I went to this school for 1 year, I just have to say that it was a very sad experience. Bad teachers, mediocre staff and, the worse, the director, she is just a pain in the a... Is so obvious that their only interest is profit, they don't care about students at all. more

So I finished my certification for TESOL here a couple of months ago. I must say the whole process was a great time and now im happy to say that ive landed a contract in Argentina. I am so excited and feel very ready for whats to come thanks to the preparation ive got from this school. Anyone who wants to be ready for a teaching job overseas should come get certified here. more

I just completed taking a course here to get my certificate in teaching. Everything that I learned was great, but I must emphasize just how great it was to practice teaching the students at the school. It gave me a real feel for different students from all over the world. I decided that I really enjoyed teaching some of the Korean students, and am planning to teach in Korea in the near future. Thanks Transworld! more

I had such a great experience here getting a CTESOL. Talk about an amazing staff! Phoebe and Julie were my favorites. They were so helpful and knowledgable about how to teach. Phoebe especially was good at explaining how it would be like to teach overseas, given that she had taught many years in Japan before. I recommend anyone looking to teach overseas ESL to go to this school. more

I have went to this school last year and think it is one of best schools for learning English. The teachers are very nice and they teach good. I remember when I come to this school I had trouble speaking but in the class you get to talk with students alot and start to know how to speak better. The books and stories are very intresting and the people there are very friendly and fun. I hope that you will go to this school also. more

Getting my CTESOL certification here was a delightful experience. The teaching staff was extremely experienced and knowledgable. The comprehensive program for teachers was full of useful information, strategies, and the teaching practices (8 times in the course where you teach in front of a real classroom) was a great addition. I've also noticed how wonderful the classes for foreign students are. Being apart of the course to learn how to teach, I got to sit in on the school's classes for foreign students and realized how good the curriculum in Transworld really was. I highly recommend this school if you're looking to get certified in CTESOL. And if you're a student looking to learn English as a second language, this is also the right choice for you.\r more

I went to Transworld Schools to do the CTESOL program. Let go from from my previous job, I was looking to get back into teaching, and ESL had been recommended to me by a friend who taught with the JET program in Japan.\r \r It was a good program: the teachers were smart and friendly, and the classes did a good job of cramming you on English grammar, as well as instructing you on their teaching methodology.\r \r The most fun, and sometimes stressful, part was working with real ESL students. You get to design your own lessons, and present them to ESL students, and actually get practice teaching. So you practice doing the job, and you get to meet foreign, interesting people along the way.\r \r Overall, I enjoyed my TESOL experience. I am still in touch with my classmates from the course, and that was also a fun way to meet new people and get some contacts/peers in the ESL field. Pros: Good teaching experience, grammar cram Cons: Old building, uphill from BART more

Late last year (2008) I completed the CTESOL (Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) program at Transworld Schools in San Francisco. I am very satisfied with my experience at Transworld. The program manages to combine training in ESL theory/pedagogy and practicum. You are specifically trained in lesson planning, and then teaching in front of real ESL students who are living and studying here in the Bay Area. Even if you have teaching experience, this in an invaluable opportunity to practice the ESL teaching in a professional environment – which is then often expected from employer’s as a given part of professional certification in ESL. The CTESOL instructors I worked with were engaging, and conveyed a strong and diverse perspective on ESL teaching. The course itself is also an excellent crash course in grammar, if that’s not your professional background! I also believe it’s a good professional development step, in terms of spending money on job-related training. ESL is a good profession for travelers, and I managed to find employment almost immediately here in the Bay Area (San Francisco and Berkeley.) It is my sense that the CTESOL at Transworld is respected in the field. Pros: Excellent teachers, respected certificate in the field Cons: What are the drawbacks? more

Their competitive pricing structure makes them seem like an attractive choice for ESL students, but think twice. The place is unorganized, teachers have little interest in or regard for the needs of the students. Placement tests are essentially worthless, as students will likely end up being placed into one of the few course levels that happen to be running at the time. Guidance is minimal at best. No regular course materials are offered, no homework is assigned, the learning progress is correspondingly slow. You may be able to take advantage of the low prices and the limited choices they offer as an advanced student who knows exactly what they want and need (and who has the guts to be insisting), but beginning to intermediate-level people will most likely feel very much lost. The owner/director is unprofessional to the degree of being outright rude and personally insulting. Bad experience, not recommended. Pros: price Cons: organization, course structure, staff more