Hello, I'm an American looking to become certified in a Tesol or Tefl program this coming year and I would really love to hear from others who have obtained these certifications and whether they would recommend the training they received.

My initial impression is that there seems to be a lot of very inexpensive programs that grant certifications after a very short period of training. I can't see that the quality of this training could be too good, but maybe I'm wrong. On the other hand, I've looked into mainstream, state colleges who offer such certification on-line, but then I'm told that they are not the ones really doing the teaching, but instead the training is carried out by an outfit called Coursera who apparently offer all sorts of college classes online. Unfortunately Coursera ratings are less than admirable. To take such training thru Coursera would cost a few hundred dollars while taking the same courses thru a recognized state university would cost about $9000, but then you would have certification from a major U.S. college.

Anyways, please let me know where you received your certification and whether you would recommend it to others.

Thanks.