Accredited Online TESOL & TEFL Courses, TESOL / TEFL Certificate Online

Our Online TEFL/TESOL Course will prepare you for teaching abroad in a classroom set up or teaching online from the comfort of your own home.

Despite this common usage, however, there are actually differences in the meaning of these two terms. In this article, we’ll break down each acronym to explain those differences. We’ll also talk about TESOL requirements and other details of getting certified, such as choosing the right course, the cost to get certified, how long courses take, and whether TESOL certification expires.

These two acronyms are umbrella terms for training courses offered online or in-person (or a blend of both) that prepare English language teachers. Although technically these terms have somewhat different meanings, when it comes to getting certified to teach English as a foreign language or getting hired as a teacher, TEFL and TESOL are used interchangeably. In fact, when you’re shopping around for online TEFL courses, you may even see them described as “TEFL/TESOL courses.” Similarly, schools that hire teachers will make no distinction between the two. You might see an ad for a teaching job that requires “TEFL/TESOL certification,” for example.

Level 5 Tefl Course

In the context of getting certified and applying to jobs, one is not better than the other; they are simply two terms commonly used to describe the same certification. Yet, despite the fact that the terms are used interchangeably by most TEFL providers, language schools, and online teaching companies, there are subtle differences between the two. So, what is the difference between TEFL and TESOL? Let’s take a deeper look at these acronyms to explain.