Welcome!
Welcome to TEFL Barcelona's redesigned website. We have migrated to a more responsive platform, for a better browsing experience from mobile devices. We also took the opportunity to join our blog and the site under the same roof. We hope you will enjoy this mine of information about teaching English in Barcelona, Spain and all over the world!
A brief history of TEFL Barcelona
TEFL Barcelona was set up in December 2005 by Spanish born, EFL teacher and teacher trainer Erwin Ebens. Erwin had been teaching a very popular TEFL course in Paris and decided that the characteristics of that course - a very personal approach and a friendly, relaxed atmosphere - could function equally well in his home city, Barcelona.
Our approach
True to our principles, we aim to offer a refreshing alternative to the "industrial" feel of larger TEFL operators. We make every effort to ensure our students get quality, personalised training, restricting our groups' size. We encourage trainees to develop their own natural teaching style, and we provide them with an ongoing, international job guidance service. (See what past students have said about us: testimonials)
Our Teaching Philosophy
The importance of experiential learning
We may give you information, guidance, and support, but we believe that you learn most by doing the thing yourself. That at the core of a learning process, there is an experiential cycle of trying things out, reflecting on the results, using feedback and information to prepare for the next time and then trying it out again.
This is applied both in our approach to teaching English to students and our approach to training in general. This is why we have scheduled daily teaching practice sessions, where you can immediately put the theory into practice.
Support and Guidance
This also implies that input sessions are structured less like lectures but more like interactive workshops where you are encouraged to actively participate and, where possible, to discover language and methodology for yourself, and through interacting with your fellow trainees and the trainer, who will be at hand as a resource and mentor, to support and guide you.
Find out more
For a detailed breakdown of the course’s components, visit the intensive TEFL courses page.
Or visit our course information overview for a more general overview.
A reflective approach
We also encourage you to develop analytical skills toward your teaching and reflect on the outcome of your lessons as the results of your lesson planning, teaching techniques, people skills and class management.
Humanist
Moreover, we believe in a humanistic approach to learning and teaching, (teaching the whole person as opposed to solely their mental processes). This implies that not only knowledge of subject matter and methodology are important, but also learning to listen to your students, empathizing with them, building rapport and in general finding ways of enabling learning are equally important.
Course and job testimonial
Alba Robert (Catalan)
“I recommend the TEFL course to anyone who would like to start teaching English and get a job quickly. There is definitely a high demand of English teachers in Catalonia (and the world, I guess) and TEFL is well known and recognized among private schools and English Academies.” R E A D M O R E
Job testimonial
Otis Banwell (USA)
I’ve been teaching English in Barcelona for five months now and have had a wonderful time. I got here in January to get certified and though only four weeks long, the TEFL course I took with you, Lisa, Jamie and Michael provided enough information and hands-on teaching experience so that when I graduated in early February I felt ready to start teaching right away. Some of my more proactive classmates actually got hired and started getting paid to teach before we had even completed the course!” R E A D M O R E
Course testimonial
Christopher Brown (UK)
“I booked my TEFL course on https://teflbarcelona.net// and am now working a full teaching schedule in an academy in Barcelona. My overall experience with TEFL Barcelona was extremely positive. We had a variety of trainers, each with quite different teaching styles (which was interesting to observe, as we were all trying to improve ourselves as teachers), but they all managed to lead us through the course material in a logical and engaging way.” R E A D M O R E
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Job testimonial
Olivia Kelly (Canada)
“I really enjoyed my experience with TEFL Barcelona and would recommend it to anyone I know. The teachers were approachable and extremely supportive. Within the second week at the school, I was teaching a class on my own! Getting a job was surprisingly easy for me, as I was hired before I even completed the course! I work for a language services company and I am a private tutor for people ages 6 to 52.” R E A D M O R E
Working in Barcelona testimonial
Terek Hopkins (USA)
“I started looking into teaching abroad in the countries that I thought I might be interested in exploring. Teaching English as a foreign language started to look like a pretty feasible way to kill two birds with one stone (getting a job that allowed me to make money AND travel). Barcelona Spain almost immediately grabbed my attention, and so I came and got my TEFL (Teach English as a Foreign Language) certificate from an institution that more than prepared me to do exactly what it promised. And I haven’t looked back since moving to Barcelona and getting my TEFL certificate from TEFL Barcelona ” R E A D M O R E
Course and job testimonial
Stephanie Rhawie (USA)
“Besides teaching, I am loving living in Barcelona. It is one of the most amazing cities I have been to. I have met the most amazing people, eaten the best food, and explored/still exploring this historic city. I am so happy that the TEFL program exists because, without it, I don’t think I would be here in Barcelona.
Overall, I would recommend the course to everyone without hesitation. The teachers are amazing; the people I met through the course are still my friends till this day, and it gave me the knowledge I needed about teaching English.” R E A D M O R E
Get in touch
Living in Spain for a year
I am a planner. Always have been, always will be, which is surprising considering the idea of knowing exactly where I’ll be next year (or in 10 years) is terrifying to me. I wanted to break free from the normality of life and its expectations. The normal progression...
read moreA year Abroad in Barcelona
When it comes to most decisions, I like to be organized and well informed; it allows me to approach the situation feeling safe and confident. When I decided to sign up for a TEFL course and commit myself to a year abroad in Barcelona, there was only so much I could...
read more