A Rip Off International Open Academy review, written by Abella.
It’s a Rip Off.
where do I begin? Well, the course is not as advertised. It is advertised as consisting of 120 hours of study. If this is so, why was it possible that I managed to complete the entire course in 4 hours? Oh, and the friend I took the course with completed it in 7 hours. So, I win! Kind of.
There is literally no substance of any real value in the course. It’s extremely vague and merely skims what you need to know to get started as a teacher of a foreign language. In this case, the course was teaching me how to teach English as a foreign language.
My friend and I came to the same conclusion that this course was quickly put together (possibly by a non-native speaker) and the only intention was to make it appear as though it is a credible 120 hours TEFL course. I mean, if I had a penny for every time we noticed a glaring spelling mistake in the course texts, we could have paid for another 10 courses!
They are clever though because they say it is usually a few hundred USD and that today is your lucky day when you can purchase it for less than $20. A bit like buying a couch or sofa in a furniture warehouse. And just like those heavily discounted couches, I bet nobody has ever paid the full price for this International Open Academy TEFL course.
You will not learn a thing.
I guess if you just need it because you have been working for years without the proper documentation and are required to have a TEFL certificate then why not? You can pay $19 and complete the course in under a day and then see if the school and the authorities accept it as a document for the work visa in the country you are teaching English in.
For me though, with no teaching experience, this course was a complete waste of my time and money. I tried to get a refund but never heard back from the Open Academy.
Shame on them! It is just a rip-off.
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