TEFL

TEFL Jobs? Nasty experience if you don't do your research properly. Don't fall for the glossy brochure or web site or slick sales patter. Avoid having a nightmare and do a quick check on The TEFL Blacklist which is a free non for profit blog designed to warn the unsuspecting but well-meaning teacher of bad schools and may just save you time money and a rotten time far from home, being treated badly.

Inspector McHammered of the Lard
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Cactus TEFL

Check this bunch of people out! Want to waste your money on a TEFL certificate that's worthless ? One of the biggest unmentioned scams is of course ripping off teachers for either a "delicious" (their word) TEFL qualification that magically will transform you into a teacher without ever having had to teach a class or in some "super delicious cases" without ever even having had to meet your instructor.

Or would you rather chuck a ton of your hard earned money down the pan for a so called proper TEFL course which is exhorbitantly expensive especially when you'll probably end up getting paid peanuts in your new career (?).

Sound like a good investment? Not to me it doesn't.

This outfit couldn't care less what you waste your money on as long as they get their hands on their grubby little commission.

Why should this seem so strange in the rip off world of TEFL where teachers not only often get shafted in the job but if not careful will also get shafted before.

The TEFL certificate scam is one of the worst ones ever and they will get away with it as long as the cash registers keep on ringing.

The Cactus Teachers website (as they also misleadingly call themselves}, even have the cheek to say that they work in affiliation with the Education Guardian and use its logo to buy (?) themselves some credibility, apparently just because some expert (?) called Richard Bradford initially posted an article on the Guardian website offering advice to any teacher (sucker) who was daft enough not to see through his cheap marketing ploy and now you'll find that lots of seemingly impartial, informative articles are written by a very helpful person by the name of XXXXXXX* advising you on TEFL and especially where to spend (waste?) your money on courses.

Guess what she does for a living. Yup dead right, she's "Head of Cactus TEFL" and if you look at the online version of the Guardian there's a neat little Cactus TEFL search button by the side of each article she writes, to help you spend your money. Who pays who? My guess is they pay the Guardian for a hidden and totally plausible and subtle form of advertising/marketing, not that you'd notice. It looks suspiciously like a paid hidden endorsement designed to push up the sales of their advertised TEFL courses for which they get paid the commission I mentioned.

Anyone who knows how the Google rankings operate will also realise that this is why they rank so highly for such search terms as TEFL and TEFL COURSES etc. etc. It's a clever way of manipulating the Google search engine results. Try it yourself, just do a Google search for TEFL and see how near to the online Education Guardian's position they rank. One naturally imagines that they rank highly because they are important. No no no my dear, perish the thought! They rank highly NOT because they are important BUT because they have in effect paid for a link, a practice Google naturally frowns upon and if notified blacklists sites for, yes you've got it.....trying to artificially manipulate the search engine rankings. Phew.... I feel a denunciation to Google coming on and must wipe my brow in shock horror.

Inspector McHammered of the Lard considers this to be underhand and devious and as a consequence they've been blacklisted for being sneaky. Shame on The Guardian also for betraying the trust that innocent teachers place in the objectivity of their articles and indulging in a little link selling on the side.

Check it out. You'll find I'm right and it could well be argued that Cactus TEFL are master con artists. And the teachers? Well Cactus TEFL considers them just like turkeys taking advice on where to spend Christmas.

Prime candidates for the first shyster award of 2007. Cactus TEFL.

* XXXXXXX R.I.P

I noticed on the web the following information which amazingly wasn't available on the Cactus TEFL Website, but I spotted it by chance on doing a search for the lady in question. The Inspector offers his deepest condolences and has felt it appropriate to remove all mention of her from the TEFL Blacklist.

"It is with deep sorrow that Cactus announces the tragic death of XXXXXXX, who passed away in hospital on Tuesday 22nd May following a road traffic accident in Cordoba, Spain. "

By the way who is this young lady whose picture is still on your website in an advertising context? Richard Bradford, I know you're a total plonker but please do answer. This is genuinely one of the rare situations where the Inspector would like to be demonstrated to be wrong. Please do tell the readers that this is not the person mentioned above and that any similarity is purely coincidental.

Inspector McHammered of the Lard
FOR THE MOST RECENT POSTING CLICK HERE
FOR BLACKLIST NOMINATIONS CLICK HERE