Academic Testimonials

"The English Teacher Training College is, to my knowledge, unique among courses offering preservice qualifications such as the CertTESOL and CELTA in that student-teachers do the majority of their teaching practice in primary and secondary schools with younger learners. As such it provides useful preparation for trainee teachers intending to work with children and teens in the future, learning how to manage, motivate and communicate with younger learners effectively. The College’s founders have a sincere interest in quality teacher education, providing extensive teaching practice, useful peer and tutor feedback that is rated highly by the student-teachers, input sessions and also experience teaching adult learners. It’s organised carefully so that student-teachers’ costs are subsidised from income generated by providing ‘project weeks’ for pupils at the Austrian state schools, who experience English in action through a range of fun activities and useful CLIL lessons. This means that the student-teachers benefit from two qualifications (Trinity CertTESOL and ABCi Certificate) and several months of useful experience to add to their CVs, all for a fraction of the cost of comparable courses, as long as they’re committed to working hard for the ABCi in return. The most memorable moment of my visit was when I observed the student-teachers saying emotional fairwells to pupils who had clearly grown to love them in just a week!"
-Jason Anderson, Teacher educator, author and consultant, www.jasonanderson.org.uk

"ABCi is an organisation with a good reputation and the lessons at primary school which I observed were to my satisfaction. Their teachers are well-prepared and can motivate children."
-Dipl.Päd. Wolfgang Pojer, BEd, State School Inspector Steiermark

"The ABCi course in Austria is an incredibly thorough and intensive teacher education course that will put all student teachers through their paces and leave them with excellent practical teaching skills, a wealth of experience on how to handle younger learners and the knowledge necessary to go out and start teaching without the support of a supervising tutor. But for everything you put into the course, you get much more out. The more time you research and plan your own development as a teacher, the better you’ll be able to use these ideas in class and then reflect critically on how successfully they were used. There’s also the energy and fun of working with motivated Austrian students as well! The training itself is run by experienced trainers who are strictly vetted, with each CertTESOL trainer having to be approved by Trinity College London. This not only ensures a quality training programme, but also that the trainers have a focus on continuing to develop best practice to support the needs of students and student teachers. In short, this is a thorough and intense programme. It will train you how to teach and give you an internationally respected and recognised teaching qualification. If you’re looking for a light holiday, this isn’t for you; but if you’re willing to work hard to learn and share your experiences with others, you’ll find it a most rewarding experience."
- Ben Beaumont, TESOL Qualifications Manager, Trinity College London

"As an academic, teacher trainer and educator in Austria and aboard, I have nearly four decades of teacher training experience in the EFL sector. Currently I work at the state teacher training college in Salzburg and serve as a guest lecturer on the TEFL courses at the English Teacher Training College's Vorchdorf campus. I am familiar with and thoroughly impressed by this teacher training course. Its genius is in its design. One can no better learn to drive a car by reading a book than learn to teach without going into a classroom. The course designers at the college understand that. The TEFL courses at the English Teacher Training College are designed in such a way as to create self-awareness in the student teacher as early in the course as possible and provide numerous opportunities to learn from experienced teachers as well as peers. I've seen co-founders, Frank Carle and Ben Stone, work with Trinity College London, Cambridge University and other EFL organisations to create a truly world-class TEFL experience. What is truly amazing is that they have done so by structuring the course in such a way that the course's teaching practice subsidises the costs of the course, so that scholarships are provided so that anyone can take part based on their academic ability and not their ability to pay expensive fees. Accommodation in student dormitories and even basic food is subsidised. The English Teacher Training College is working with the Austrian Education system and some of the leading lights of the EFL world to produce effective EFL teachers who go on to teach using cutting edge CLT and TBL teaching methodologies successfully in Austria, Europe and beyond. All of this is done at the same time the college's initiative, ABCi, continues to help improve the speaking and listening competences of our Austrian pupils by really showing them how to use the language in a meaningful way."
- Professor Hans Brandstätter, English Department Chair, Pädagogische Hochschule Salzburg, Austria

"The English Teacher Training College (ABCi) has two main activities - the provision of one week courses of English activities for Austrian schools in the form of projects, and the running of a teaching training course which includes Trinity College's initial teacher training course, the CertTESOL, for the student teachers who come to Austria and are the teachers in the one-week projects at Austrian schools. I visited the college and was able to observe both activities. The projects in the Austrian schools are well-designed and carried through; the activities are lively and enjoyed by the children; the student teachers are supervised by one of the institution's course tutors and they provide systematic well structured training for the student teachers. The Trinity courses are demanding (student teachers teach in the mornings - often with considerable travel time, and have course input sessions in the afternoons) and are very thorough. My impression was of an organisation with a genuine concern for quality in all the aspects of its work, and commitment to providing excellent service."
- Consultant for Quality in Language Education