The best TEFL courses – like RVF International’s fully accredited 120-hour online TEFL course – equip the prospective teachers that take them with all the tools they will need to flourish in their future English-teaching roles.

In the final analysis, though, getting the most out of a TEFL course is up to you. “You only get what you give,” as the infamous 90s pop ballad goes.

With the aim of extracting the maximum potential value from your TEFL course in order to prepare for a rewarding experience teaching English as a foreign language, let’s explore 9 strategies you can use to that end.

Strategic tip #1: Create a study plan and stick to it

As with most things, making your TEFL course worthwhile depends on wise time management. Managing your time optimally is especially vital in the case of self-paced courses that have no live instruction element.

As the name would indicate, completing a self-paced TEFL course is entirely up to the teacher; no one is looking over your shoulder, as it were, to ensure you’re doing what you need to do to succeed.

One of the biggest benefits, indeed, of opting for a self-paced course over an instructor-facilitated course is the scheduling flexibility it provides. If your free time is limited by work and/or school, taking a course on your own time is a godsend.

However, the benefit of self-pacing is a double-edged sword. It assumes diligence on your part.

Some TEFL courses offer built-in study plans that map out a timeline for course completion within a standard timeframe.

Or, of course, you can always make your own. The internet is full of free study plan templates you can use by simply plugging in a few bits of relevant info.

Another option to maximize self-discipline is to enroll in a self-paced course with a friend with the mutual understanding that you will hold each other accountable.

Know thyself. If you have a procrastination problem (I can relate), it’s imperative that you make a plan to get the job done and stick to it.

Strategic tip #2: Reach out for help when you need it

In all likelihood, you’ll struggle to understand the content of your TEFL course at least once. TEFL course curricula are made to be easily absorbed but also to challenge you with new concepts.

If and when that occurs, don’t just let it slide; reach out for help.

Getting help could mean dropping an email to your TEFL course provider (at TEFL. Set. Go!, our friendly, expert staff is always on standby during regular business hours to assist our customers) or tapping into sources of outside support like online TEFL forums.

Strategic tip #3: Don’t rush through the material

As we touched on earlier, the biggest upside that self-paced online TEFL courses offer is the ability to work through the program at your own tempo.

The natural desire to get through the TEFL course material as quickly as possible so that you can earn your certification and move on to the classroom is understandable. You’re excited about teaching!

However, if your aim is to extract the greatest practical value from your course that you can apply to your real-world teaching practice, resist the temptation to speed through.

Before moving on to a new module, take a moment to quiz yourself and gauge how much of the material from the current module you’ve successfully assimilated.

Only after you have truly understood and internalized all of the concepts presented should you grant yourself license to charge ahead freely.

Strategic tip #4: Break your study sessions up into bite-size units

Staring down a self-paced 120-hour TEFL course curriculum on your own can be a bit like staring into the void. In other words, you might feel overwhelmed. That’s totally natural.

Remedy the daunting prospect by focusing on making incremental gains, one at a time, without thinking about the rest of the course.

My grandfather, as an exemplar of this kind of mental self-discipline, is an avid long-distance cyclist. He’s ridden his bicycle hundreds of thousands of miles in the aggregate over several decades, including on one three-month journey across Canada from the Pacific to the Atlantic.

Having ridden with him on some of those journeys, I can attest that his greatest asset is his power to focus on the road immediately in front of him and not on the hundreds of miles beyond.

If you just put your head down and make incremental progress, before you know it you’ll be well on your way to finishing up the course.

Strategic tip #5: Don’t skip through study materials

For the sake of time management, it may be tempting to skip through materials that might not be necessary to complete, such as complementary instructional videos that dovetail with written module work.

Resist this urge. The videos, or any other study materials like flashcards, worksheets, etc. are there for a good reason – namely, that the course developers believe they are necessary to provide a robust presentation of the material.

Strategic tip #6: Take a study break and touch grass

Most experts agree that the human mind can only maintain peak focus for approximately 45 minutes, give or take a few minutes on a person-by-person basis. After exceeding this limit, maintaining concentration is increasingly difficult.

Keep an eye on the clock. If you come up against this human limitation, simply take a break. Go for a walk or meditate or hit the gym – whatever the activity, do something that enables you to temporarily shut your conscious mind down and relax.

Strategic tip #7: Keep the course deadline in the back of your mind

When you’re mapping out your course schedule for a self-paced TEFL program, it’s a good idea to establish a firm finish-by date and do your best to stick to it.

Most standard 120-hour course formats typically require about 6-8 weeks to finish. However, that depends on how much time you can commit on a weekly basis to working through the course.

Obviously, life happens. So if an emergency comes up outside of your control or an act of God makes finishing your course by your self-imposed deadline impossible, don’t sweat it.

Barring such exigencies, though, it definitely helps move things along to stay as faithful as possible to your original timeline.

Strategic tip #8: Download and save any especially helpful content

As you work through a high-quality TEFL course like TEFL. Set. Go!, you’ll undoubtedly come across especially valuable content – a novel concept or a theory that really speaks to you, which you believe will prove particularly helpful for your performance in your future classroom.

Keep those!

As most TEFL courses have limited access periods, it’s a good idea to save those materials whenever possible for future reference.

Strategic tip #9: Approach your TEFL course with the seriousness it deserves

Since you’re going to make a significant financial and time investment into your TEFL course, so why not treat it with the seriousness it deserves?

Think of it like a university course or a part-time job; accordingly, attending to your coursework is a non-negotiable. It’s something you have to do even when you don’t feel like it on any given day.

When you attack the course with such a sincere commitment, you’re guaranteed to not just pass but to gain valuable insight that you’ll inevitably apply to real-world teaching practice.

Contact RVF International to learn more about how to get the most out of your TEFL course

We’re beyond excited to introduce our 120-hour self-paced TEFL. Set. Go! course, fully accredited by premier TEFL-accrediting agency ACCREDITAT.

It’ll get you where you want to go ESL career-wise, and we’ve designed the course with the intention that you’ll have a blast doing it.

To learn more, feel free to contact us.

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Ben Bartee is a Bangkok-based American journalist, grant writer, political essayist, researcher, travel blogger, and amateur philosopher. Contact him on Linkedin and check out his portfolio.