esol

[windycity8]

whats the difference between esol and esl and tefl?

[boxtops]

ESOL - English for speakers of other languages - my understanding is that this is for people who have a little English and want to improve it
ESL - English as a second language (i.e. someone who speaks another language as a mother tongue but wants to learn English from scratch)
TEFL - Teaching English as a Foreign Language - this course prepares you to teach english to the ESL students. I'm not aware of any difference between ESL and EFL but others may know differently.

[windycity8]

mmm, i thought this would be learning english if you were an immigrant for example, not english but with limited english. ads for tesl i thought that was the same. so im a bit confused! i thought tefl was teaching english to foreigners too, now im really confused.

[boxtops]

Yes you're right windy, I taught TEFL for a bit - you get foreign students and,as you say immigrant people, wanting to improve their skills (or in some cases learning english from scratch). You can teach it here in the UK in colleges and Adult Ed centres, or you can go abroad and teach - I had a friend taught English to people in Spain.

[kags]

ESOL would nomally be for people coming to live in the UK and speak English, regardless of their current knowledge of the language - so the focus is slightly different, more practical. ESL/EFL is normally for people living abroad who want to learn to speak English.

[boxtops]

I think that's what I said, kags, but you put it much more succinctly that I did!

[windycity8]

so what is the difference then? still confused, surely esol ie with a little english is the same as tesl and tefl, no?