Hi Lisa

As I have never heard of Duke University I am going to make the assumption that you are American. As an American I am going to make a further assumption that you are not an EU citizen and therefore unlikely to looking for work in Europe.

On this note, and further supported by your time and money restrictions, I am not going to suggest that you study for either of the industry standards: the Cambridge or TCL certificates.

Your wariness of the many online certs. that seem to be appearing on the scene is well founded. Few, if any are accredited and you have to pay additionally if you want a teaching practice component added to the course.

There is a company called TEFL International that has centres throughout the world many of which Americans can work in without restrictions. They offer the standard cert. course for the standard cert price in the region of US$1000 and are accredited by a recognised body.

However, they have recently launched a new course called PELT Practical English Language Teaching. It combines a face-to-face component supported by a substantial self-study programme that allows extensive teaching practice in one of their centres.

This course is significantly cheaper than the standard cert programme and wait for it apparently you get paid whilst you are doing your teaching practice.

No, I am not a sales person I just think it is an innovative way for people with limited time and money who want to move into the world of teaching English.