Mr. Martin, glad my post provided you with "entertainment". Nice reply on your part, I may add.

Let me clear the air, ol' cuss, and you'll be crystal clear on where I stand with my posts.

1. Most newbies getting into TESOL have no idea what they are really "getting into". No, Martin, these guys aren't at your level. They're not even close and probably won't ever be. Most are looking to get into teaching for a few months to a few years, and then get out. That's where the cheap online cert comes in. Why dump big bucks on a cert or diploma (plus the airfare) if one knows he isn't going to be in TESOL for long? And what's good for the cert is good for the texts. Those texts I mentioned ARE good, but at the same time they are CHEAP. You can get 'em on Amazon. Got it?

2. A cheap cert will give newbies a sort of "test drive" to see how they like teaching. Judging by my own experiences, most won't like it. With these odds, one should get a cheap online cert, complement it with one of the (cheap) TESOL texts I mentioned, and then jump in to see if he likes it. If the person likes it, cool. He can then get a diploma or master's. If he doesn't, he won't drag his sorry ass back to his home country wishing he'd gone another path instead of dropping big mulla on a TESOL (that by then will be worth as much as toilet paper).

3. A master's in TESOL is a good idea for the more serious teachers. Most TESOL grunts don't like teaching brats, which is why jobs teaching brats are constantly advertised. A master's will allow these people to avoid being handcuffed to such jobs.

Yes, these are folks who already know that they will be staying in TESOL for a while. They are well aware of what they are getting into and know exactly the path they want to take (no brats). If you're going this route, why waste money on a cert? The cert will be useless when you get the master's.

The common theme in my posts is "if you're not sure about TESOL, go cheap." If one doesn't like this, he can bug out without having spent much.