In looking at this alphabet soup of English teacher language training I am looking for recommendations for good, quick, basic, online training for a teacher at a reasonable cost. A acceptable certificate would good too.

To teach to whom? What is your goal here?

I'd separate out the English Language Teacher Training from the specialised skills and knowledge needed to train Englsih Language students to take either the Academic or the General IELTS test.

Can't say much about the Teacher Training other than to say if you have experience in training or teaching then possibly you only need an acceptable certificate and again, possibly someone else can come up with a quick and easy answer. Without any background in training or teaching then something more substantial would be of great benefit, even if you have to take onboard the basics and modify it to suit the teaching environment you may confront here.

IELTS is somewhat easier to answer. My suggestion is you start by taking an IELTS Academic test by getting hold of one of the series of Cambridge IELTS tests books, preferably anyone of them from Cambridge IELTS 5 - 11. Take the practice test yourself under strict conditions, particularly the timing. Next, go online find a website run by a reputable trainer (there are numerous ex-examiners doing this) and sign up as a student. Do the training on offer acting as a student. These online trainers often specialise and therefore you may end up using more than one. At the same time, get hold of IELTS course books written by one of a handful of respected authors to supplement what you learn online.
All of this may appear time consuming but it's not as onerous as it may appear. Ultimately it will help you to become supremely confident in guiding students through the knowledge and skills required to achieve the bandscore they require.

I can't say anymore about the Teacher Training but if you want any further details about recommended websites, books or authors then feel free to PM me.

And good luck.

Got my TESOL certificate 14 years ago. It cost me $1,500 USD and four weeks to get it.

It was totally worthless.

The core of the course was that we would be teaching ignorant savages that knew absolutely zero English. It started with pantomime techniques. We were assessed on our ability to mimic the instructor's methodology.

I passed the course and got the certificate then went off to teach Accounting in English.

I got my TESOL cert about 2 years ago. Had to go to Beijing. The course was 3000 yuan plus another few thousand for their swanky hotel. The course would have been ok but after teaching for 10 yrs, I knew mostly everything taught. Many schools require this course, I guess.

May as well save yourself the time and buy a fake certificate online cause TEFL courses do not prove you are a good teacher. I know a TEFL is required for Z visa but any school employing people based on a TEFL or degree alone deserve fake teachers anyway. Any teacher with the experience but missing that vital TEFL certification for a Z visa should have been more organized -one of the basic requirements expected of teachers.

Qualifications are now being verified. I would suggest ethics, morality, honesty are also basic requirements.

I can verify an apple is an apple even though it may be rotten.
Honesty and grading systems do not go together when foreign teachers are being asked to upgrade student English test results. Neither do ethics and student workload here. That's before we even start on morals.

@Long-Dragon

I'm guessing you want to improve yourself as a teacher with a certificate to prove your skills, or you are looking to become a teacher and wanting advice on what certs are worthless and which ones are sort after.

In terms of TEFL certificates you can just cut out any that aren't RSA certified. That'll leave you with the Trinity and the Celta.

As it stands the requirements on a TEFL cert aren't very stringent when it comes to getting a work visa in China. However, if you're looking to move on to a good school, position or somewhere outside of China then it's one of those you'll need. If you plan to go down this route you'll need to set aside around £1000 and four weeks of your life. This will be the first step in going onto other certificates.

Once you have your CELTA and you want to stand out from the crowd you can get yourself a DELTA. This is a diploma issued by Cambridge which sets the men from the boys, with this you'll be welcomed in the top jobs in ESL - Aramco, Marathon, Petrobras etc. These certs are VERY difficult to get and involve a lot of methodology, expect a rough ride in getting one and set aside £3000. The course is done over 3 stages and can be completed in as little as 10 months.

IELTS is big business here in China. If you want to get on the IELTS train then you'll need to have a degree and a CELTA. If you have this then you can get in contact with a BC or Council of Australia, or a Cambridge centre within China and they'll train you to be an IELTS examiner, for free! The course requires 4 weeks of your time, once that's over you'll get a licence and you'll be expected to go to locations all over China to help with exams. You'll have to be a little bit careful in your employment so as not to compromise your interests. IELTS courses give precedence to Brits and the commonwealth nations on their course placements. If you're American I'm guessing there is a similar thing for TESOL but I'm not sure.

If you're looking to get into international schools what you'll need is an I-PGCE, this will allow you to work in International schools in any Non English speaking country. I'm talking the proper international schools here, not the one's related to the education department. For this you'll need £2000 and around 6 months. You'll need to be teaching at a reputable school (no training centres) while you complete it, as a lot of the work is based on what you do in class.

If you're after a good stable job and a meal ticket for ESL then you'll be better getting one of the things I've already mentioned above.

General teacher training is not much use to you unless you're really keen on picking up new things. I run teacher training classes for teachers here in Yunnan and I've never had a foreigner in the class. If it's teacher training you're after why not just bore yourself silly and buy one of the Cambridge Handbooks for Language teachers series in the area you're looking to improve yourself. Another book is Teacher Training Essentials, it's a bit more interesting.

If you are looking to teach in China there is a certificate ran by the ministry of information, usually in universities during the summer. It's called Teaching English to Chinese Speakers. It's an 8 week course and you have to be placed on it by your school. Your school should foot the bill, but outside of China and Malaysia this cert isn't recognised.

If you're looking for skills without the certificate just get yourself a copy of the CELTA Trainers Manual or the Trainee's manual, this'll give you the basics and prepare you for any course you'll do in future.

If you get in contact with EF they have a certificate issued by Cambridge called the TKT. This is a very basic course, needing 3 exams. The course is self study and registration to each of the exams costs around 500rmb. Think of it as a TEFL course but issued by Cambridge, not nearly as sort after as CELTA or Trinity but all 3 of the exams combined is the equivalent of a TEFL course and recognised by the PSB as being so. Therefore, given all 3 exams could be sat in a day, it's the cheapest and quickest way to a TEFL recognition. This is also the case in Korea, Japan and Vietnam plus some other countries in the far east.

For certs that are a bit more specific, and may edge you a job in one 2 one teaching, business english etc, look towards the LTTC (London Teacher's Training College) They do distance learning with some very short courses (2 weeks, 1 month) and you may find it useful.

Hopefully some of that may be useful for you. If it's the absolute bare minimum you're after then just get on a weekend distance learning TEFL from one of those Mickey Mouse schools in Barcelona or Bangkok. For now one of those would suffice in getting you a job in a low level training centre.

CELTA, DELTA, Ph.D., D.ed the higher you go the more time and money you pay just to get a foot in the door of the more prestigious schools, and that's' the benefit. Unfortunately, it's wrong because the piece of paper you paid extortionate amounts and spent 1000's of hours of time on doesn't guarantee you are to be a good teacher.

For an instance, anyone hoping to teach in a foreign country should spend at least a year being trained within that culture and take on assisting roles before they are permitted to take the lead in a class. Some universities organize such training experiences. It should be more widespread as right now business is booming with recruiting under qualified (in regards to knowledge of local culture, customs, norms, learning systems, local classroom culture and inexperienced people who are being offered salaries way above their worth.