I am thinking about getting my TESOL diploma and Acadia has a price break right now. Wondering if anyone can tell me if they are a good school. I am also concerned because i will be 59 next april and have read in other posts that China is clamping down on age 60 retirement law for foreigners. Not sure it would be worth it to get diploma and then not be able to teach legally for a little over 1 year. I will not be able to leave Kunming for 5 years until my wife can retire. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

If you have been teaching for a few years already, a TESOL qualification will give you little you do not already have, or can't learn from a book.

Also, it is a diploma. A diploma can be unclear academically, sometimes about half of a certificate. The thing is to look at the total number of hours of supervised study, not including self study. Compare this with the other courses offered by the main providers in Thailand.

If you are thinking of the need for officially recognised qualification you need a CELTA, Cambridge TESOL or TEFL equivalent certificate.

However, there is currently no requirement for qualification when teaching in China.

If you are looking for a good book on teaching EFL look at 'Learning Teaching...' Jim Scrivener. It has all the theory that you will learn on a CELTA course. There are also CDs with video you can use to learn to critique.

@tigertiger, thank you for information. I have my college degree from US, but i have lived in several places in china and have had offers to teach oral english, but did not want to take position until i knew i was going to be in same place for several years. Have noticed many good positions ask for TESOL certificate in Kunming and competition for positions is tougher here. Other Chinese cities i lived in schools were recruiting me.

They ask for a certificate, but many will accept you without one. Expect to be asked to give a demo lesson. This is usually to members of staff who will evaluate you.

Any other feedback about Acadia ?

I may be misinformed, but I believe a TEFL/TESOL qualification IS actually a requirement for getting teaching visa in China...?

Regarding the visa (I am actually not concern as a non native speaker, just curious) does it make a difference if the certification has been done one-line instead of one-site ? Or both are OK ?

I believe TEFL/TESOL certification is only required for English teachers, not for other subjects. But I stand to be corrected. And again, only if you are applying for a recognised 'teaching' post. If you are being employed as a training consultant, by a non recognised school, I am not sure what the situation is.

My certification was done online from a UK based company about a year after I arrived in China. I think as long as you have experience teaching in the classroom @karina and @tallamerican an online course would be sufficient.
Regarding it being a requirement for the visa. The legal requirements for English teachers as far as I know are 1. Bachelors 2. TEFL/TESOL 3. Under 60 4. Native speaker 5. Two years experience (though this is a bit of a grey area )
However, we all know these requirements are never really closely followed. I personally know non native speakers without a TEFL/TESOL legally teaching. I also know of people legally teaching without a bachelors.

From what I gather though, Yunnan does seem to be more strict on following these visa rules than some other provinces.

Sorry yes, I meant a visa requirement for an ENGLISH language teaching post. I think the PSB are not too clued up for checking the source of the certificate, but generally a decent online course should be affiliated to a recognised University, such as those described by @tiger above. Incidentally, the Scrivener book @tiger mentions is indeed excellent and very accessible. I highly recommend it too.