I have never done a "home study" course before, so have nothing to compare it to in that respect However I thought the course was a wonderful experience. Firstly, choosing a remote learning Tefl course has its issues as there are so many " mill certificate " programmes and others that have lots of "affiliate" bloggers who get paid to sell the courses via reviews online - lots of these don't really have any merit and are not really respected in the outside world ( lots don't even have a recognised governing body ). The Tefl Academy, on the other hand, does have a governing body that is respected in the, worldwide, foreign language teaching community. The course itself is made up of 10 units and 3 assessments. Everything that is needed to pass the course is provided. reading material, YouTube links and so on. Although not having someone at hand to instantly check information and ones understanding can be frustrating and "meaning" can get lost in emails communication that is spaced out, I found the tutors helpful and my experience was a positive one. I would definitely recommend the course to anyone who was thinking of language teaching.