This study aims to paint a vivid picture of the English teacher training courses held in Iranian private language institutes, both to critically analyse their aims and content, and to find their strengths and weaknesses. In line with this, qualitative data were gathered through information available on 34 institutes' websites, narrative observations of 24 sessions, open-ended questionnaires filled out by supervisors in 37 institutes, and semistructured interviews conducted with six English teachers and six teacher trainers. The data were analysed using a grounded theory approach (open, axial, and selective coding). The findings indicated that these courses offered a very convenient schedule, focused on practical teaching techniques, and were based on the institutes' needs. However, they suffered from problems such as the trainees' low knowledge of general English and teaching methodology, lack of a written syllabus, focusing on received rather than experiential knowledge, stifling the teachers' creativity, and lack of experienced and certified teacher trainers. A number of practical suggestions are given for the reconsideration of the course aims and content so that they can be made more suitable for the Iranian context and further involve the trainees.