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Course recommendation in Italy

 
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lindaann



Joined: 03 Oct 2014
Posts: 8

PostPosted: Wed Oct 08, 2014 7:42 pm    Post subject: Course recommendation in Italy Reply with quote

Hi! I am new to this forum. I keep reading that other than the CELTA many recommend a similar course in the chosen country that meets the minimum recommendations. Can anyone recommend any in Italy to me? I am American but I have dual citizenship in Italy. I especially like Rome and Florence since I have family near both of those cities. Thanks so much.

Linda
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spiral78



Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 11534
Location: On a Short Leash

PostPosted: Wed Oct 08, 2014 9:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

You can find a CELTA in Italy; I know they have courses in Milan and Rome.
An equivalent course will be 120 hours on-site, including supervised teaching practice with real students.
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lindaann



Joined: 03 Oct 2014
Posts: 8

PostPosted: Wed Oct 08, 2014 11:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks. I knew of the CELTAs and will look to find the other similar courses.
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Xie Lin



Joined: 21 Oct 2011
Posts: 731

PostPosted: Thu Oct 09, 2014 12:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hello, lindaann,

As Spiral said, there are CELTA courses in Rome and Milan. There is also a CELTA run by the Cambridge School in Verona, as well as a Trinity course in Vicenza. There are half a dozen or so "equivalent" courses offered in Florence, but you need to assess them carefully to determine whether they are true equivalents. Although they do offer the necessary 6 or more hours of observed teaching practice with real students, they fall short in other ways.

ITTT, for example, runs larger classes of up to 25 trainees. (The standard maiximum is 12.) They also charge more than most comparable generic courses. The Via Lingua course spends 16 hours on "life skills"--interesting and useful topics, perhaps, but at the expense of 16 hours of TEFL instruction. They count "private study" towards the 120 certificate hours, so trainees are not, in fact, getting 120 hours of face-to-face instruction.

Bridge, ITA, and Language Corps appear to be all selling the same course. (At least they take place at the same time in the same location!) None of the three provide any course details, nor any info about instructors. ("Qualified, experienced, blah, blah, blah" doesn't cut it.) One of these three companies is probably the course provider, and the other two just selling spots on the course; I didn't spend the time needed to untangle it any further than that, other than to note that Bridge is obviously one of the re-sellers--they know absolutely nothing about the course.

I could go on, but you probably get the point. Generally speaking, I believe that generic, CELTA equivalent TEFL courses can provide high quality training if chosen with care. But I spent some time looking over the Florence courses a few months ago with a student, and didn't find one I was comfortable recommending. Ditto for the couple of non-CELTA Rome courses. In this particular case, I would go with the Accademia Brittanica CELTA course, if you want to stay in Rome or Florence. (Unfortunately it is one of the more expensive CELTA's around.) The Trinity course in Vicenza is somewhat less expensive, and appears to be a solid course. The only generic course that struck me at first glance as adequate was offered by The Language House in (I think; not sure) Genoa and Lake Como. But, as I recall, their website did leave a few questions to be answered, such as trainers' qualifications, and ratio of trainers to trainees.

Good luck!

.


Last edited by Xie Lin on Sat Apr 04, 2015 11:12 pm; edited 1 time in total
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lindaann



Joined: 03 Oct 2014
Posts: 8

PostPosted: Thu Oct 09, 2014 11:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thank so you much for all the insight and information. I appreciate you taking the time to provide so much detail. You have given me a lot to think about.
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spiral78



Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 11534
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 09, 2014 11:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Safest bet is to do the CELTA.
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Xie Lin



Joined: 21 Oct 2011
Posts: 731

PostPosted: Thu Oct 09, 2014 2:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

spiral78 wrote:

Safest bet is to do the CELTA.


Yup. Neither Florence nor Rome offer a true equivalent, at least not one that I'm aware of.

.
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lindaann



Joined: 03 Oct 2014
Posts: 8

PostPosted: Sun Oct 12, 2014 11:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks again. I'm thinking over my options now. I appreciate all the input.
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Xie Lin



Joined: 21 Oct 2011
Posts: 731

PostPosted: Mon Oct 13, 2014 1:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Good luck to you, Linda! Please come back and tell us what you decide. And it would be immensely helpful if you would give us an update once you've completed your course, whichever one you decide upon. Tell us about your experience, and the negative and positive aspects of the course. As you can tell, it will help others who follow after you.


. . .
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lindaann



Joined: 03 Oct 2014
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 13, 2014 6:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks again and I will!
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lindaann



Joined: 03 Oct 2014
Posts: 8

PostPosted: Thu Apr 23, 2015 9:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I chose the Trinity course in Vicenza. Unfortunately this has fallen through for me since they do not have enough students for the course. I am older (54) and have been second guessing myself. I have been thinking of moving to Italy for a few years and this seemed like a good idea for me. Thanks again.
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esl_prof



Joined: 30 Nov 2013
Posts: 2006
Location: peyi kote solèy frèt

PostPosted: Thu Apr 23, 2015 11:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

lindaann wrote:
I chose the Trinity course in Vicenza. Unfortunately this has fallen through for me since they do not have enough students for the course.


Sorry to hear that. Surely they'll be offering this course again at some point in the future, will they not?

If not, another option to consider is the SIT TESOL, which is now available in both Caserta ($1400 USD) and Senigallia ($1600 USD).

graduate.sit.edu/sit-graduate-institute/sn/degree-and-certificate-programs/language-teacher-training/sit-graduate-institute-tesol-certificate/

SIT, along with CELTA and Trinity, is considered to be one of the "name brand" certification courses.
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