Job Discussion Forums

[aske]

Does someone without a CELTA have a chance of teaching and, more specifically, being able to live in Italy without a CELTA if he has a B.A. in English, speaks Italian, and has EFL experience?

[MilanTeacher]

Presuming you are an EU citizen, and have some other sort of TEFL certificate, you should have no problems. There are some schools that require CELTA, but most of them will just want to see some sort of TEFL (even for people who have education degrees which is strange). It is best if the certificate is recognized at least in the area you want to teach. There are some schools that don't require any certification but they usually aren't very good. If you have a good bit of TEFL experience (over a year) that might make up for it though.

[rafaella]

As Milan Teacher mentioned, where you are from is important. If you have a passport from an EU country, you could be in business. If not, living and teaching in Italy will be extremely difficult. There are many threads on here which discuss this problem.

You said that you don't have CELTA, but do you have any type of teaching certificate? Another relevant factor is your previous experience. Experience teaching in a European country will probably count for more than experience in Asia.

Timing is important as well. I wouldn't recommend looking for work in Italy at this time of year as pickings are likely to be slim and, even if you do get work, the long summer break is not that far away. Late August/early September would be the best time to start your search and, preferably, by going over there. There is no substitute (in Europe) for turning up in person and demonstrating that you have a professional and pleasant demeanor. You should, of course, take your CV and copies of references from previous teaching positions. The latter will be particularly important if you don't have any formal teaching qualifications.

Not having CELTA puts you at a disadvantage, but it is not necessarily the end of your dream. With an EU passport, decent references, relevant experience, combined with turning up in person at the right time of year, it should be possible.

[acmurray]

I've got to disagree in part with the teachers before me. I don't know how things are in Rome, Milan, and Florence where the teachers tend to flock, but here in Bologna there is most definitely work--I'm working full time and still have to say no to people asking if I'm available for private lessons. This September my school was scrambling for teachers, and my school has one of the better names in the city. However, it is true that late spring isn't the best time to start because the summer holidays are coming, which means schools closed + private students on vacation. (Though I've found you can make pretty good money from private students in June and July when there aren't many courses available--August is a disaster financially, though.) Come during the very first days of September when schools are just opening and get your name in early.

My school doesn't require a CELTA certificate, and it is not a bad school. Some teachers require more training by our didactic director than others, especially for the finer grammatical points (present perfect versus present perfect progressive, anyone?), and having a TEFL/CELTA certificate is definitely a boost over others, but in my opinion having experience and even speaking Italian gives you a bigger boost--many schools in Bologna are Italian-owned and it's an advantage to be able to be able to deal with the soci in their own language--plus I've found that Italians are skeptical of the sole use of L1 in the classroom, especially in beginning classes. On the private student level, a lot of non-advanced private students are much more comfortable taking lessons with you if they can talk business with you (scheduling, payment, etc) in Italian.

Anyway, if you don't have a certificate but do have experience and Italian skills, I'd definitely recommend looking off the beaten path (Rome, Florence, Venice, Milan), where the schools can't afford to be picky.

[aske]

I should mention that I'm an Italian citizen (I just haven't been in Italy since I entered university) so the EU issue is not a problem.

The substantive grammatical knowledge a CELTA could provide me is superfluous (I specifically studied English linguistics). The most benefit it could provide me -- aside from the actual certificate -- is pedagogical training. In terms of experience, I have worked in schools and have taught teachers and students for about a year now with only a few months teaching in Asia.

Grazie a tutti for providing insight to me as to the current teaching situation in Italy.