Teacher Discussion Forums

[kidpaprika]

Hi,

I've signed up for a four week intensive CELTA course. I'm looking for a bit of advice from those who are "in the know". My course begins in three weeks and I have a few concerns.

Firstly, although my English grammar is good, it is only good in that I am a native speaker and I know what is right and what is wrong. I Of course, when I read a grammar text book it all makes sense, but I do not know the rules. Will this be a massive hindrance to me? I passed the interview, test, etc so does this mean that my knowledge of grammatical rules is already good enough, or should I start feverishly reading up on it right away?

Secondly, the course is costing me rather a lot of money, and I really can't afford to fail it. I am prepared to put 110% effort into it, and I realise that it will be very time consuming and a major commitment. Is it very likely that someone who puts all this effort in will fail the CELTA?

Any other advice would be gratefully received.

Thanks.

[revel]

Hey there!

First of all, look at this link:

http://www.cambridge-efl.org/teaching/celta/celta8_251103.pdf

Then, sit back, relax and enjoy the course. It seems to be more of a teaching teachers how to teach than a grammar course. Read some of the posts in this forum (Applied Linguistics) and you'll see that though many of us have a lot of grammar under our belts, we don't always agree, so take it with a grain of salt.

Don't worry about not passing, the objective of CELTA is not to weed out bad candidates but rather to help interested people become acceptable teachers by giving bases and resources. The four week course will not make you a teacher, will simply lead you in an acceptable and accepted direction. You will become a teacher through practice as a teacher.

Good luck with the course, take advantage of this forum to ask questions or use us as a sounding board, many of us love to debate!

peace,
revel.