Teacher Discussion Forums

[ron-luc]

Hello, all. I'm planning to take the CELTA in '05 and want to do it overseas. However, Jeff Mohamed mentions in his book, Teaching English Overseas, that it is not recommended because it would just add stress to an already stressful and intensive course. Dealing with the native language and customs, et al. would make an already tough learning experience even tougher.

While I completely understand the logic behind this, how does everyone here feel about it? If this were the case, I think, why have CELTA-certification classes in non-English-speaking countries at all?

It would be great to do it at a school that has good placement opportunities (obviously) and other such help for teachers just starting out in their careers.

Any comments, opinions, advice, &c. would be much appreciated. Thank you!

--Ron

[drjahoover]

I had the same questions when I wanted to do my CELTA, but researched and found that the course cost overseas averaged 1/2 the US price. ( Plus, you would have to pay for 1 month housing in NY or CA.) So we chose a country with low cost of living and I ended up paying $1100 for the course (vs. $2500 in US) and around $200 for housing.

I would guess that the "added stress" would depend on your sense of adventure. If you like to travel anyway, I say go for it. Just be sure the school is good. I went to IH Barcelona and have recommended it to everyone I know. The course and teachers were excellent! A friend went somewhere in Indonesia and had a less enjoyable experience. (Because of the school, not the local. She had lived in Indonesia before.)

Hope this helps. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions.
:)Jennifer

[Flatwagon]

I am also interested in doing something like this, and have been looking at several schools in Berlin. Anyone have any experience with the Berlin School of English, or Via Lingua? There is one other, although I don't remember the name.

One major difference I'm finding is that something of these schools don't offer a CELTA certificate, but rather a TEFL certificate, which as I am understanding is not really a certificate at all, just something that recognizes that you went to school. CELTA is a certificate and a program of study, where TEFL is just "Teaching English as a Foreign Language," and used only as a way to refer to the job you will be doing, not the certificate that you hold. That may not make sense, and I can explain, but basically it seems there is not actualy certificate to be obtained that is a TEFL certificate, but rather that CELTA is the certificate that you would obtain through a TEFL school. Making sense?