Job Discussion Forums

[Marmalade]

Hi,

Has anybody done their CELTA course at the IH in Budapest, Hungary?

If so, would you recommend it?

Any info about experiences etc. much appreciated.

Cheers

Marmalade

[OzBurn]

My experience, in a nutshell:

Nasty and incompetent trainers (one exception).
Poor facilities.
Weak teaching staff.
Nice students.

There's a reason it's one of the world's cheapest CELTA courses.

[Marmalade]

Ummmm, doesn't sound too good.

Do you think you suffered as a result, ie. competency wise etc. etc.

And would that be a strong recommendation to take it elsewhere?

M

[OzBurn]

It would have been better for me to go elsewhere.

I think that other CELTA courses would probably do a better job, but I am not an expert on CELTA courses. CELTA is a mixed bag. My own view is that it is a rip-off, as I have stated elsewhere on this board; but if you need to take the course to build up your confidence in teaching, it might be worth it. It all depends on your needs. Just remember that it is a heck of a lot of time, work, and money, and that it would be worthwhile to research the alternatives. My recommendation would be to take the course, if you must take the course, in a country where it seems likely that you would want to teach, or at least in a country that speaks the language that you are interested in learning. For example, if you want to teach in a Spanish-speaking country, take the course in Spain or Argentina or Peru. Unless you want to teach in Hungary, and given the pay and working conditions, I would be surprised if this were the case, don't take the course there.

Also, it is an important asset in language teaching to know something about the characteristic needs, strengths, and deficiencies of your students in terms of what they bring to the class given their native language. Teaching Hungarians is very different from teaching Spaniards. Hungarian does not resemble English in any respect. That's not a good thing or a bad thing, but it is important. A month of teaching Hungarians is not a good introduction to teaching people who have a background in, say, a Romance language.

Finally, I don't know when you are planning to take the course, but keep in mind that after the end of October, the weather in Budapest is vile.