Job Discussion Forums

dyak · Joined: 25 Jun 2003 Posts: 630

It's like riding a bike. It doesn't matter how badly you ride it as long as -

You don't fall off.
You don't tell the trainers how you think the bike the should be ridden.
You ride exactly where you're told.

And no wheelies.

Chasgul · Joined: 04 May 2005 Posts: 168 Location: BG

Spinoza - Favouritism is a part of life in the Balkans, and I have to say that, having learnt Bulgarian, I have found that people do laugh at you if you use the wrong 'k'. Although I have to agree that Steve is a d**n good tutor.

stillnosheep · Joined: 01 Mar 2004 Posts: 2068 Location: eslcafe

EnglishBrian · Joined: 19 May 2005 Posts: 189

Feb 99

stillnosheep · Joined: 01 Mar 2004 Posts: 2068 Location: eslcafe

They're still keeping the standards up I see!

Dolma

As an American(or someone who speaks using American usage and pronunciation), did you feel that you were working at a disadvantage relative to your British classmates? I ask this because way back when(pre-Internet) I started(didn't finish) one of those wretched Eurolink correspondence courses and I felt frustrated at the beginning during the IPA transcription exercises. My answers were marked as wrong when I used the American pronunciation. Although I stayed with a friend in Bletchley for 3 months at one time and am known to have occasional cravings for Jammie Dodgers and Cadbury Flake bars, nonetheless I am a Yank, not a Brit, so how can the instructors expect me to know the Queen's English??? Has anyone else run across this situation?

Chasgul · Joined: 04 May 2005 Posts: 168 Location: BG

I may be cynical but EUROlink kinda presumes UK english, do a correspondence course based in the US for US english, or buy yourself a copy of the OED.

Dolma · Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2005 8:25 pm Post subject:

eslegypt · Joined: 22 Dec 2004 Posts: 9

CELTA is very time intensive. Expect to be dis-enhearted when your teacher gives you feedback on your homework assignments and teaching sessions and says you missed the objectives of both, when you think you nailed them 100%.

You absolutely must work as a high performance team, else your marks will be reduced. Meaning if there are 4 of you in a team to teach a class, and you each get 30 minutes, then each segment of the lesson must flow into the next segment. So don't prepare your training strategy and material by yourself, do group strategy planning first and ensure you hand off to the next person well.

Also when teaching a class prepare for the person before you not to finish their material in their alloted time, in which case you have to find a way to pick up from where they left off into your own material without anyone noticing the gap. So understand what the material they are teaching too. This happened to me and I was not happy about it.

If you work too much on your own this will count as your not being a team player.

The goal of the teachers are to help you achieve your CELTA certificate, so if you are struggling they will let you re-do your assignment. But how people get A's and B's is beyond me. I killed myself to get a Pass.

Also, people who are already teachers in some form, tend to not do as well as people who are green. I guess it's the paradigm thing.

Of course a CELTA certificate does not mean you know how to teach or will be a good teacher. That's true for any degree or certificate. But it does leave you with the credentials to get a starting position, and it does demonstrate that you have completed a very intensive course. It also leaves you with the knowledge that there is far more to teaching English using the latest techniques than you could possibly have imagined.

Chris_Crossley

tanachke · Joined: 26 Jul 2005 Posts: 5

Hello,

Aside from this question probably needing its own new topic, I'm relatively new to the TESL/TEFL field and would like more information about the CELTA. I would like to hear REAL and PRACTICAL information -Not CELTA-paid information. I would like to teach English as a Foreign/Second (Third, Forth, or Fifth) Language (mainly to people who are over 20). It is very difficult to find exact information about what each degree actually means and there are so many ambiguous definitions for each of these degrees and certificates.

What can one do with a CELTA certificate..as opposed to a TESL certificate or a TESOL certificate?

I'm american and live in the US. I would like to know the "best" degree route of teaching English abroad. I'm sort of looking for a universal certificate that would enable me to work in Krakow one year then maybe Moskow the next, followed by Hong Kong.

Unfortunately the problem with these message boards is that there is plenty of information, although most of it not pertaining to people who are interested in the field but want to get practical information beforehand. So in saying that, thanks for any help!!

EnglishBrian · Joined: 19 May 2005 Posts: 189

The CELTA is the Certificate in Teaching English Language to Adults, though you do touch on kids teaching on the course, since most people end up teaching some kids. It is designed by Cambridge University (kind of) who send out people to check on each course that is run, and you can do it in thousands of universities and language schools worldwide.

It's a 4 week full time course which starts you off in teaching English as a foreign language. You don't study much English language as such, it gets you thinking about students, methods and the techniques of how to actually teach, and gives you lots of real teaching practice (with feedback) with real students at 2 or 3 different levels of language ability. You are also required to observe existing teachers. You will be writing detailed lesson plans (and having them critiqued) and essays too. It's a 'nuts and bolts' course - the basics and is very intensive, rather than 'difficult'. It is described as a 120 hour course.

It is the standard recognised basic teaching certificate the world over. Trinity College London do a TESOL certificate that's often quoted as being equivalent to the CELTA - kind of Coke vs Pepsi thing.

There are more and more courses being marketed by other organisations. These are often modelled on the CELTA and are often described by the provider as being 'equivalent'. You need to check that this is true if you choose to do one - Is it 120 hours, real teaching, observation, accredited by someone other than the school taking your money to give it to you? Many of these equivalents are just that - and are good courses, but they may not be as well known when you then go job hunting. That's just something to bear in mind when choosing to do an alternative.

Remember the CELTA is an entry level qualification so for the higher level jobs (in universities for instance) you get into the world of Diplomas and MAs. But that's for later.

The universal certificate you're looking for - this is it basically. Do remember though that for many countries you will need a university degree simply as a visa requirement demanded of all foreign workers. The CELTA won't satisfy that, it's something to satisfy the language school.

tanachke · Joined: 26 Jul 2005 Posts: 5

Thank you so much for your help!
I won't be graduating until Spring 2007 though, with a BS in German (minors are: Linguistics and TESL). I plan on starting the MA in TESL in the fall 2007.

It sounds like the best way to go is the complete the TESL MA *and* complete the CELTA Certification.

I really appreciate all of your help!

Are you teaching in Lithuania?

EnglishBrian · Joined: 19 May 2005 Posts: 189

Ah! Now I think you've hit on a distinction between British and US TEFlers. British people who do TEFL generally have degrees and then do a CELTA. Work for a few years and if they like it, then do a Masters. Infact almost all British Masters degrees in TEFL/ESL or whatever you choose to call it, demand several years of teaching experience before you can start the course. This is the frame I tend to think in

A lot of US people seem to do a Masters before they start teaching, straight after a BA. This is helpful in some university jobs in some countries where they simply demand letters 'MA', but some other employers have got wise to certain US courses and specify that if you're applying with an MA and no experience, your MA must have had a certain number of hours actual observed teaching practice on it. If you do an MA which has this practice element then a CELTA would probably be superfluous.

(I used to teach in Lithuania. Now I just rest here between contracts in better paying countries.)

Good luck to you

tanachke · Joined: 26 Jul 2005 Posts: 5

Thanks for explaining the difference. The fact is that people (in the states) have a better advantage with an MA (academically speaking and monetarily so). The TESL MA (from what I've seen) usually always requires another practicum aside from the undergraduate TESL Certification. By the time I'm finished with the MA, I'm going to have so many observation/teaching hours under my belt I'll be able to pass them out like free candies.

For some reason I always thought that TESOL Certification was an English/British type Certification that you couldn't obtain here in the states.