Job Discussion Forums

Wigwam · Joined: 27 Dec 2004 Posts: 93 Location: Abu Dhabi

Does anyone have information about doing a CELTA as many friends in Abu Dhabi having been asking about doing one. I know of the British Council. Does anyone also know of any books, resources or websites that can help potential participants to prepare for the course or help them while doing it. I have heard that the British Council CELTA is pretty tough and many drop out.

NadiaK · Joined: 27 Jul 2006 Posts: 206

You can do a search for current centres (and their contact details) here:
http://cambridgeesol-centres.org/centres/teaching/index.do

The centres themselves will be able to suggest pre-course and course reading (in fact they will have a library for course participants).

Wigwam · Joined: 27 Dec 2004 Posts: 93 Location: Abu Dhabi

Thanks Nadia
Do you know of any resources or books which can help prepare students for these courses. I have suggested Harmer as an example but it is quite general.

NadiaK · Joined: 27 Jul 2006 Posts: 206

Yup, I think Harmer is a good one - it still seems to be popular on CELTA courses, although for a while it looked as it it might be displaced by Learning Teaching, by Jim Scrivener (Heinemann) - which your friends might also like to get hold of.

I would also recommend they get hold of a "teacher's" grammar book, such as Practical English Usage, by Michael Swan and a "student's" grammar book, such as Grammar in Use by Raymond Murphy. Although they won't really come into their own until the actual course, they will be helpful in completing the pre-interview and pre-course tasks and skimming through them should help potential trainees to see things from a learner's perspective.

These are pretty much the "staples" of a CELTA course; I'd recommend that your friends begin with them, only reading further if they have the time and inclination. The course centre will have more resource and reference material available for use during the course. If you would like more recommendations, I can post a list of the kind of books which should be in a CELTA library after the Eid holiday (i.e. in about a week), if no-one else has done by then.

HTH!

Tuttifruitti · Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 75

If your friends are free in the mornings, CERT advertised a morning CELTA course recently. They may also have evening courses - worth checking out.

http://www.certonline.com

I would also recommend having a look at Harmer, and definitely the Swan and Murphy grammar books NakiaK has mentioned. It might also be an idea to have a look at a coursebook to see how skills can be integrated (useful if your friends are not teachers).

harryhutton · Joined: 30 Oct 2006 Posts: 5 Location: Abu Dhabi

Wigwam, having recently done the CELTA course at the British Council in Abu Dhabi, I can tell you that from my experience, the course was excellent, the tutors very professional and dedicated and on my course at least, nobody dropped out at all. Quite the opposite actually - those who were having difficulties received lots of extra support. Friends who had done the course elsewhere had lots of worries about the way they were taught but we were very happy indeed so much so that I agreed to talk about my experience with them at their open day on 25th November this month. Hope this helps.