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JetLee
Joined: 28 Sep 2006
Posts: 2
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 Posted: Wed Oct 04, 2006 4:51 pm Post subject: CELTA in Vietnam |
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Does anyone know if doing CELTA in Vietnam is as good as anywhere else ?
I mean: is the quality of the teaching in the CELTA course dependent on the instructor or does it depend on the location
I am planning to go to HCM and enrol in the CELTA course there instead of doing it in my home country in Ozzie Land. |
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kparsons
Joined: 30 Jun 2005
Posts: 63
Location: Hanoi, Vietnam
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| Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 3:29 am Post subject: |
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The quality of the course depends on a lot of things, but I would say a huge component of that would be the teacher trainers. I don't think the location has an awful lot to do w/the quality. Remember, the CELTA is fairly standardized, so you can be pretty sure you'll get a good deal anywhere you go (but don't let that be all-encompassing, as I'm sure there are some out there who would beg to differ). That said, I know it's usually cheaper to do in Asia (usu. around $1500 (US)), and I enjoyed doing it abroad b/c you had lots of students who weren't already living in an English speaking culture.
I can't speak to the quality of the CELTAs in HCMC, but I can say that everyone I've spoken w/who did theirs at Language Link in Hanoi (which I believe to be the only school currently offering it here) came away w/nothing but good things to say about the program. And many of them decided to stay at the school and teach. |
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JetLee
Joined: 28 Sep 2006
Posts: 2
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| Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 4:00 am Post subject: CELTA in Vietnam |
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| Appreciate your comment kparsons. I am almost "sold" on getting over to HCM and taking the plunge ... ooh yeah !! |
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sethness
Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Posts: 209
Location: Hiroshima, Japan
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| Posted: Sun Dec 17, 2006 8:37 am Post subject: Keep an eye on the costs. |
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JetLee, keep an eye on the costs.
CELTA is rather standardized as to quality, compared to (say) TEFL. It also has the chic of being based around college-course accreditation.
However, the employers may be equally impressed (or unimpressed) by CELTA or TEFL, and the costs can be radically different.
I've seen ads for CELTA courses in Vietnam that run about US $1500, which seems unfair because the price doesn't seem to reflect the lower prices of everything else in the local economy. That same $1,500 is about what a CELTA course'd cost in a more expensive country like Australia.
On the other hand, I've seen a do-it-on-the-Net TEFL courses offered through an American website for about $400. It required a lot less time to do the course, and was not a full-time study course, which might also be important to you. (So basically, you could pay less and work full time doing whatever while taking the TEFL certification course.)
So ask yourself if the extra money's worth it...and whether you want to be doing a CELTA course full-time when you could be working.
I've also seen "free" CELTA courses offered in Thailand...basically, you teach English in a high school for slave wages, but at the end of a few months you get a CELTA and you're encouraged to go in search of a better-paying job.
Dunno if there's anything like that in VN.
So... I wouldn't say that the most direct route (doing a CELTA course in Thailand) is necessarkly the best route. Shop around.  |
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spycatcher reincarnated
Joined: 19 May 2005
Posts: 236
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| Posted: Mon Dec 18, 2006 1:01 pm Post subject: |
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Sethness wrote
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| I've seen ads for CELTA courses in Vietnam that run about US $1500, which seems unfair because the price doesn't seem to reflect the lower prices of everything else in the local economy. That same $1,500 is about what a CELTA course'd cost in a more expensive country like Australia. |
First I would like to point out that most CELTA centres lose money on teaching the CELTA, or at best break even. Saying that, however, some of the bigger CELTA centres that run multiple CELTA's at the same time do financially quite well out of it. If a course is full then some money can usually be made out of it, but if it isn't full then making money out of it ain't easy. Also, I would imagine that it is probably more difficult for offshore centres to fill courses than onshore centres.
Most onshore CELTA centres run the course for credibility, whereas most offshore CELTA centres (ones in non native English speaking countries) do it to recruit/develop teachers for themselves.
Costs
The main costs are:
CELTA trainers- They are in demand so their salaries in offshore centres are usually very similar to those in onshore centres. Many offshore Centres only run a few CELTA's a year and can't cost justify having two full time CELTA trainers on staff so they often fly in the second trainer. Extra costs are usually- Flights- Hotels- and many countries charge considerably higher personal income tax for foreigners that are in the country for less than 183 days a year. Almost certainly the centre would be picking up this additional personal income tax bill as well.
Marketing- offshore centres often have higher marketing costs.
Payment to Cambridge- This is the same, regardless of where the centre is.
Building rent- Yes, they are just using an empty classroom, but they had to rent the building in the first place. Rents for offices in Hanoi and HCM City are similar to most western cities.
Cambridge Assessor- in onshore countries this person is usually just around the corner, but in offshore centres this person will usually need to be flown in and put up in a hotel.
In offshore centres most of the participants usually come from other countries to do the CELTA. These participants usually need a lot more time spent on them helping them sort out a whole variety of non CELTA issues. This can be very time consuming and is a cost that onshore centres don't have much of.
I conclude that it is probably more expensive to conduct a CELTA in many offshore countries than in most onshore countries, regardless of cost of living issues.
As I have written above, centres in offshore locations usually conduct CELTA's as a teacher recruitment/professional development tool and not to make money. |
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