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carl_00
Joined: 05 Jul 2008
Posts: 82
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 Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 3:43 pm Post subject: CELTA One-Day tester |
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Hi
So theres this CELTA one-day tester happening near me tomorrow which I'm considering going to, if I can muster the enthusiasm in the morning, from what I can gather from the brief bit of info on the website it is a sort of introduction to TEFL a kind of 'what to expect' from the occupation and the 4-week course.
Anyway I just wanted to hear from any experiences people have had of this, I just want to know what I'm letting myself in for...or if it's worth getting out of bed for and paying 70 quids. |
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Kootvela
Joined: 22 Oct 2007
Posts: 513
Location: Lithuania
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| Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 4:02 pm Post subject: |
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| Well, if it's too expensive for your taste, don't go. I have a personal limit of money which I never pay for a conference. |
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carl_00
Joined: 05 Jul 2008
Posts: 82
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| Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 4:48 pm Post subject: |
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| I'd pay the money because in theory it could save me spending �1000 on the CELTA course later on and then even if I did take the 4-week the �70 is deducted from that price so the money isn't too much of a concern, I'm just curious as to what to expect.. |
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Serious_Fun
Joined: 28 Jun 2005
Posts: 1171
Location: terra incognita
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| Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 5:23 pm Post subject: |
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| carl_00 wrote: |
| I'd pay the money because in theory it could save me spending �1000 on the CELTA course later on and then even if I did take the 4-week the �70 is deducted from that price so the money isn't too much of a concern, I'm just curious as to what to expect.. |
Will they discuss run-on sentences and comma splices at the event? |
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carl_00
Joined: 05 Jul 2008
Posts: 82
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| Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 6:04 pm Post subject: |
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| Will they discuss run-on sentences and comma splices at the event? |
Will you discuss run-on sentences and comma splices master grammar guru sir?
I suppose your comments are justified though considering the context of all this. still though, screw you  joke. |
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Justin Trullinger
Joined: 28 Jan 2005
Posts: 3110
Location: Seoul, South Korea and Myanmar for a bit
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| Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 9:22 pm Post subject: |
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Never offer to screw people you haven't met. No good will come of it.
I don't know about the taster- seems to me that there's enough information available without it to decide if the CELTA is for you. But I've never done one...
Best,
Justin |
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Madame J
Joined: 15 Feb 2007
Posts: 239
Location: Oxford, United Kingdom
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| Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 10:12 pm Post subject: |
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| I think that's an excellent idea, I would definitely attend one if there were any in my area. Where's this one taking place? |
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Marcoregano
Joined: 19 May 2003
Posts: 872
Location: Hong Kong
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| Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 1:53 am Post subject: |
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| IMO it's impossible to glean any idea of what it's like to be a TEFLer in a foreign land from a one-day event in your locale. The day would be more profitably spent trawling around on this website. For what it's worth, I did a one-week TEFL taster course in London in 1986. It put me off for 12 years - until I was truly desperate! |
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denise
Joined: 23 Apr 2003
Posts: 3419
Location: finally home-ish
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| Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 5:38 am Post subject: |
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| Justin Trullinger wrote: |
Never offer to screw people you haven't met. No good will come of it.
I don't know about the taster- seems to me that there's enough information available without it to decide if the CELTA is for you. But I've never done one...
Best,
Justin |
I agree (on both points!). A bigger issue is whether or not to do the CELTA itself, and that decision depends on where you want to work, what requirements they ask, how much training and experience you already have, how much it costs, etc.
I did go to a short open house session put on by a TEFL course in San Francisco, but it was free and only ran a couple of hours.
d |
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carl_00
Joined: 05 Jul 2008
Posts: 82
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| Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 9:04 am Post subject: |
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Well I didn't go.
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| A bigger issue is whether or not to do the CELTA itself, and that decision depends on where you want to work, what requirements they ask, how much training and experience you already have, how much it costs, etc. |
This is it, first off I have no experience, fresh out of uni with no ideas of what to do other than this dormant notion of travel and teach. Saying that, I am not just looking for some gap year experience I'm thinking more long term, of course this depends on whether or not I can hack this work...and also haven't really set my heart on any one place, ultimately I'd like to be in Japan but I'd also like to check out S.America, China, S.E. Asia & Europe...not really decided....maybe I should 
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| I think that's an excellent idea, I would definitely attend one if there were any in my area. Where's this one taking place? |
Manchester
| Quote: |
| Never offer to screw people you haven't met |
People do it all the time on the Internet...that's what it's there for. d'uh  |
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alexcase
Joined: 26 Jul 2007
Posts: 215
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 1:13 pm Post subject: |
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Sorry I'm too late to have any effect on the decision, but I went on a taster course in the Brasshouse Birmingham many years ago and never regretted it. I only got the money together to do the whole CELTA two years later, but at least for that time I knew that is what I wanted to do, and it also shows employers that TEFL was a plan rather than a sudden brainwave.
TEFLtastic blog- www.tefl.net/alexcase |
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Kootvela
Joined: 22 Oct 2007
Posts: 513
Location: Lithuania
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| Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 11:51 am Post subject: |
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Please allow me to deviate from the OP and put a question for discussion: is it better to take a course like CELTA or do a degree in English (philology, literature, education, etc?). Which has more weight? When one has a degree in the field, does the certificate matter THAT MUCH for employment?
Surely, a degree takes time. 4 years over here if you're lucky. |
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denise
Joined: 23 Apr 2003
Posts: 3419
Location: finally home-ish
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| Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 2:12 pm Post subject: |
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| Kootvela wrote: |
Please allow me to deviate from the OP and put a question for discussion: is it better to take a course like CELTA or do a degree in English (philology, literature, education, etc?). Which has more weight? When one has a degree in the field, does the certificate matter THAT MUCH for employment?
Surely, a degree takes time. 4 years over here if you're lucky. |
Sure, a four-year degree should have more weight, but which is more practical in a classroom?
a) four years of reading literature and writing academic papers
b) four weeks of practice planning and delivering lessons
A degree in any field will show a certain commitment to the academic world (which I do value very highly), but simply having a degree won't necessarily prepare you to enter a classroom.
If I were ever in a position to run a school and do the hiring, I would look for both: proof of commitment to education and actual training in EFL. (Basically, the standard degree + certificate.)
d |
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Kootvela
Joined: 22 Oct 2007
Posts: 513
Location: Lithuania
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| Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 2:16 pm Post subject: |
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| I've got a degree+ teaching qualification. We studied methodology and had teaching practice. However, that was for secondary schools, I should have entered andragogics for teaching adults. I am considering doing a second Master's in andragogics. I don't think there are degrees for teaching EFL to adults, are there? |
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MO39
Joined: 28 Jan 2004
Posts: 1970
Location: El ombligo de la Rep�blica Mexicana
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| Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 5:47 pm Post subject: |
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| Kootvela wrote: |
| I've got a degree+ teaching qualification. We studied methodology and had teaching practice. However, that was for secondary schools, I should have entered andragogics for teaching adults. I am considering doing a second Master's in andragogics. I don't think there are degrees for teaching EFL to adults, are there? |
You learn a new word every day - what on earth is "andragogics"?
From what I know about TESOL M.A. programs in the US, they can prepare you to teach adults, teenagers and/or children, depending on what your future professional interests are. And they always include some sort of teaching practicum. |
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