Job Discussion Forums

[riverboat]

Hi all,

I'm a 26 years old British woman, largely inexperienced when it comes to teaching (though I've worked in higher education admin/management since I finished uni) who will be taking the CELTA course in Paris this August, then looking to find teaching work in Europe (hopefully France) after that.

I'd really like to use these last couple of months before I leave in a productive way. I'm already working on my CV and compiling lists of language schools to send it to, as well as trying to get my French to as good a standard as possible, given that France is ideally where I'd ideally like to find a job.

I'd really appreciate any advice on what I can specifically do to prepare for the CELTA course, which I fully expect to be four weeks of incredibly hard work. I've got the recommended grammar book, which I'm reading through, but if there's anything else that I can do in advance which will lighten the load in any way during the actual four weeks of the course, I want to be doing it...

Also, I really wanted to find an EFL school here in London that would let me sit quietly in the corner and observe a couple of classes, just so I could get an idea of what to expect, but despite having sent out gazillions of emails to schools asking if this might be possible, none of them have so much as replied with a "no, sorry", yet alone a "yes". Any ideas why this might be - am I doing something wrong, or is it standard practice that this type of thing isn't allowed?

Any advice much appreciated.

[spiral78]

Hmm. I haven't much specific advice for you, but I have to commend you for your approach to preparing for the transition into EFL in France.

I'm a career teacher with 12+ years of experience, during which I've been involved with newbie teachers to a relatively high degree in several contexts - from offering advice on Dave's to designing and running training courses.

Would that all....most....many....more than a few took such a serious and thoughtful approach to entering the profession!

I am surprised to hear that schools haven't responded to your requests to observe a class. It's usually kind of normal in my own university teaching context to host newbie teachers. Perhaps expand your search to centres for immigrants and universities in your area?

You might also like to talk or otherwise communicate with other CELTA grads regarding the approaches and methods you are expected to learn and use on the course.

Best of luck to you in future - I'm sure you'll do well

[Glenlivet]

[Glenlivet]

As far as observation goes, you could always change your name to Mwambi and sign up for a free course

[spiral78]

All the more reason to expand your search to centres for immigrants and universities in your area.

Glenlivet, I'm interested in your comment about competitive environment in France. Have you more to say on that point? It could be useful to other newbs targeting the country, perhaps. I've always imagined that a newb with recognized certification and EU citizenship would have a sporting chance

[Glenlivet]

[riverboat]

Thanks all for the replies. Must just state for the record that I hate that the topic of this thread says "teachin" without the g...it seems I exceeded the maximum number of characters without realising...

spiral - is there a forum here specifically for CELTA grads? Am very interested in getting touch with such people, but can't seem to find a specific online venue.

Glenlivet - indeed I harbour some of the same doubts as you, re: my ability to find work teaching English in France, for all the same reasons as you stated. Nonetheless, I've weighed everything up and still want to try, and plan to start my search in Paris as obviously thats where most of the work is going to be. Also I have savings specifically for this purpose that I can live off for a while if necessary, and a very generous friend who I will be staying with in Paris at a very reasonable rent for the first couple of months. So hopefully there are a few things going in my favour that might mean I can eventually make this work, even if it isn't plain sailing for a newbie like me right from the start...nonetheless, if by January I haven't found work in France then I'll definitely set my sights elsewhere.

Thanks for the advice so far.

[spiral78]

riverboat, it does sound like you're covering all the bases realistically.

On the CELTA issue, you could start a new thread. I think you'd be justified in doing so - what a CELTA course is like is certainly of general interest and could well be useful to someone else as well.

For grammar's sake, keep the subject line short !!

[Glenlivet]

The biggest problem for me during the TEFL course was the grammar. Yes, I'm native English and speak well but I had no idea of terminology and construction. My tip is to learn as much "jargon" as you can before the course, at least then you have a chance of making sense of construction etc. Practical English Usage by Swan is an excellent book, you don't mention which book you're studying.

If you don't know your past participle from your personal pronoun you will have a tough time!

[nickpellatt]

Hello

I completed a Trinity Cert TESOL in September last year, its a similar course, and I have a few ideas that may help you. As far as reading material, I would recommend investing in a book called 'Learning Teaching' (I think thats the title) by Jim Scrivener. I have a copy myself, buried away somewhere. Its a good book to read prior to beginning the course, but also have value to refer back to after the course. Its quite easy to read and understand, and informative too. It does help you understand the role of a teacher in EFL.

I mention that book is easy to read and understand, because I find that lots of grammar based books ARE NOT easy to understand. Teachers books or reference books assume a lot of grammar knowledge and I have always found them hard going, and sometimes counter productive.

Defining a new grammatical word with other grammatical words I dont understand isnt going to help me!!!!

The course wont teach you grammar by the way, although you will touch upon ways of researching grammar, and ways to present and teach it. If you walk into the course a grammar novice, you will probably walk out of it still a grammar novice. Grammar is something that you tend to learn more whilst teaching ... that isnt to say you shouldnt try and learn something now, but its very unlikely you can learn everything beforehand.

What this sometimes leads to (IMO) is people trying too hard to read everything, and end up learning very little. I strongly believe that if you manage to learn the tense system and also learn the IPA (phonetic alphabet) you will be in a very strong position as a trainee on the course, and as a prospective teacher. I dont have a link but I think 'one stop english' has a good guide to the English tense system. This tells you what the tense is used for, and how it is constructed.

Tense was often referred to on my course, being familiar with it helps ... students also tend to ask a lot of tense based questions ... so it really is a great starting point.

(I have friends who are language learners who complain about their classes because the teachers sometimes struggle with explaining tenses - so if you can crack this and get a handle on them early ... what a strong position you will be in!!)

There are other threads on this forum about the course and peoples experience of them ... I really enjoyed the course, and if you are well organised it needn't be the tough experience it is often described as being.


As far as observing classes, here is some sneaky advice for you. Lots of language schools and training centres will hold their own TEFL /CELTA / Trinity courses. Ask them for course dates and ask to observe a lesson. If they think you may book a course with them, they will be keener on you observing a lesson. Telling a training provider you have booked a course elsewhere, but can you watch them teach isnt likely to raise many replies.

There may also be charitable organisations that you could get involved with that might offer the right type of environment for you as well.

Also ... are you working from now until you begin your course?? With summer just around the corner the student population in my hometown is about to triple with exchange students and the like coming to visit and learn English. Visit Madam Tussauds in the summer and note the 1000s of students there! Are there organisations local to you that could offer some work in EFL prior to the course? This is also the time of the year that summer camps need teachers...this could be an option allowing you to sample the job before your course.

I would happily invite you to visit my classes! So if you fancy a day trip to Eastbourne, do let me know!!

[Betti]

I did my CELTA in London back in 2005 with the prime objective of teaching in Italy. Like a previous poster stated, despite being English and fairly well educated, my knowledge of English grammar was non-existent. It's a familiar scenario to loads of Brits - instinctively we know (well some of us) how to use it - explaining the reasons why we use it is a completely different ball game.
On my course we were divided into groups, had a fair amount of theoretical training (a bit of grammar, phonetics, classroom management) and our practical sessions were divided into 3 sections. No-one (I repeat no-one) ever wanted to teach the grammar part, but we all did.
In essence, a CELTA course is intensive, but I only really learnt about grammar when I started teaching. It's common practice for language schools to give new teachers elementary students because the grammar is fairly basic. I learnt on the job, though the CELTA did give me a bit of confidence in heading a class full of staring eyes.
Pointers: remember that this is a training course, they don't expect you to have all the answers. Practical lessons are monitored by a tutor and you have feedback from your fellow students. The Swan book (mentioned earlier) tells you all you need to know...but communicating it can be a different story!! My school (International House) gave us a reading list before we started.
I really enjoyed the challenge of my CELTA, everybody worked together and helped each other. My memory's hazy, but alongside the practical, theoretical and planning time, you also have to write 2 or 3 essays. During the course there are sessions where you observe 'live' lessons.
Look upon this course more as a taster of what's to come. Personally, I was terribly nervous during my teaching sessions but when I came to teach my first class in my first job I was absolutely fine and now the nerves of the CELTA days seem a very distant memory!
I've no information to offer about teaching in France, but I found the best site for European jobs was tefl.com
Good luck!
Betti