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Sekhmet
Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 329
Location: Alexandria, Egypt
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 Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2004 3:22 pm Post subject: CELTA vs TEFL |
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Can someone please explain to me the difference between a CELTA and any other kind of TEFL cert??? I've got a plain, boring cert, and now I'm wondering if I wasted my money...... Which is better???
Also, why is a Trinity cert better than any other? A lot of places (especially in England) seem to demand a Trinity cert... |
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ls650
Joined: 10 May 2003
Posts: 3484
Location: British Columbia
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| Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2004 10:58 pm Post subject: Re: CELTA vs TEFL |
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| Sekhmet wrote: |
| Can someone please explain to me the difference between a CELTA and any other kind of TEFL cert??? I've got a plain, boring cert, and now I'm wondering if I wasted my money...... Which is better??? Also, why is a Trinity cert better than any other? A lot of places (especially in England) seem to demand a Trinity cert... |
"TEFL certificate" covers a lot of ground. Some generic TEFL certificates are 4-weeks and include classroom instruction - but some schools will give you such a certificate for only a weekend seminar.
CELTA is a well-known TEFL certificate that takes 4 weeks and includes about 5 or 6 hours of actual classroom teaching. Because it is so well-known, it is often requested by employers simply because they can expect a certain level of training.
Most of the schools that specifically ask for a CELTA are in Europe; in Asia and Latin America schools care little about the "brand name" of the certificate. I've never read any claims that Trinity is better (or worse) than CELTA, merely different.
If your certificate is helping you find the jobs you want, then you didn't waste your money. I took a generic 4-week TEFL. I've compared my course outline and material to CELTA's - the course was almost identical. I had no problem at all finding a decent teaching job in Asia. |
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Aramas
Joined: 13 Feb 2004
Posts: 874
Location: Slightly left of Centre
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| Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2004 3:11 am Post subject: |
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There are a few threads on this topic, so a search wouldn't hurt. The gist of it seems to be that CELTA or Trinity are preferred (particularly in some countries), but any other reputable TEFL qualification will do - or none at all if you already have some teaching experience (you do want to give your students value for money, right?). As long as they are internationally administered 100+ hour courses with teaching practice then it should cover you until you have accumulated enough expereience that it becomes irrelevent. It's probably wise to avoid online courses and the outfits that do evening couses in your hometown but are based elsewhere. I wouldn't choose a school that didn't have an active ESL program accounting for the majority of it's business.
You can easily spend an extra $500-1000 USD if you choose CELTA over Global or whatever, so you have to decide for yourself if it's worth it. Do you want to teach in Europe or are you headed for a country where Freedom isn't just a brand of washing powder?
Note: I haven't even done mine yet - I'm in a similar situation and I've asked the same question, so I'm just repeating what I've gleaned from this site and elsewhere. My current Fiendishly Cunning Plan is to make Bangkok the first stop of my little outing for a heapin' helpin' of ECC's $1400 USD CELTA. |
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Sekhmet
Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 329
Location: Alexandria, Egypt
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| Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2004 9:30 am Post subject: |
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Thanx for the info guys - I feel better now!!!! I did 2 courses - a weekend seminar (yawn...) and a month-long course in Egypt, with TP hours and everything... So hopefully that'll be ok!!!  |
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