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firecracker2180 · Joined: 11 Dec 2008 Posts: 12

I did my CELTA back in 2008 and worked in Vietnam for a while.

On my CELTA we weren't given any worthwhile information to take with us, no work book or example lessons etc.

As such, 2 years on, I remember very little about lesson planning, and no course work to look back over to jog my memory.

Does anyone have a recommendation of books/resources that are good to get back in the swing of teaching English?

I'm nervous about getting back into teaching because I don't think the CELTA I did was very ... good.

Much appreciated!

artemisia · Joined: 04 Nov 2008 Posts: 875 Location: the world

There does seem to be some varying quality when it comes to CELTA courses. The experience of the trainers is key but there should still be some basic standards.

Look in your local library and ESL bookshop. Even in non-English speaking countries, libraries and bookshops will hopefully have some ESL course books for you to see the range (and not necessarily have to buy).
Some of the standard course books are: Cutting Edge, New Headway, Reward, English File, Language in Use and Clockwise. If you can get hold of a teacher's book, it will help give you a few clues on getting started again and it often has supplementary resources. The Reward Resource Pack books have very useful communicative exercises. Useful grammar books are Grammar in Use (Raymond Murphy) and David's Swan's book (title?). I'm rather fond of the Peter Watcyn (sp?) pairwork books.

Other than that, online searches for lesson plans, materials and ideas should be a help. Maybe Dave's (?), onestopenglish, and about.com. There are lots of sites but some aren't free.
Hope that helps, good luck with it all.

MrMrLuckyKhan · Posted: Sat Aug 07, 2010 5:56 am Post subject:

firecracker2180 · Joined: 11 Dec 2008 Posts: 12

artemisia · Joined: 04 Nov 2008 Posts: 875 Location: the world

My own experience of CELTA wasn't dreadful but the quality of the three tutors varied. The best one unfortunately only played a minor role. Of the other two, one was a novice and the other experienced one was very argumentative and in your face. The novice gave personal feedback to one of the participants (said in front of me) who then got extremely upset and was ready to walk out. The argumentative one just about came to blows with another participant.

If possible and if people have a choice of courses, I'd recommend that they meet the tutors of each first and find out how much experience they have. It won't always be possible to do so though.

firecracker2180 · Joined: 11 Dec 2008 Posts: 12

killthebuddha · Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 6:01 pm Post subject: Re: I've forgotten EVERYTHING

Hindi2610 · Joined: 08 Aug 2010 Posts: 25 Location: Mumbai

johnslat · Posted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 3:21 pm Post subject:

Dear Hindi2610,

"As I'm understanding, this is no problem as you'll not be needing many skills to do well in the ESL classroom. I'm told that as long as we're speaking native English and have a degree, even if not real, we're good as golden. The CELTA is paper and good for putting the foot in the door. Otherwise a winner's smile and a pleasing delivery of lesson are what's in need!"

If you're not just trolling with that absurd comment above, then I truly pity your poor students.

Regards,
John

Hindi2610 · Joined: 08 Aug 2010 Posts: 25 Location: Mumbai

johnslat · Posted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 4:12 pm Post subject:

Dear Hindi3620,

While I know nothing about your (poor) students, your comments tell me a good deal about their "teacher."

I wish you had been trolling, but, unfortunately, it seems that you're making these comments seriously.

Regards,
John

nickpellatt · Joined: 08 Dec 2006 Posts: 1522

Firecracker - How long did you work in Vietnam for? Perhaps recalling that experience would be wise than lamenting the poor CELTA experience?

Have you found a new job? If you havent yet ... I would suggest you look for a job that offers a lot of support and structure, as hopefully this will help to ease you back into EFL work.

As far as book recommendations, I am going to suggest 'Learning Teaching' by Scrivener, which will remind you of a lot of the CELTA theories, and it also have a few useful activities that you can use. Plus, I actually like reading that book.

As far as resources go, I would recommend Face 2 Face if you want to actually buy text books. This may or may not be required depending on the job you take. Online resources I like include the Guardian (UK newspaper site) as they have some nice print and teach lesson plans, and also English 4-U, who also have some decent stuff available.

Good luck, and as Im sure you are aware. Some of the comments from one poster in this thread can be ignored. You will need to get those teaching skills back and being a little nervous is normal I think, but a few classes and you will soon get back into it!

jpvanderwerf2001 · Joined: 02 Oct 2003 Posts: 1117 Location: New York

AGoodStory · Joined: 26 Feb 2010 Posts: 738

And double yikes!

jpvanderwerf2001 · Joined: 02 Oct 2003 Posts: 1117 Location: New York

Judging by this and another thread, I'm starting to think Hindi2610 is just trolling.