Job Discussion Forums

[Gtomas]

I have been teaching English in China for about 15 months now, I've worked hard and enjoyed my job. In March my current contract will end, so I applying to many different places.

It seems all of the "good" schools want a TEFL certificate or a CELTA. The "good schools" I'm referring to would offer better pay and more time off for me to learn Chinese--my real goal.

What do you think of doing a month long CELTA program (TEFL seems to be a hodgepodge of unregulated companies) in order to hopefully secure a better teaching job and giving myself more time to study Chinese.

I would also like to be in a larger city with some well qualified Chinese tutors, and that just hasn't proven possible so far working in the smaller towns I've been at.

I do enjoy teaching and invest myself in my classes, but my long term goal is to work in advertising. Something involving the Chinese market. I have a degree in journalism, newspaper writing experience, and about two years experience doing ESL.

Any view, advice, or critique is welcome.

[lemak]

If you have the time, money or desire to be in this ESL game a long time then I'd go the CELTA. The average TESOL/TEFL course will be a fraction of the time and money, but you'll get back from it what you put into it. I've got a decade of English teaching experience, and somewhat arrogantly thought I knew everything. Even a basic 100 hour course taught me that actually I didn't really know crap. Could always do a TEFL/TESOL for the time being and upgrade to a CELTA or Trinity later if you have the time and inclination.

[Baozi man]

I find it hard to believe that CELTA is being required. In these parts CELTA is virtually unknown. CELTA is also relatively expensive. For typical classroom teaching, it is more or less useless as well.

Certain elements of CELTA are quite useful. Concept checking, for example. Concept checking requires the students to demonstrate their understanding of a new language item by using the item properly rather than just saying they understand it.

Grading the teaching material is also an important concept. It simply means presenting material appropriate for the student's learning level.

The CELTA techniques that are useful in typical Chinese classrooms you could learn in a single day, perhaps less. It is very useful for teaching grammar and vocabulary, for instance; however, typical FTs in China do little of that.

CELTA requires active participation by the students and high motivation, something relatively rare in a Chinese classroom.

In other markets, such as Thailand and, maybe, Viet Nam, CELTA is the industry standard. In that respect, CELTA is very useful. If you work in a Chinese training center and have small classes, CELTA could be very useful.

What part of China are you living in? Who has asked for CELTA certification? I agree that some kind of TEFL certification is extremely important in China. If you have the time and money, do a CELTA in Thailand. If not, find another course, recommended by FTs and do that.

[Gtomas]

Currently I'm in a small "city" in Shandong. Don't intend to stay here. I'd be willing to travel somewhere for a TEFL course that has a good reputation.

So a month long TEFL training program may be worth my while? I've been getting conflicting reports about what TEFL actually is. There is no standard, right?

[Baozi man]

Gtomas, Which "good" schools are requiring CELTA training?

[time to teach]

The CELTA, while overrated, is still the top dog in terms of content and quality. I did an equivalent 120h TESOL, which is sufficient for most jobs in China. I took my certificate course in Thailand, and it was one of the cheapest available at the time, around 15,000 baht. I had a very good instructor, which is probably the most important aspect of the training. A lot of the content for communicative language teaching and learning is based on basic or general principles and techniques. My advice to anyone planning to stick around for awhile is to take an extended holiday in Thailand and do their TEFL or TESOL course at the same time. Which course you take depends on your budget and your preferred location. If you've got the money, CELTA, like any other sort of educational investment, is still the best bang for your buck, but other courses, like degrees from lesser universities, will do the trick as well.

[Josef K]

I would suggest you do the Trinity certTESOL - better than the celta IMHO and recognised by the British Council as equivalent.

I did mine in Bali - the course was a little more expensive than the celta (Vietnam is the cheapest place to do the celta btw) but the cost of living and the culture made up for it.

I had done the INTESOL online course - waste of money, learnt very little and was bored out of my skull.

The trinity course was fantastic, from the friendships to the teachers - a worth while experience and everything learnt was directly applicable to many different learning environments.

Cheers

[Gtomas]

[Baozi man]

Gtomas, Can you direct me to a school ad for China which says "CELTA preferred?"

I have neve met anyone here who even knows what CELTA is. It surprised me that it is now preferred. What area in China are these ads coming from?

[Josef K]

That dont say CELTA preferred its either TESOL or TEFL preferred if they state that at all. I takes this to mean: "we don't have the time or competence to interview you but if you have a piece of paper that says you're competent, well thats good enough for us"'.
Such job ads can be found on a website for serious teachers

[steve b]

What exactly is a serious teacher? I would love to know in case I discover I am not numbered in those hallowed ranks.

[keeperofpythons]

[steve b]

Forgive my ignorance!

[Gtomas]

I've actually found a potential employer who requires TEFL certification, but said he was willing to give me time to "provide it."

I don't know what exactly he mean by "provide it" but I hope he was referring to actually taking a course and earning it. I'm wondering if I would actually have time to take a real TEFL course and work about 25 hours a week (which seems like a lot of teaching hours to me). I could just do an online course, but I'm almost certain I wouldn't learn anything.

I know the better TEFL courses include lots of teaching hours, but that seems pointless because I'm teaching already anyway. Are there usually experts who audit your teaching and give feedback or something? I worked privately as a tutor in America for a year and have been teaching ESL in China for more than a year now. Maybe I should just do an online course so I can say I have a TEFL.

Anyone have any advice?

[roadwalker]

If you have any savings, why not spend a semester as a student studying Chinese, since that is your goal anyway?