Job Discussion Forums

[nugget31]

Yeah me too, I want to do some Thai boxing or go to the gym whilst doing the CELTA in Chiang Mai... It would definitely help with the stress!

[eek]

Hi nugget

From the pics of IH Chiang Mai, they seem to be right next to the river so at least running is an option. Thats, of course, if you have signed up for the IH CELTA.

Talking of which, if you have, when are you going? As soon as some money im waiting on gets sorted out (by end of this month), im booking onto it. The one im going for is the 6th Sept. You gonna be there then?

[nugget31]

Hi

Yes, Im doing the CELTA in Chiang Mai with International House ...it starts September the 4th but I think is fully booked now

I hope to find some Thai boxing gym nearby - it's alway feels so good to hit something I find : )

Might try some running too though....

[eek]

Edit: the course im going for is the 6th November. I was half asleep when i typed that, sorry.

Hey..pls let me know how it is! Would really appreciate feedback and a little brain picking if you can stand it.

[nugget31]

I will try and let you know how it is when I have completed it... Assuming I do... Of course I will... How hard can it be?

[eek]

nugget..did u do the telephone interview?

Im guessing so..

What kind of things did they ask? yowezzz

[nugget31]

Hi

Dont worry too much about the interview.

They will ask you what you know about the course to test whether you are aware that it is quite intensive so reading up about how the course is structured is worth doing as they may ask questions like "What do you think a typiucal day would be?" They will also refer to your pre-interview task and point out some mistakes to see how you react to criticism. They will ask what your motivations are for doing the course to make sure you are going to be comitted...

That kind of thing...

[eek]

Hey nugget,

I know ur prob busy on the course atm but if you do get on here can you give your impressions so far of the course please.

I got onto the one on 6th November. Excited as well as nervous ^^.

[nugget31]

Hello,

So I finished the course, that's a relief...

The course was professionally run and the tutors were good. It was demanding but not impossible. If your grammar is weak it would benfit you if you studied it before you went. If you understood all the different tenses, learned the phonetic table and brushed up on all the grammatical terms for things like verbs, Adjectives, conjunctions etc.. then you would be off to a good start...

The only downside I could mention was that the Chiang Mai lakeside center was not quite completed when we got there so you might find you don't have a lakeside cabin...

Hope that helps, Good luck on the course...

[pk_yang22]

nugget, thanks for all the details.

[eek]

Congrats nugget!

GIad to hear the course is good. What's your pIans now?

And..as a side note..what accomodation is provided as an aIternative? Was the uncompIeted state a probIem in anyway?..ie: noise issues due to construction etc.

[tofuman]

I took a CELTA course in the States before coming to China. My Chinese contact told me it wasn't necessary, but I wanted to "feel" qualified.

It is a lot of work. And I heard one experienced English teacher say it was very valuable.

The info that I learned in a month of CELTA I could have picked up in a one day seminar. A good reference book, grading lessons to meet the students capability, nothing else seems of particular value in this setting.

The certificate did appear helpful in securing one job, or at least enhancing my credibility, but so far, in more than three years, the CELTA course has not come close to paying for itself.

While the teachers did a good job, one thing I learned was that being able to spell correctly was unrelated to being a good CELTA instructor.

I noticed that WW considers CELTA and DELTA a means of reaching into FTs pockets. In some ways I agree. Much, perhaps most of China does not even know what CELTA is. Its methods are, for the most part, irrelevant to classes of fifty to sixty students, but if CELTA can position itself as the STANDARD for competent English teachers, certainly some fool will try to impose it.

Of course, in places where CELTA has already positioned itself, if you want to teach, open your wallet.

[Miyazaki]

[kparsons]

Not the case in (most of) the rest of Asia -- many companies require a CELTA before the even consider hiring you. Even in companies that don't require it, you are often given a higher rate of pay if you hold a CELTA.

Additionally, perhaps the course varies quite a bit from place to place, but I certainly feel that I learned far more in my CELTA course than I could have during a one day seminar. I feel it was an invaluable step towards becoming a good teacher. That being said, if you have some experience teaching or in presentation, it may not be as useful for you, but you still learn quite a bit. Many of the students in my class had taught before, and all of them felt it was very beneficial.

[tofuman]

Kparsons,

CELTA recommends classes of no more than 12 students to allow time for each student to individually participate. I agree that the language acquisition paradigm of CELTA is an excellent one. Allowing group response, individual response, and individual concept checking is certainly useful; however, in classes of 50 or more students, there is simply not enough time to go through the sequential steps that are an integral part of the CELTA L2 acquisition process.

While CELTA may be mandatory in some places, if the classes are too large for the paradigm to be implemented, requiring CELTA is simply a money grab by profiteers.