Job Discussion Forums

[NY_Czar]

Hello all. I hope someone could help me with this. I am trying to wire the deposit for BKC's CELTA class for September and I am having trouble with their account information. If any one has had to wire money to them could you please check to see if the information below is correct. According to my bank here in NY, Barclays Bank in England is saying that the account number does not match the account holder. Your help is appreciated. I don't want to lose my spot for the Sept. class.

Account Holder: International House Torquay
Account Number: 40946087
Sort Code 20 60 88
Swift Code BARCGB22

[steven_gerrard]

Wouldn't you be better contacting them directly about this? Its unlikely anyone on here has that information at all, never mind to hand. Best thing you can do is give them a call as soon as you can, let them know you're having problems and ask them to hold your place until you can get it all sorted out.

[Confederate]

I have heard that only one school now offers the CELTA here now. From what I was told talking with the director of one of the new schools here only one school now offers the CELTA and it is Britsh Council, the others that were offering it stopped because there was no profit in it, not enough people were signing up for tthe course because of the high prices and that the CELTA was really not needed to teach here. If this is true that might be your problem. I'm not saying this is true, only what I have heard.
JD

[steven_gerrard]

The British Council does not offer CELTA and never has. BKC is the only place in Moscow that does, as far as I am aware. The guy already has a place on that course- he just wants to pay for it.

As for teaching without CELTA in Moscow- yes, possible. But perhaps this person wants to learn something, not go into the classroom cold. Or maybe has ambitions to work somewhere other than Russia or China. Anyway, in my experience if the school doesnt require a cert, the salary is usually awful. $550 may not sound a lot but this is the minimum (+ flat and other benefits). Not so without the Cert.

[Katyusha]

BKC is the only place that does CELTA in Russia. LL stopped running CELTA after losing their resident trainer, from what I have been told. If you have never taught before, CELTA will give you a good start. And BKC is not a bad place to introduce you to Russia.

[Confederate]

I only said that as a suggestion for the person to check, I did say that what I said might not be true.

As far as CELTA goes, I stand by what I said, a person does not need a CELTA to teach here. As a matter of fact one chemical company I teach at no longer will accept teachers with a CELTA because the teacher they now have from one of these British schools which I will not name, but he/she comes to class unprepared, gets mad if students question him/her and acts like a jerk. CELTA really taught this person how to teach very well. Of course this person is the exception, not the rule I hope. But this company no longer wants teachers with CELTA because of this person. I do not have a CELTA and I am able to provide my students not only with the information they need, but also make class enjoyable for the students. I took the time to find and download every English grammar book i could find on the Interent and have a personal English grammar library of almost 400 textbooks saved on cds. I have the resources to provide my students with the information they need and print out handouts that my students find useful. I took the time to find these books and generally add three or four textbooks per week to my library. My English grammar library is as good if not better tan most of the schools here in Moscow, even better than some of those big franchised schools. So if you think I can not teach because I do nothave a CELTA, well, that is your opinion and your more than welcome to it. I only made a suggestion for this person to check into and nothing more. I stated that what i said may not be true, that it was only what I had heard.
JD

[Katyusha]

This is a forum. You are allowed to speculate and vent. My message was not for you, Conferate! It was for NY_Czar.

There is no guarantee that a CELTA holder is automatically a good classroom practitioner. It is just a start for the un-initiated. It is, after all, the first thing most language schools ask for when you contact them for work.

[canucktechie]

For some reason the CELTA program seems to attract more than its share of irrational criticism. By this I mean the attitude "Teacher X had a CELTA and he was no good, therefore CELTA is no good". By the same logic one could use George Bush as an example as to why you should never hire a Yale graduate.

If you are hiring a person with no teaching experience, someone with a CELTA is a much better prospect than someone without it. For starters there is a screening process before one even gets into the course. It lasts only for a month, but it is a very intense month, and I can't see how any course could offer more within that time frame.

Indeed there may be employers who will hire people without CELTA or comparable training, but when you consider that even lowest common denominator schools like BKC or LL ask for this, you have to wonder why.

[NY_Czar]

Thank you all for your input. This is a lively forum. I'm pretty sure my bank here in NY is dropping the ball, it's taken three weeks and IH still hasn't received my deposit. I called the parent company in England and the woman in charge of finance has allowed me to pay for the course with a credit card. I now have to wait to see what becomes of the deposit because right now I don't have it and IH doesn't have it. It's in a holding account somewhere. I'm not sure who else offers the CELTA course, but I do know that BKC does. I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Uzbekistan and taught EFL to elementary school children for about a year and a half until the Uzbek government kicked us all out (a total of 60 Peace Corps volunteers). I didn't get the training I believe I needed to become an effective teacher, we had light training and then were thrown into the field. I understand that a CELTA certificate is not required to teach in Russia but right now I have no contact and a little amount of teaching experience. I'm hoping to start networking while in Moscow and land a decent paying teaching job after receiving my certificate. Thanks again for all your response. Hopefully, while in Moscow I can meet up with some of you guys.

[steven_gerrard]

I can't see anything negative about doing the CELTA and it will pay for itself within a year.