Job Discussion Forums

as25645 · Joined: 20 Nov 2009 Posts: 10

Hi
I am planning to complete the Cellta in February and have been reading about all the schools you can do it with.
Does anyone have advice on which schools are better than others to complete the course in the Uk or Spain? I have read allot about IH, does anyone have any experience with this school?

Thanks for the advice Smile

Debutant · Joined: 30 Sep 2009 Posts: 6 Location: United Kingdom

Hi there,

I completed the CELTA with IH Barcelona in November and had a great time. The staff and facilities were excellent and I learnt a great deal - be prepared for very long hours and more than a little stress though! I was amazed at how much work was involved - by week 3, people were thoroughly worn out. Hope this helps and give me a shout if you need any more info.

Cheers

D

norwalkesl · Joined: 22 Oct 2009 Posts: 366 Location: Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-China

SirKirby · Joined: 03 Oct 2007 Posts: 261 Location: Barcelona, Spain

In theory, because CELTA is assessed externally (by Cambridge), all CELTAs should be the same, no matter what training centre you take it at.

In practice, that's probably not the case, as so much will depend on your tutor/s, how good they are and how well you personally get on with them, like their teaching style, how that suits your learning preferences, etc, etc.

I know quite a lot of people who've done their CELTA at IH (Barcelona, Madrid and Seville, also London) and the majority seem very happy, with the odd one or two not, as is to be expected for the reasons just given.

Agree with the other posts, it's a hectic four weeks, so come expecting to do a lot of work.

as25645 · Joined: 20 Nov 2009 Posts: 10

Thank you for your help,
I was just wondering as well, how much spending money you need to do the Celta in Spain and if it is easy to get a job after you have finished the Celta course, is it possible to look whilst studying or is it to hectic?

Also accomadation varies in price depending where you go, can anyone advice if its better to find your own or go into the student halls and shared flats. I would prefer the shared fkat with other students, but it all gets pricy.

IH does seem popular but it is more expensive than other schools. Has anyone used cactus to find a Celta course.

Thanks for any tips

as25645 · Joined: 20 Nov 2009 Posts: 10

Have just found a review about cactus which does not sound good so will not bother with them. I am struggling to find any reviews about BridgeTefl though, anyone done the Celta with them?

SirKirby · Joined: 03 Oct 2007 Posts: 261 Location: Barcelona, Spain

I know people that have used Cactus (who are merely agents reselling courses) to find a CELTA course. If you look around yourself on the web, however, you should be able to find yourself one with a bit of effort.

On this Cambridge page you can search for centres:
http://cambridgeesol-centres.org/centres/teaching/index.do

I'd say it's reasonably easy to find work afterwards, with a bit of effort. No school should say it "guarantees" you work (and I'd avoid any that used that word) but you want a centre that will do whatever possible to help you find work afterwards.

It's just possible that a big well-known centre might be better in that sense (they probably get more schools sending them their vacancies). It's also just possible (I imagine) that IH is a good bet as it has so many schools world-wide (you do a CELTA at one centre, another will be prepared to offer you work).

How much spending money do you need? That depends to a considerable extent on how much you go out. In theory, that's not going to be that much as you should be working for your course, not pissing it up Very Happy

!

SirKirby · Joined: 03 Oct 2007 Posts: 261 Location: Barcelona, Spain

BridgeTEFL must also be an agent, like Cactus, reselling courses (I recognise some of the centers, though they don't actually state their names).

Personally, I'd prefer to deal straight with the centre itself.

as25645 · Joined: 20 Nov 2009 Posts: 10

Thank you so much guys. Very Happy

RabbitWho · Joined: 16 Jan 2010 Posts: 30 Location: Spain

SirKirby · Joined: 03 Oct 2007 Posts: 261 Location: Barcelona, Spain

I see from the North Mon website that RabbitWho is not actually talking about the same course.

North Mon offers the (deliberately?) confusingly named CELT course, which they say is "Awarded by ACELS (Dept of Education & Science, Ireland)", whereas the similarly named CELTA course is "awarded by Cambridge ESOL, part of the world-famous University of Cambridge" (according to their website).

The latter is far better-known and far more widely accepted as being "evidence" that you have a minimum amount of training.

The original poster was also asking about the latter.

RabbitWho · Joined: 16 Jan 2010 Posts: 30 Location: Spain

mozzar · Joined: 16 May 2009 Posts: 339 Location: France

I found with some Spanish companies that they haven't done their homework though.. I put that I'm studying for a masters in TESOL and during the interview they asked me what that was. Confused

RabbitWho · Joined: 16 Jan 2010 Posts: 30 Location: Spain

Uch, that's a little annoying in the age of Google. I think the nice thing about CELT is that someone either doesn't do their homework and assumes it's the same as CELTA, or does do their homework and finds out it's the same as CELTA.

IanN · Joined: 31 Jul 2004 Posts: 78 Location: Valencia

I would just stress on the CV what exactly the CELT is. This is the first time I have heard of it and (being honest) I just thought it was a typo.

You may find that employers do the same. Because the name is so similar I don't think people will 'do homework' as they will know 'your mistake'. The worst kind of CV from someone applying for a job as an English teacher is that with spelling & grammar errors.

Please don't take offence from what I have written as I'm not downplaying your qualifications. I just wanted to put my opinion across as an employer.