Korean Job Discussion Forums

[kyopoopa]

For those of you that have recently completed the CELTA, which location(s) in the world would you recommend for total cost and experience?

I live in the US, so it would cost me 5.5 to 6K to complete it here (course, flights, housing, food, and local transportation). So, I'm looking at other locations, such as Thailand. The course and flight would run $2300, if I left now. What would you think food and housing with internet would run for a month? I am not looking for anything fancy, but would like the housing and food to be decent enough so that they don't hinder my completing the course.

Please reply to the post, PM me or email me at [email protected].

Thanks a bunch!

[air76]

I did mine in Phuket in 2005...the course was $1500 and a hotel for a month was $200, a nice place with a nice pool...no internet though.

Look into ILA Vietnam... www.ilavietnam.com I worked there and they had a good course, it was $1400 when I was there, so it may be more now...but for $250 you can get a decent room in a guest house where they do your laundry and everything for you.

[Forever]

Are you planning on teaching in Europe?

If not, then why do you specifically want an expensive CELTA?

I was going to do the CELTA through the British Council here in Seoul for 2,500,000won (USWD$2,220.00) until I dicovered that TESOL / TEFL is widely accepted in Asia and is much, much cheaper.

I just finished a one-month online TEFL / TESOL course (certificate) and it only cost USD$200.00. (ITTT - http://www.teflonline.net/courses/)

I saved USD$2,000.00 and the certificate is accepted in Korea and most other Asian countries and will get me a pay rise.

[Caffeinated]

I did mine in Phuket last year. Accommodations including internet cost about 400US, but cheaper rates could be had depending on location and facilities (internet, aircon, fridge, kitchen, pool etc.). The school I did mine at had a student area with internet open from 8am to 8pm, or you could go to an internet cafe. Be warned that you won't have much time for internet while doing CELTA I'd suggest you stay close to the school so you can get home quickly for naps or to meet up with other students. Prices in Vietnam for food and accommodations may be minimally cheaper, but Thailand has MUCH better beaches, curries and massages.

[air76]

[Forever]

[crossmr]

[azzwell]

And if you ever wanted to leave sunny Korea your online certificate would not be worth the paper it's printed on.

[Forever]

[air76]

[Scott in Incheon]

The thing about qualifications is that you should get what you need to reach your goals.

If you plan to teach TESL back in Canada, you might need to get recognize by TESOL Canada or a provincial body. CELTA's don't cut it with TESOL Ontario. You need to take a course recognize by that body.

CELTA's don't get you international school jobs....or into the HK NET program...you need a B'Ed for that. You can also get qualified in TESOL under your B'Ed.

You want to be a great teacher...get a Grad Dip in TESOL....

You want a pay raise, get the least expensive qualification recognized by the Korean government.

You want into a good university and you need a Master's. Our university didn't even look at people without a Master's this year and those you got an interview all had one related to language learning.

You want to be in this field for the long term...get as many pieces of paper on the wall as you can...every one opens a door for you and you don't want to miss out a job because you are missing a piece of paper.

[air76]

There is no question that a BA in Education or a Masters in TESOL are going to open a great many more doors in the EFL field than a CELTA....but you can't really compare the two.

A CELTA costs less than $2,000, takes 1 month, and can be done easily between jobs or during vacation time, it is the best bet for someone who wants to teach for a few years and be able to advance and be good at their job......a BA in Education (if you've already got a BA in a different field) would be extraordinarily expensive and time consuming and something you would only do if you'd already taught for 4-5 years and were 100% sure that you wanted to work at international schools for a long time. The same goes for a Masters degree...an MA would costs somewhere between $10,000 to $20,000 or more, depending on whether or not you did it online or not and what school you went through. While I am not arguing against the benefits of an MA to a long-term teacher, if you're going to teach for a total of 4-5 years and move on to a different field then this is one hell of an investment, both financially and time wise.

I think that a lot of the career EFL-ers go on and on about how you need to get an MA if you want to be taken seriously and whatnot, but they are quite out of touch with the fact that most teachers will teach for 4-5 years max and are not looking to make a life-long career out of this....after a year of teaching it is a good idea to get a CELTA. This training will provide you with the basic tools to be better at your job and move up a bit....but I think that it is important to teach for a couple more years before deciding 100% to get an MA.

If you get a CELTA and then decide a couple years down the road that you could see yourself teaching English for another 10 years, then sure, go get an MA and go for the top jobs....but I don't think that it's necessarily worth the investment in both time and money if you aren't planning on making a long-term career out of EFL.

[The Gipkik]

I think some of the arguments against doing a CELTA here are pretty solid. If you're only planning on teaching for a year or two in Korea, you don't need the CELTA. It's completely unnecessary in public schools and in most hogwans. If the pay raise requirements deem an online TESOL certificate as equivalent to a CELTA, then do that. It's enough. Most teachers here don't have the teacher independence to fully realize what the CELTA offers anyways. In terms of teacher quality, it won't make much difference. So many teachers here are over controlled and handled by their schools or the straitened curriculum that it's an unnecessary qualification. Not to mention that the CELTA focuses on adult learners and not children or teenagers...

In fact, having a CELTA will just peeve you off when watching the incompetent boobs that you have to either observe or coteach with. It's a win-win situation. Save money and avoid stress.

[Hawkeye Pierce]

[edwardcatflap]

Right! The CELTA is for teaching English to adults. (The Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults)

1.If you are not teaching adults, or planning to teach adults, the CELTA is not advisable. The CELTYL, (the Certificate in English Language Teaching to Young Learners), may be more appropriate in such cases.
Yes, true
2.CELTA is from Cambridge in the U.K. It is a more British approach to the language, i.e., it focuses on British grammar, usage of perfect tenses, teaches that �will� is a present tense modal verb, etc. If you are expected to teach American English, as in Korea, it is not very useful. (It is , however, preferred in Europe.)
Surely there is not enough difference between US and British English to say that teacher training through one or the other forms of English is �not very useful.� And in fact the majority of people who do the CELTA in Korea are from Canada or the US. I�m intrigued by your reference to �will�, however, could you give us an example?
3.The instructors are not always native English speakers. My CELTA class had one native speaker and one non-native speaker teaching. The non-native speaker had a DELTA, but she was confused about the difference between �may� and �can�. We tried to explain that in the U.S., the traditional difference between the two is still taught in schools, especially when needing to go to the lavatory, but she remained confused despite our best efforts to explain the matter.

This is very unusual, did you do it in Thailand or somewhere? Anyway if that was the only �mistake� your tutor made during the course it�s pretty good going. We�re all human and none of us know everything about our language
4.The CELTA method preaches pair work activities and group learning using the target language. Unfortunately, this method fails when students revert to their native language to communicate with each other in the groups. I have frequently seen such methodology employed in Korean schools and it fails completely because the kids are all talking in Korean. In such cases, it is a complete waste of time.
Yes of course this method fails when kids revert to Korean, but just because it�s difficult to achieve doesn�t mean it can�t be done. I�ve done successful pair and group work with classes of 40. It does require a bit of learner training, good discipline and careful planning.
5.The communicative method employed requires that the students are comfortable making mistakes and being corrected in front of other students. This methodology doesn't work well in the face saving Korean culture where students fear making mistakes. In fact, it can be quite awkward to use it in Korea.
If you�re talking about kids, no kid anywhere likes to make mistakes and be corrected in front of their peers but doesn�t that happen in a teacher centred class room as well? That�s life. If you�re talking about adults, I haven�t found this to be true at all.
If you are not planning to teach British English to adults, save your money and get a cheaper certificate. After a few years of teaching experience, most employers won't much care what teaching certificate you have.
Not true. A lot of countries won�t look at anyone without a CELTA (or equivalent) no matter how much experience you have. Of course if you want to stay in Korea, you can get by with an online cert until you decide to go for a university when you�ll probably need an MA.