Korean Job Discussion Forums

[austinmc86]

Is a CELTA worth doing? How hard is the course?
I'm looking into it after I am finished in Korea. I would like to do mine in Europe. Is it hard to find employment after getting a CELTA in Europe?
It is pretty expensive, so I just wanted to know if it is worth getting... especially if it gets you jobs in Europe or maybe South America.

[T-Bone]

I haven't done the CELTA but it's something I'm seriously considering. A lot of jobs worldwide ask for it. It seems to be the gold standard for ESL.

From what I've heard, it is quite demanding. You have no relaxed time while you are doing the course. However, after one month of difficulty you have a certification that can open doors in the ESL arena world-wide.

Whether you decide to do it or not to do it depends largely on your goals. However, if you want to stay in the ESL profession for a while, it can only help you. And it really is quite affordable. You mentioned doing it in Europe. I have checked out places in SE Asia to take the course, and it is quite inexpensive there -- about 2 or 3 thousand dollars US.

This link has a list of available courses by country:

http://cambridgeesol-centres.org/centres/teaching/index.do

If you do decide to do it, make sure you are prepared to dedicate your life to the course -- and nothing else -- for a solid month. But again, it's only a month. Plow through for a month, spend a few grand -- and make yourself infinitely more marketable in this profession. I don't think you'd regret it if you want to stay in the ESL field for at least a few years.

[Swampfox10mm]

My coworker did that. We talked about it, as I considered it. He said that it is good for the new person who knows nothing. Problem is, if you are not a brit, or teaching/from the EU, it isnt worth a lot. He said he probably wouldn't do it again if he knew what he does now. I know it meant nothing when we hired him at this university. Our school wants MA grads or higher these days. Young, unmarried ones with experience. And they get them. Still amazed they keep me, actually, being older and married.

It is hard to go wrong with wanting to better your education.

You can work in the Middle East, live in a secluded house safe from people who consider you an infidel. If you don't mind such a life, then a Celta may get your foot in the door. Same with Thailand. Some ESL-types are sex freaks. If that is what you want, then a Celta would be good for that place.

It is not recognized in the USA. Canada... I don't know. Maybe just to tutor?

Korea is a weird animal. A Celta is nothing special here. Few schools know what it is or care. If you want to backpack and teach around the world, and can work in the EU, then go for it. Otherwise, I think you will have a hard time recouping your costs. The Celta is very expensive. This is a country where most online Tefl courses will do, as long as they are of a certain number of hours.

[alistaircandlin]

I did my CELTA course in Manchester, in 2004. It is very intensive and demanding. You have four written assignments, as I remember, but the main thing was that it took me ages to plan lessons. However, if you already have some experience in ESL teaching, from working in a Hagwon, you should be quicker at planning that I was then - this was my first experience of teaching. The reason I took the course was to gain a bit of confidence standing in front of a class - just to have some experience before I started.

In the long term, some of the ideas are beneficial - namely that you should keep teacher talking time to a minimum - it's surprising how many teachers talk way too much. Also, they'll talk about how you can develop communicative activities from ESL text books.

CELTA is geared towards teaching adults however, and will not prepare you for teaching children at a Hagwon, or for classroom management with big classes at a public school. When I moved from doing my CELTA to teaching young learners at a hagwon in Incheon - mostly aged 4-11 - I was not prepared for teaching. Not much of what I learned on the course was relevant. You'll gain experience teaching amiable Japanese students, motivated adults from Europe, professional people from the middle-east and Africa etc. - none of which translates to controlling four year old kids, who run around the classroom, or big classes of 40+ at a public school.

In a nutshell - it will benefit you if you teach adults, not if you teach children.

[Swampfox10mm]

[Swampfox10mm]

That's not saying an MA gives you more experience.

[repeatpete]

austinmc86, you mentioned Europe and South America, I think the Celta would help enormously. And as alistaircandlin says, the experience of having already taught means you will have less of a challenge with the actual teaching demonstrations when it comes to that part of the course. (relative to people who have limited experience of standing in front of a class.)
The essays and lesson planning will be challenging and there is a certain amount of the course asking you to 'jump through hoops' (and you will rightly question why they are asking you to do something which you will in actuality not use) but it is just a month.
Oh, by the way, don't use the analogy of jumping through hoops in front of your trainers!
Teaching kids. alistaircandlin's point is very well-taken. Whether it is helpful for teaching kids is debatable. Indeed, long ago, my plan was simply to teach for only a few more years, then get out and never look back. At that time I felt it simply wasn't the best investment. But I stayed in the industry and am glad I took it.
After your course (if you do it in May) you will easily find work in a summer camp type program (UK) which may give you post-Celta experience teaching kids. Indeed, having done it, you may be offered work at the school. You may easily find work in FE colleges (UK of course), you may decide to do the Delta (which would open up more opportunities) or you may decide to go for an MA.
Colleagues I took the Celta with; one dropped out, four got work straightaway in language schools in the UK, two got positions (ultimately) with the British Council, one got a highly desirable job in a UK university.
The Celta was just the first step.
It is difficult to fully perceive all this until you complete the course.

As regards acceptance of the Celta in the US, this is anecdotal but two Americans I worked with were confronted with the opposite problem Swampfox10mm mentioned; they found it difficult in Europe without the Celta. (Clearly the context is teaching adults in recognised schools.)

The key problem, I believe, is that the word 'English teacher' encompasses a multitude of sins; from those people asked to teach babies all the way to those University professors I envy so much. All are engaged in the business of 'teaching English' but clearly in very different contexts and involving different skillsets. Celta absolutely does not cover them all.
But then, neither does an MA.
Celta does show that your teaching is capable of meeting a very high standard under assessed conditions. And, it only takes a month. (A tough month too as TBone says.)

However, as swampfox10mm points out, not everywhere will appreciate that. But there are those who do, and they do exist in Korea, even at the Uni level. I would have to agree regarding the greater utility (regarding getting a Uni position) of an MA over the Celta though. This notwithstanding, aren't these two different animals? A one month course versus...years? But what about teaching at college level in Korea?
In terms of month long teaching courses available, and in terms of what it gives you ultimately, it's worth doing. (swampfox10mm, your point regarding sex freaks and agoraphobics wanting to teach in the Middle East completely lost me.)
Yes, a Celta without an MA is not going to get you a Uni position but it therefore might be better to compare the MA with a Delta. Not a Celta. Perhaps a discussion regarding TESOL v Celta would be more relevant?

To sum up; for a month long course it will as T-Bone says 'open doors' but as others have highlighted, it will not, on its own, give you carte blanche. And it's direct relevance for teaching kids is debatable.
Which reminds me....Once, in a job interview for a major chain, I was told that the 5 day training course (unpaid) which all new recruits had to take, would 'open more doors for me' than my Celta. His opinion.
Indeed, had I wanted to stay in such an environment he was probably right. I didn't and therefore outside of his context, he was wrong.

[northway]

It bears mentioning that it's basically a necessity for Vietnam, which is something of an emerging ESL market.

[legrande]

Helped me land a uni job here (at the time I just had a BA)

[Sneaks]

I'd say it's worth doing.

It depends on where you want to go, though. If you have any ambitions of working in South America, Europe, or a couple of places in SE Asia (Vietnam and Thailand both require a CELTA, I think) then you'll need to do the course.

I have to agree with people who say that it's a hard month. The content of the work isn't particularly difficult but there's a lot to get through. An assignment a week, along with 2/3 lessons to plan, meant that I was up late pretty much every night and barely had any time to myself until the course was finished. It's only a month, though - mine seemed to go really quickly.

Also agree that it's not particularly useful if you're going to be teaching young kids or classes of 40 students in a public school, because the whole course is geared towards teaching small groups of adults. Obviously there are lots of transferable skills but classroom management isn't something that ever really comes up.

Overall it's a worthwhile course, particularly if you don't have any teaching experience. It's very thorough and you do learn a lot. The difference between my first lesson and last lesson, in terms of quality, was pretty amazing, now I think about it.

[DejaVu]

It was alright.

It was not nearly as hard as everyone says it is. However, that is only because I figured out the secret: listen closely to what they want and do that. Don't worry about trying your hardest as long as you're following the "all-important" rubric.

[Swampfox10mm]

[DejaVu]

[edwardcatflap]

Doesn't leave much does it? Russia Ukraine Moldova?

[DejaVu]