Hilal Hastaoglu » non native speaker

Since the competition is about to end (8 more days!!!), I thought it would be best to feed my diary as much as I can. Here is another CELTA graduate from ITI - Istanbul. Emek Dedeoglu took the CELTA with Gamze Uslu. Here is what she had to say about the course and the outcome of the course.

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First of all I’d like to introduce myself. My name is Emek Dedeoğlu and I’m currently working at a private school teaching kids between the ages of 7-14. I’ve heard CELTA from a friend who is working at a university. After a quick research I decided to take it in order to improve my teaching skills and apply more of the methodology I know to my practical teaching as well as getting a better job. After one week I realized that I was not aware of the content of the program I had decided to attend. It was ‘much more’ than what I had expected in many aspects. CELTA did not only help me with practical studies but also provided me with embodying my knowledge about teaching.
To me; the most challenging part of the experience was it being full time and the deadlines coming one after the other as it was an intense course. I would also admit that being observed is not something you completely feel fine with.

Most of the other teaching training courses involved in-house training or a longer term experience. Although I had been teaching for 6 years before CELTA, I thought it is better to start from the basics. I would definitely recommend the course to people who are thinking about doing the course if they really want to raise their awareness on teaching and improve their skills. I would still say that do not push yourself hard on conforming with the ‘criteria’ that you will hear of during the experience because there can be no such criteria as the tutors have different approaches and understandings; being careful about your deadlines and doing the best you can do will bring you the ultimate result but in the long run I would say it is worth taking the course. 

My teaching before and after CELTA is totally different, I never hesitate or question the time spent in my classrooms as I know what I’m doing well now, it also improved the idea of how planning a lesson works. Awareness and setting up the most effective activities in order to reach the aim of the lesson has helped me a lot. 

 Turkish students’ biggest problem (actually it is a problem for all non-native speakers of English) is that they tend to speak Turkish in the classroom; for YL it is easier to cope with; giving them awards when they speak English motivates them, for adults it is a good idea to give clear instructions and the task language clearly.
Teaching English in Turkey makes you satisfied as there are too many people who want to learn the language and they are eager no matter what their age is but honestly you do not get paid as much as you should have as an English teacher. 

To sum up; I wish luck to everybody who wants to take CELTA and build up a career in teaching. I hope you can find what you look for in life…

Best of all
Emek Dedeoğlu

After being interviewed by Katie from TEFLLogue, I thought I should interview one of the super recent CELTA graduates my self. Gamze Uslu took the CELTA at the same place I did (International Training Institute - Istanbul) right after I was done with the course.

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Introduction:  Gamze Uslu is a 25 year old Turkish girl. She is a Translation – Interpretation graduate. She describes her self as a full time translator, part time teacher and a dedicated party girl.

Conclusion: CELTA takers don’t have to be book worms! hehe 

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1. How did you hear about the CELTA? (advice? google? from a friend? etc.) 

How should I start? In fact, I was familiar with the Cambridge teacher training courses before the CELTA as I once took the ICELT when I was a fresh English Instructor (this is how they call it at universities here) at a university but quit working there only after 4 months and obviously couldn’t finish the ICELT.  It took me two years to regain my confidence and energy to go back to the idea of teaching. After I moved to Istanbul (I was in Ankara then) to work as a full-time translator for a translation company, I realized that I didn’t want to spend my next 20 years stuck in a choking translation office in front of a computer, unconsciously and continuously typing the same technical stuff. So I thought I could go back to teaching.   My teacher friends also encouraged me. Then, I went online to see what I could find. First, I found out about the TEFL and then found the Cambridge CELTA page. I applied for both of them but only got a reply from the ITI which offers the CELTA course. And my journey started….   

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2. Why did you want to take the CELTA? (qualification? higher work pay? etc.) 

In my country, I can be an English teacher without the CELTA as I have the pedagogic training certificate required by the public schools and even some teaching experience at a well-known university. However, my very first teaching experience was not exhilarating at all and this time I wanted to take firm steps. The CELTA is for beginners and this was what I needed to start all over from the beginning in order to gain my confidence back. Besides (like with everything else I do), I wanted to be as “perfect” as I could when it came to teaching. So I thought if I was going to be a teacher, I should be a good one like the one who taught me English at school and the CELTA is the mere convenient point one can start and follow on.

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3. How has the CELTA changed your “outlook” on teaching?  

The CELTA showed me how to look at the “picture” from the student’s eyes. When you know what the students “see” you know what to “show” better. 

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4. What was the most challenging part of the whole experience?

Hmmm….I remember the third week was the most difficult week (in the full-time course). I don’t know why but we were all fragile (unlike the first week when we were all cheerful and enthusiastic) trying to plan lessons (and finding them unsatisfactory), writing self-assessments (and hating the fact that you still have the same weak points since the first TP), writing reports for the observations and completing small tasks and also rushing to deliver the assignments on time, getting them back for re-submits (but what’s the problem this time?), then submit them again… “My God, where is the last copy? Can’t find it! Does anyone have the CELTA CD with them? I need the observation form again….” ….. and nervous break-downs, a girl or two crying…BUT, in the end IT ALL TURNED OUT WELL NO WORRIES! OK, the challenging part…I think you really need to dedicate yourself. It’s not something you can do easily while you look after young children, babies or ill family members who need your attention, fulfill a full-time job’s requirements, deal with an illness, move house or sort out a problematic relationship. Your mind, energy and attention should be with the course from the beginning until the end.

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5. What words of wisdom/advice would you give to people THINKING about doing the course?

Follow whatever is required by the tutors. Push aside whatever conflicting idea/method/technique/point of view/belief you may ever have. Be it an experienced teacher who thinks he is made up of what he has gained through his professional life and can’t get himself “reshaped” or a fresh teacher candidate for whom everything seems a bit of a jungle life in the classroom, the CELTA is for you if you want to be the “real” teacher who “teaches”. So, digest whatever is served, try to get the “gist” without getting lost in the details – ABSOLUTELY keep your work done day-to-day and never postpone anything as they pile up and up and up….before you notice.

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6. Was it worth the money? (Some people think twice before they can actually spend money, so yeah, I want to help them make a decision because the CELTA is not a cheap course) 

 You definitely learn. It’s for sure. You pay a good deal of money but you receive the course from the best tutors (at least this is the case at ITI

Istanbul). I’ve saved for the CELTA for months and I don’t regret it. Besides, you can earn it back easily when you become a full-time teacher

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7. Think about the time you didn’t take the CELTA and think about now. What difference can you see?

 Getting into a class is not a nightmare anymore and I now have an outline in my mind that I can use when I need to plan a lesson.

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8. What problems do Turkish students have in classrooms? Any solutions? (for example they cant say “TH”, tongue twisters may help them learn how to say “TH”)

Apart from the difficulties in pronunciation, they always try to find the Turkish equivalent of every word or grammar structure which is sometimes impossible. Once they asked me why we put “-s” when we say “two dogs” because the number (two) already gives the plural sense (and yes, in Turkish we don’t add the plural suffix to a word when it is already preceded by a quantifier). I just told them this is the way English language is spoken.

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9. What information did you try to find about the course (before you started) and couldn’t find on the internet etc.?  

 I was very anxious about my accent and fluency as I’m not a native speaker. I browsed through hundreds of online forums to learn about those with similar cases and contacted some of them and was relieved to see that they were actually OK! So, I said “if they can do it, why can’t I?

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• Did you take the CELTA or are you planning to take it?
• Are you a non-native speaker of English or is it your native language?
• Are you a student or a teacher?
• Are you working in Turkey or another country?
• Are you employed by a University? High school? Language school? etc.
• Are you unemployed because of……

It really doesn’t matter because I am inviting you all to write me about your experiences (good or bad) regarding anything that has to do with Learning or Teaching English! 

My previous entry was about Discrimination.

Have you got a new topic for me? 

If so, share your ideas by writing me comments, so we can discuss how the CELTA or similar courses overcome these issues! 

P.S. I would like to thank everyone that has sent me supportive comments throughout this journey. You guys are the source of motivation for me.

 

Today I got a very interesting comment from one of my readers. I felt like I had to write something about it so here it goes… 

Dear Hastaoglu,

How good is it for a non-native speaker of English? Despite the fact that we have a good experience and a college degree, I don’t think when it comes to teaching English, this CELTA can save us from getting discriminated on the ground of birth origin. What do you think? In fact, doing CELTA was a long-targeted thing for me and my friend, but we could not see a promising outcome for teaching in other countries. So, we consider it a waste of time and money. We might still get a good job in teaching without it in Nepal. 

Dear ****** 

Having lived in the Middle East for over 15 years as a Turkish & Canadian, I can completely understand what you are talking about. In some places of the world, they wish for you to come straight out of USA or UK to teach English. If you are not from the USA or

UK, then you can’t teach English no matter how good you are in teaching! However, I learned to overcome such discrimination with my secret guide. I will be kind enough to share, hehehe, this with you and everyone else out there that feels they are not getting what they deserve from the education sector of this big industrial world due to discrimination.

Secret Guide Number 1:

If you feel that you will be discriminated, then you will probably end up being discriminated, because every job out there looks for confidence. When you carry negative feelings, they often take away your strength. I look at many people out there and see that they come from very poor countries that have bad reputation. But when they walk with their head up and confident of every step they take, that is when they get respect. Once you have that respect, then the rest is a piece of cake. 

Conclusion: Be Confident! 

Secret Guide Number 2:

Certificates like the CELTA bring prestige to your CV. Don’t forget, quality comes from qualification. These two words are highly related…. so related that they both start with “qua” hehe. So when you have quality on your CV, then it won’t matter whether you are Indian, Chinese, Arab or whatever. 

Conclusion: Quality brings Qualification. Prestige is somewhat important.  

Secret Guide Number 3:

If you are not a native speaker of English, then you WILL need a certificate like the CELTA. Not to add qualification or prestige to who you are, but to add information into your head. What is inside the CELTA, helps you a lot. It gives you ideas, tactics, methods and everything else you need to become a good teacher. Without the CELTA you can still be a good teacher, but you will have to learn by your self; by educating your self with psychology books, teaching method books, culture books, student approach books etc. Let’s not forget that courses like the CELTA offer you this education and then have you practice until you can do it on your own. 

Example: Just like how mother birds help their baby birds fly, the CELTA educates you and then trains you so you can fly on your own when you are out there. Not to forget that the CELTA offers you a flying pit; classrooms with real students! 

Conclusion: Educate your self with courses like the CELTA or by reading many different types of books.