What is the CELTA?
Good question. I’ve been asked it a few times since telling people that that’s what I’m doing. CELTA stands for Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults. It’s organised and accredited by Cambridge ESOL, which is part of Cambridge University, and it is partly due to this that the course is recognised worldwide as a benchmark for ESL training.
It’s not necessary to have done any teaching before taking the course. Neither is it restricted to native English speakers, although there is a tough pre-course test where you need to demonstrate awareness of how English works. Another reason that CELTA is requested by certain employers, is the certainty they get that the trainee will have had around 6 hours of observed teaching practice. I think this is really useful if you haven’t taught before. It can be nerve wracking stepping into a classroom for your first lesson but if you’ve had a chance to practice and get critique and feedback during your training the more confident you’ll be on your first day. I’m really hoping that the experience I’ve had teaching in Korea will give me something to work from – pick up on any bad habits I’ve developed or reinforce things I do that work well.
The other great thing about CELTA is that, even though is it a Cambridge course, you don’t have to be in the UK to do it! It can’t be done by distance learning (as some TEFL courses can) because of the practical aspect to it, but if a school overseas is accredited as a CELTA centre you can take the course there.
A great place to start looking, if you are interested in taking the CELTA is http://www.cactustefl.com
They don’t run the courses themselves, rather they act more like an agent: you submit your application through them. There is a good search facility on their website where you can narrow down your search, by course type, country, city etc,. They don’t offer every CELTA course so if your preferred city isn’t listed it doesn’t mean they don’t run a course there.
You can get information straight from the horses mouth here: http://www.cambridgeesol.org/exams/teaching-awards/celta.html
