The CELTA course
Don't forget that this is an intensive, month-long course, or that the workload can/will take over your life for the duration. Stress piles up, assignments need re-submitting, deadlines are short, and there's an ever-present worry that you could fail on just the homework let alone all the other angles.
That said, the fails from my course were more about personality traits the trainers didn't like.
One guy lost his rag when a trainer stepped in to take over his class - she gave an instant fail for an anger management problem. She'd seen his short temper and exposed it.
One couldn't meet the work schedule, but had time to get out-and-about and see Phuket of a weekend... beer-based fail. Nice site for a school / studying / doing your CELTA, but there's not much to do there if you're a night owl.
Can't remember everything about the other one, but it was something to do with an Indian guy mistakenly putting his laundry in the waste-paper basket, then cutting loose when his "branded" jeans and shirts disappeared, iirc.
Keep your head together with the stress of the workload, listen to the feedback from trainers and show definite improvement re what they've said, and you'll be alright.
That said, the fails from my course were more about personality traits the trainers didn't like.
One guy lost his rag when a trainer stepped in to take over his class - she gave an instant fail for an anger management problem. She'd seen his short temper and exposed it.
One couldn't meet the work schedule, but had time to get out-and-about and see Phuket of a weekend... beer-based fail. Nice site for a school / studying / doing your CELTA, but there's not much to do there if you're a night owl.
Can't remember everything about the other one, but it was something to do with an Indian guy mistakenly putting his laundry in the waste-paper basket, then cutting loose when his "branded" jeans and shirts disappeared, iirc.
Keep your head together with the stress of the workload, listen to the feedback from trainers and show definite improvement re what they've said, and you'll be alright.
You are right about that.Chuangt2u wrote: That said, the fails from my course were more about personality traits the trainers didn't like.
One guy lost his rag when a trainer stepped in to take over his class - she gave an instant fail for an anger management problem. She'd seen his sho.
Let me share to you what happened to me during my CELTA course. One of my trainers don't like me for reasons I cannot fathom. I cannot remember the said trainer saying positive feedback about my teaching practice. Several of my classmates even approached me after feedback session and told me that the said trainer was hitting me below-the-belt. I told them that it doesn't bother me because I know myself. I've been a teacher for 27 years in four different countries and I received several teaching awards from my schools. Besides, I just don't want to win the battle. I want to win the war. If I had confronted my trainer and fight back, I would have failed the course.
End result? I got my CELTA and didn't waste my registration fee of 1,700usd. Moreover, my trainers acknowledged the fact that I didn't wage a war with them. Please see the comments of my trainers in my report card.
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tonghan, I sympathise.
I learned quickly at university that the phrase 'You can think what you like' actually means 'You can think what you like as long as it's what they like'.
I learned quickly at university that the phrase 'You can think what you like' actually means 'You can think what you like as long as it's what they like'.
ירי ילדים והפצצת אזרחים דורש אומץ, כמו גם הטרדה מינית של עובדי ההוראה.
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Your English is horrible and I am far from a grammar nazi.tonghan wrote:You are right about that.Chuangt2u wrote: That said, the fails from my course were more about personality traits the trainers didn't like.
One guy lost his rag when a trainer stepped in to take over his class - she gave an instant fail for an anger management problem. She'd seen his sho.
Let me share to you what happened to me during my CELTA course. One of my trainers don't like me for reasons I cannot fathom. I cannot remember the said trainer saying positive feedback about my teaching practice. Several of my classmates even approached me after feedback session and told me that the said trainer was hitting me below-the-belt. I told them that it doesn't bother me because I know myself. I've been a teacher for 27 years in four different countries and I received several teaching awards from my schools. Besides, I just don't want to win the battle. I want to win the war. If I had confronted my trainer and fight back, I would have failed the course.
End result? I got my CELTA and didn't waste my registration fee of 1,700usd. Moreover, my trainers acknowledged the fact that I didn't wage a war with them. Please see the comments of my trainers in my report card.
Anyone who doesn't like Capitalism is a pathetic loser. God bless the USA and no place else.
I am a bit confused. Two nights ago I was reading about Celta courses when I came across a forum for people who had done It. Almostinvariably the comments were negative, not because of the workload, although that was mentioned of course but how little real life value the course had. Few mentioned about spending 4 hours on spent on lesson plan, an unrealistic task if you teach full time. I can understand the value as an exercise but it doesn't prepare you for the real world. Surely that is the purpose for the course, not the theory? In teacher training the students must learn how to speed up the writing but surely in a sort course like Celta the trainers sould give you some pointers? The other complaint was about teaching methods, of how they are old fashioned, based on outdated educational theories and that they are too inflexible. I cannot comment because I don't know what they're talking about. Unfortunately I cannot even find the URL now.
I looked at the possibility if doing Celta in England. One website promises 100% passrate. How that be? Is it because they test the prospctive students twice, first one a pdf gou sent with an application form and another one during the interview: the people who pass the interview cannot fail at least on language theory...
Well, I thought about applying for course in Thailand oar Vietnam becausethe dates in England are not going to work out, but is there any different difference in which country Celta was gained?
I looked at the possibility if doing Celta in England. One website promises 100% passrate. How that be? Is it because they test the prospctive students twice, first one a pdf gou sent with an application form and another one during the interview: the people who pass the interview cannot fail at least on language theory...
Well, I thought about applying for course in Thailand oar Vietnam becausethe dates in England are not going to work out, but is there any different difference in which country Celta was gained?
I think you need to do more research, a lot more research! If the centre offering CELTA isn't found here http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/find-a- ... ng-centre/ then it's not CELTA period. Even if you fly to Thailand and take the course for a few hundred quid less it's still ~ £1k. Personally i would rate it as a good introduction to teaching, you need the experience post course to try and become a good teacher
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I think there are one or two posters here who have hit the proverbial nail. Let's be honest, schools/institutions that provide the CELTA are sitting on a huge money-spinner. However, to 'prove' to Cambridge that they are 'serious', some love it when they can fail a candidate for whatever reason. The poster who mentioned the Icelandic lady hit on an interesting point - that lady should not have been admitted onto the course in the first place. The pre-course admission tasks should have picked out her unsuitability.
I reckon it doesmatter where you do the CELTA. Admittedly, it shouldn't, as it is supposed to be regulated, but the further away from HQ the institute, the more lax/flexible the regulation is likely to be.* There are numerous providers in Asia whose standards are somewhat questionable imho. But CELS (it keeps changing its name - CESOL was the previous incarnation) relies on regional regulators/assessors to report their findings back to HQ. *Having said that, there were some distinctly dodgy course providers in the UK in the past, but most of them (a certain former course provider in East Sussex springs to mind) have now been weeded out. Some poor quality institutions do still slip through the regulatory net, though. Considering it's a huge International industry, they manage quite well, I reckon. Just a few thoughts.
I reckon it doesmatter where you do the CELTA. Admittedly, it shouldn't, as it is supposed to be regulated, but the further away from HQ the institute, the more lax/flexible the regulation is likely to be.* There are numerous providers in Asia whose standards are somewhat questionable imho. But CELS (it keeps changing its name - CESOL was the previous incarnation) relies on regional regulators/assessors to report their findings back to HQ. *Having said that, there were some distinctly dodgy course providers in the UK in the past, but most of them (a certain former course provider in East Sussex springs to mind) have now been weeded out. Some poor quality institutions do still slip through the regulatory net, though. Considering it's a huge International industry, they manage quite well, I reckon. Just a few thoughts.
Don't grow up - it's a trick!
I can only speak for the centre i attended which took standards and quality very seriously.Only one person failed and from seeing his failed assignments/assessed teaching practices it was completely justified. Towards the end of the course it wasn't unusual to see tutors spending hours after a class answering questions about lesson plans. They were very professional and wanted people to pass. Bit pedantic i know, but you said "some" so how many CELTA courses/centres have you attended?KL'sFolly wrote: However, to 'prove' to Cambridge that they are 'serious', some love it when they can fail a candidate for whatever reason.
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Early in my career, I taught English at three different centres that also did the Cambridge CELTA, though in those days, it was known as the RSA/Cambridge CTEFLA – one in Brazil (1991), one in Cambridge (1994) and one in East Sussex (1996). In each case, the DOS was thrilled to bits when the schools were able to fail a student on the teacher training courses as it meant they would receive approval from HQ in Hills Road, Cambridge – you know, a couple of boxes ticked, despite the fact that the weak applicants should have been sifted out after the pre-course tasks!ziggy1001 wrote:Bit pedantic i know, but you said "some" so how many CELTA courses/centres have you attended?KL'sFolly wrote: However, to 'prove' to Cambridge that they are 'serious', some love it when they can fail a candidate for whatever reason.
The school in Brazil later lost its Cambridge accreditation thanks to the diligence of the excellent Cultura Inglesa – the best (imho) EFL chain in Brazil.
As I said, I think they manage pretty well, but it is difficult to keep track of all the worldwide centres.
Don't grow up - it's a trick!
Thanks for an informed opinion. Very sad to hear someone is happy about such a pointless waste of time and money.
CELTA is very tick boxy!
CELTA is very tick boxy!
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Is the process of becoming a CELTA center regulated and then nothing? For example, does Cambridge or whoever send out inspectors and quality control people to all of the different CELTA/DETLA Training centers around the world. I could see CELTA Training of Bangkok, Thailand being a bit different in terms of regulations enforced when compared to London, England. KL'sFolly does point out that there were allegedly some bad CELTA centers in England. There is dodgy shit going on all over the world is how you have to look it everything these days, I s'pose.KL'sFolly wrote:I think there are one or two posters here who have hit the proverbial nail. Let's be honest, schools/institutions that provide the CELTA are sitting on a huge money-spinner. However, to 'prove' to Cambridge that they are 'serious', some love it when they can fail a candidate for whatever reason. The poster who mentioned the Icelandic lady hit on an interesting point - that lady should not have been admitted onto the course in the first place. The pre-course admission tasks should have picked out her unsuitability.
I reckon it doesmatter where you do the CELTA. Admittedly, it shouldn't, as it is supposed to be regulated, but the further away from HQ the institute, the more lax/flexible the regulation is likely to be.* There are numerous providers in Asia whose standards are somewhat questionable imho. But CELS (it keeps changing its name - CESOL was the previous incarnation) relies on regional regulators/assessors to report their findings back to HQ. *Having said that, there were some distinctly dodgy course providers in the UK in the past, but most of them (a certain former course provider in East Sussex springs to mind) have now been weeded out. Some poor quality institutions do still slip through the regulatory net, though. Considering it's a huge International industry, they manage quite well, I reckon. Just a few thoughts.
Anyone who doesn't like Capitalism is a pathetic loser. God bless the USA and no place else.
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There are External Cambridge ESOL Assessors around the world who fly over towards the end of each course. They go through the submitted work, speak to the trainers, the trainees, and observe a couple of lessons to check that things are in order. Obviously, this info would be fed back to Cambridge HQ and, while there are centres which will occasionally slip through the net, the aim is that standards remain the same, regardless of their location.DetroitMuscle wrote:Is the process of becoming a CELTA center regulated and then nothing? For example, does Cambridge or whoever send out inspectors and quality control people to all of the different CELTA/DETLA Training centers around the world. I could see CELTA Training of Bangkok, Thailand being a bit different in terms of regulations enforced when compared to London, England. KL'sFolly does point out that there were allegedly some bad CELTA centers in England. There is dodgy shit going on all over the world is how you have to look it everything these days, I s'pose.KL'sFolly wrote:I think there are one or two posters here who have hit the proverbial nail. Let's be honest, schools/institutions that provide the CELTA are sitting on a huge money-spinner. However, to 'prove' to Cambridge that they are 'serious', some love it when they can fail a candidate for whatever reason. The poster who mentioned the Icelandic lady hit on an interesting point - that lady should not have been admitted onto the course in the first place. The pre-course admission tasks should have picked out her unsuitability.
I reckon it doesmatter where you do the CELTA. Admittedly, it shouldn't, as it is supposed to be regulated, but the further away from HQ the institute, the more lax/flexible the regulation is likely to be.* There are numerous providers in Asia whose standards are somewhat questionable imho. But CELS (it keeps changing its name - CESOL was the previous incarnation) relies on regional regulators/assessors to report their findings back to HQ. *Having said that, there were some distinctly dodgy course providers in the UK in the past, but most of them (a certain former course provider in East Sussex springs to mind) have now been weeded out. Some poor quality institutions do still slip through the regulatory net, though. Considering it's a huge International industry, they manage quite well, I reckon. Just a few thoughts.
Becoming a CELTA trainer: https://www.teachers.cambridgeesol.org/ ... ngatrainer
Thiserictheking wrote:There are External Cambridge ESOL Assessors around the world who fly over towards the end of each course. They go through the submitted work, speak to the trainers, the trainees, and observe a couple of lessons to check that things are in order. Obviously, this info would be fed back to Cambridge HQ and, while there are centres which will occasionally slip through the net, the aim is that standards remain the same, regardless of their location.