TEFL/CELTA/CELT answers...

madmoe

griffdaddy wrote: »

Anyone looking to do some short term, small scale tefl work around South Dublin for the Summer, drop me a pm. There's a few positions going.

Mods I hope you don't have a problem with this.

Hey mate, I am wondering could you advise as to where you think the best place to do the TEFL is at the moment in Dublin? I'm looking to start I guess in September time, I have a degree already and have a lot of experience teaching the JEB and IT to adults.

All the best,
M

SeantheMan

madmoe wrote: »

Hey mate, I am wondering could you advise as to where you think the best place to do the TEFL is at the moment in Dublin? I'm looking to start I guess in September time, I have a degree already and have a lot of experience teaching the JEB and IT to adults.

All the best,
M

I did the CELT in CES (Dame St )
I can't recommend it highly enough, it was absolutely excellent.

CELT is the only qualification that lets you teach English in Ireland as a foreign language (recognised by the government)

Costs about €1065 or something for a 5 week course, 9-5 everyday (the last week is a prep week)

There is one starting on Sept 9th

http://www.ces-schools.com/dublin/08018/celt-tefl-course

madmoe

SeantheMan wrote: »

I did the CELT in CES (Dame St )
I can't recommend it highly enough, it was absolutely excellent.

CELT is the only qualification that lets you teach English in Ireland as a foreign language (recognised by the government)

Costs about €1065 or something for a 5 week course, 9-5 everyday (the last week is a prep week)

There is one starting on Sept 9th

http://www.ces-schools.com/dublin/08018/celt-tefl-course

Thanks a million for outlining that, much appreciated! Can you tell me what the difference is between CELT and CELTA as I see the two mentioned loads?

Also, were the college able to assist with getting work experience after as I would hate to get the qualification and not use it right away.

All the best,
Mark

PS: Do they offer part time courses as I would not be able to do it full time.

SeantheMan

madmoe wrote: »

Thanks a million for outlining that, much appreciated! Can you tell me what the difference is between CELT and CELTA as I see the two mentioned loads?

Also, were the college able to assist with getting work experience after as I would hate to get the qualification and not use it right away.

All the best,
Mark

PS: Do they offer part time courses as I would not be able to do it full time.

Honestly, your best bet would be to ask them if they do part-time courses, as I'm not too sure. A quick phone call should let you know.

With regards to the other questions, CELT and CELTA are pretty much the same, except CELTA is awarded by an English body as opposed to an Irish one. Both CELT and CELTA are recognised by the Irish and English governments

The college were able to assist with jobs yes. My course had 15 people on it, and we finished in April. There is an influx of foreign students in the Summer. 4 of the people on my course are currently teaching in the school there now, I don't know if it's just Summer work or if they'll be kept on, I guess it depends on individuals etc.
I am currently in Korea teaching after getting the qualification.

If you really want to do it, then go for it, I wanted to teach, so I quit my job and dedicated myself to the course. Gave the 5 weeks the best I could and then was able to apply for jobs around the world after it (I wanted to work in Korea and luckily enough got a job)

forfuxsake

The Celt ain't the only one that allows you to teach in Ireland. Both the Celta and the Trinity Cert are acceptable. The advantage of the Celta over the Celt is that it enjoys much greater global recognition. Most schools will be happy to accept the Celt once it has been explained to them that it is recognised by the Irish government. With the Celta you don't have to explain but you have to pay more.

madmoe

forfuxsake wrote: »

The Celt ain't the only one that allows you to teach in Ireland. Both the Celta and the Trinity Cert are acceptable. The advantage of the Celta over the Celt is that it enjoys much greater global recognition. Most schools will be happy to accept the Celt once it has been explained to them that it is recognised by the Irish government. With the Celta you don't have to explain but you have to pay more.

Thanks for that! I think I will probably just go and get the CELTA as I'm planning on using it abroad and the better it's recognized overseas the better chance I'll have.

Thanks,
M

radiospan

I'm looking for a TEFL course in Cork. Is i-to-i the only option? I see they have a course in August and September. Are there any alternatives?

I've contacted Cork Language Centre, it seems their only TEFL course is for state qualified secondary school teachers.

Tramps Like Us

Lads I'm looking to teach in China for a year or two, I have a university degree so I'll satisfy the Visa requirements, is it worth my while doing one of those 140 hour online tefl courses? It seems being a native speaker is enough to get a job by itself.

Some are very cheap, with special offers and such. I'm just looking for a bit of an extra string to my bow and a bit of an idea of what I should be at when trying to teach english, how to structure things etc (I have some experience tutoring from college so I'm not entirely new to teaching). More of a confidence boost type thing.

What you think? Will I get something out of it?

ViveLaVie

Tramps Like Us wrote: »

Lads I'm looking to teach in China for a year or two, I have a university degree so I'll satisfy the Visa requirements, is it worth my while doing one of those 140 hour online tefl courses? It seems being a native speaker is enough to get a job by itself.

Some are very cheap, with special offers and such. I'm just looking for a bit of an extra string to my bow and a bit of an idea of what I should be at when trying to teach english, how to structure things etc (I have some experience tutoring from college so I'm not entirely new to teaching). More of a confidence boost type thing.

What you think? Will I get something out of it?

I would say no. Those courses are useless.

Tramps Like Us

ViveLaVie wrote: »

I would say no. Those courses are useless.

So should I fork up the 1200 or whatever it is for the CELTA course? Will that help me get a better position in China?

I'm just wary of ending up as a teacher with no idea of what to do... few people have said to me not to worry you'll work something out, its not hard to do over there, but I don't like winging things unless absolutely necessary. But to save 1200 euro.. maybe lol

What would you recommend?

SeantheMan

Tramps Like Us wrote: »

So should I fork up the 1200 or whatever it is for the CELTA course? Will that help me get a better position in China?

I'm just wary of ending up as a teacher with no idea of what to do... few people have said to me not to worry you'll work something out, its not hard to do over there, but I don't like winging things unless absolutely necessary. But to save 1200 euro.. maybe lol

What would you recommend?

CELT is brilliant. Easily one of the best things I've ever done.
Well worth the money

Tramps Like Us

SeantheMan wrote: »

CELT is brilliant. Easily one of the best things I've ever done.
Well worth the money

I'm leaning towards doing one, with one of them I can go pretty much anywhere to teach. Do you know of any good places in Dublin to do it? Cheaper the better tbh. Thanks.

SeantheMan

Tramps Like Us wrote: »

I'm leaning towards doing one, with one of them I can go pretty much anywhere to teach. Do you know of any good places in Dublin to do it? Cheaper the better tbh. Thanks.

I did mine here

http://www.ces-schools.com/dublin/08018/celt-tefl-course

It's directly across from Central Bank

Tramps Like Us

SeantheMan wrote: »

I did mine here

http://www.ces-schools.com/dublin/08018/celt-tefl-course

It's directly across from Central Bank

Cheers, looking like I'll do that, tyvm. Might as well do it proper.

Only thing is I'm a bit confused about the degree requirement. I'm currently sitting exams which I deferred from xmas because of Illness (these are final exams). It says on that site that if I don't have a degree I have to sign a waver saying that I wont seek employment in Ireland, does that mean I get a different certificate? It shouldnt be an issue as I should graduate in a couple of months but there is always a possibility I might have to repeat a module (god forbid) so if I have to that I wont graduate until well after I have done the CELT course.

Basically why I am asking is if I get my degree AFTER doing the CELT course can I teach in Ireland, do I have to reapply for a variant of the CELT cert or anything? Just trying to get all the bases covered.

SeantheMan

Tramps Like Us wrote: »

Cheers, looking like I'll do that, tyvm. Might as well do it proper.

Only thing is I'm a bit confused about the degree requirement. I'm currently sitting exams which I deferred from xmas because of Illness (these are final exams). It says on that site that if I don't have a degree I have to sign a waver saying that I wont seek employment in Ireland, does that mean I get a different certificate? It shouldnt be an issue as I should graduate in a couple of months but there is always a possibility I might have to repeat a module (god forbid) so if I have to that I wont graduate until well after I have done the CELT course.

Basically why I am asking is if I get my degree AFTER doing the CELT course can I teach in Ireland, do I have to reapply for a variant of the CELT cert or anything? Just trying to get all the bases covered.

I would just ring them up. They're very informative and helpful.
I can't answer your questions with 100% certainty, and there's no use in me guessing for you. Give them a call and ask, if you explain that you are sitting exams and will be awaiting certification it shouldn't be a problem.

I say this because after you complete the CELT, it takes up to 8 weeks for your certificate to be sent out, but they encourage you to apply for jobs and issue you a letter confirming "awaiting certification" and even hire people before their certs arrive. So I'm sure they'd understand

Tramps Like Us

SeantheMan wrote: »

I would just ring them up. They're very informative and helpful.
I can't answer your questions with 100% certainty, and there's no use in me guessing for you. Give them a call and ask, if you explain that you are sitting exams and will be awaiting certification it shouldn't be a problem.

I say this because after you complete the CELT, it takes up to 8 weeks for your certificate to be sent out, but they encourage you to apply for jobs and issue you a letter confirming "awaiting certification" and even hire people before their certs arrive. So I'm sure they'd understand

Cheers, I sent them an email a few mins ago to get an application form, I asked those questions too so hopefully I will hear back soon.

Getting excited now

ViveLaVie

Tramps Like Us wrote: »

So should I fork up the 1200 or whatever it is for the CELTA course? Will that help me get a better position in China?

I'm just wary of ending up as a teacher with no idea of what to do... few people have said to me not to worry you'll work something out, its not hard to do over there, but I don't like winging things unless absolutely necessary. But to save 1200 euro.. maybe lol

What would you recommend?

I can't say for certain if it would improve your pay in China but in general the CELTA gets you better pay and more likelihood of getting a job. It's an excellent course and well worth it, in my opinion. It gives you a great foundation on which to start teaching. I'd recommend the CELTA above CELT simply because it's more recognised internationally. Also, you'll get the same certificate as everyone else but you won't be able to apply for certain jobs until you get your degree.

Tramps Like Us

ViveLaVie wrote: »

I can't say for certain if it would improve your pay in China but in general the CELTA gets you better pay and more likelihood of getting a job. It's an excellent course and well worth it, in my opinion. It gives you a great foundation on which to start teaching. I'd recommend the CELTA above CELT simply because it's more recognised internationally. Also, you'll get the same certificate as everyone else but you won't be able to apply for certain jobs until you get your degree.

I would do the CELTA but I honestly can't afford it, the 1000 will be a struggle, I'll have to borrow some of it from family members, which I hate doing. 1500 or so, just doesn't seem worth it to me, especially considering people regularly get jobs in China with no TEFL of any description whatsoever.

The lady from CES replied already (!? fair play I say!) and yes, everyone gets the same cert, and the waiver becomes null and void once you get a degree.

SeantheMan

I'm just looking for a bit of an extra string to my bow and a bit of an idea of what I should be at when trying to teach english, how to structure things etc (I have some experience tutoring from college so I'm not entirely new to teaching). More of a confidence boost type thing.

Reason you asked for CELT was the above.
It's up to yourself.

If you're near guaranteed a job you'll be able to pay the loan etc back in no time.
But, everyone's different

playedalive

Tramps Like Us wrote: »

Cheers, looking like I'll do that, tyvm. Might as well do it proper.

Only thing is I'm a bit confused about the degree requirement. I'm currently sitting exams which I deferred from xmas because of Illness (these are final exams). It says on that site that if I don't have a degree I have to sign a waver saying that I wont seek employment in Ireland, does that mean I get a different certificate? It shouldnt be an issue as I should graduate in a couple of months but there is always a possibility I might have to repeat a module (god forbid) so if I have to that I wont graduate until well after I have done the CELT course.

Basically why I am asking is if I get my degree AFTER doing the CELT course can I teach in Ireland, do I have to reapply for a variant of the CELT cert or anything? Just trying to get all the bases covered.

I did my CELT course in the Dublin School of English last month and I was told that the degree is only required if you want to teach in Ireland (in an ACELS Government recognised language school). Otherwise, you get the same diploma as everybody else.

I asked them before starting and they told me that it's up to the school to ask you for degree transcript/CELT certificate.

madmoe

ViveLaVie wrote: »

I can't say for certain if it would improve your pay in China but in general the CELTA gets you better pay and more likelihood of getting a job. It's an excellent course and well worth it, in my opinion. It gives you a great foundation on which to start teaching. I'd recommend the CELTA above CELT simply because it's more recognised internationally. Also, you'll get the same certificate as everyone else but you won't be able to apply for certain jobs until you get your degree.

If I'm gonna pay for the CELT I may as well go the whole hog and pay for\do a CELTA......the thing is all the places I found so far in Dublin offering a course part time are only offering the CELT and not the CELTA :-(

Cheers,
M

SpaceTime

playedalive wrote: »

I did my CELT course in the Dublin School of English last month and I was told that the degree is only required if you want to teach in Ireland (in an ACELS Government recognised language school). Otherwise, you get the same diploma as everybody else.

I asked them before starting and they told me that it's up to the school to ask you for degree transcript/CELT certificate.

You'd really want to check the requirements of the country you plan to teach in. There's no general rule for "Ireland" and "everywhere else".

A lot of countries require a bachelors degree and CELTA or something similar.
I know certain Asian countries will not grant a visa to someone planning on teaching English without a degree.

It depends on the rules in that country and it also depends on what the language school is looking for.

In France, it seems quite normal that they'd also expect you to have a BA in English or Communication or something similar as well as a teaching qualification. Again, it depends on the school, but it can be quite a tough market especially in Northern Europe.

CELTA is much more widely recognised than anything else because it's a Cambridge qualification.

I know a few people who've found language schools looking a little confused when presented with CELT.

Tramps Like Us

For China you need a BA for the via, unless you wanna work illegally.

SpaceTime

Also remember that if you've any technical or business qualifications they can be a major bonus for landing a Business or Technical English teaching job with CELTA added on.

It can be a nice way of getting some experience abroad / brushing up languages while earning some money if you've a B.Comm, B.Sc in Computer Science or science in general etc etc.

I ended up finding a teaching job in a Spanish bank at one stage (business background) and it was quite well paid and a there was very nice atmosphere, excellent hours, really friendly students etc etc.

They wanted someone who could deal with specific language for business. So, there were a lot of situations where I had to tailor classes to the exact needs of particular staff. That meant needing to understand the banking system and all the business and economic terminology they were likely to encounter.

Tramps Like Us

SpaceTime wrote: »

Also remember that if you've any technical or business qualifications they can be a major bonus for landing a Business or Technical English teaching job with CELTA added on.

It can be a nice way of getting some experience abroad / brushing up languages while earning some money if you've a B.Comm, B.Sc in Computer Science or science in general etc etc.

I ended up finding a teaching job in a Spanish bank at one stage (business background) and it was quite well paid and a there was very nice atmosphere, excellent hours, really friendly students etc etc.

They wanted someone who could deal with specific language for business. So, there were a lot of situations where I had to tailor classes to the exact needs of particular staff. That meant needing to understand the banking system and all the business and economic terminology they were likely to encounter.

I'll have a law degree, any use you reckon?

Tramps Like Us

madmoe wrote: »

If I'm gonna pay for the CELT I may as well go the whole hog and pay for\do a CELTA......the thing is all the places I found so far in Dublin offering a course part time are only offering the CELT and not the CELTA :-(

Cheers,
M

They are the same thing really, you might just have to explain about the CELT if they haven't heard about it

madmoe

SpaceTime wrote: »

You'd really want to check the requirements of the country you plan to teach in. There's no general rule for "Ireland" and "everywhere else".

A lot of countries require a bachelors degree and CELTA or something similar.
I know certain Asian countries will not grant a visa to someone planning on teaching English without a degree.

It depends on the rules in that country and it also depends on what the language school is looking for.

In France, it seems quite normal that they'd also expect you to have a BA in English or Communication or something similar as well as a teaching qualification. Again, it depends on the school, but it can be quite a tough market especially in Northern Europe.

CELTA is much more widely recognised than anything else because it's a Cambridge qualification.

I know a few people who've found language schools looking a little confused when presented with CELT.

That's it!! I'm definitely NOT doing the CELT.......if I'm gonna spend a grand or more on this it needs to be the most widely recognised one!

Cheers mate,
M

madmoe

SpaceTime wrote: »

Also remember that if you've any technical or business qualifications they can be a major bonus for landing a Business or Technical English teaching job with CELTA added on.

It can be a nice way of getting some experience abroad / brushing up languages while earning some money if you've a B.Comm, B.Sc in Computer Science or science in general etc etc.

I ended up finding a teaching job in a Spanish bank at one stage (business background) and it was quite well paid and a there was very nice atmosphere, excellent hours, really friendly students etc etc.

They wanted someone who could deal with specific language for business. So, there were a lot of situations where I had to tailor classes to the exact needs of particular staff. That meant needing to understand the banking system and all the business and economic terminology they were likely to encounter.

Excellent! I have a BEng in Electronic and Computer Engineering from NUI Galway.......

SpaceTime

Just also bear in mind that the Spanish economy isn't exactly going wonderfully at present.

When I was there the banks were still spending rather lavishly on staff training.

That's definitely changed!

If you've a technical background though maybe try targeting language schools that do corporate stuff.

The other thing to remember is that a lot of places are run by chancers too.

I had good and really bad experiences. Just make sure that you're totally sure of what hours they've agreed to and what your rate is.

I was completely misled by a couple of employers too.

madmoe

SpaceTime wrote: »

Just also bear in mind that the Spanish economy isn't exactly going wonderfully at present.

When I was there the banks were still spending rather lavishly on staff training.

That's definitely changed!

If you've a technical background though maybe try targeting language schools that do corporate stuff.

The other thing to remember is that a lot of places are run by chancers too.

I had good and really bad experiences. Just make sure that you're totally sure of what hours they've agreed to and what your rate is.

I was completely misled by a couple of employers too.

Thanks a million mate! My sister is in the North in Aviles and this will be her third academic year coming. The place is ran by an Irish guy and it has worked out very well for her so far. I'm thinking more Barcelona or Madrid though as if I'm gonna go to Spain I want to be in a big city.

Cheers,
M