TEFL/CELTA/CELT answers...

queensinead

Is there any realistic possibility of getting TEFL work here in Ireland (apart from July or August) on any kind of an on-going basis for someone with an English BA 2:1, a Masters and a CELT qualification---plus some on-off, part-time TEFL teaching experience in Dublin?

Or should that person just cut their losses and see CELT as a qualification that you use abroad, or when travelling outside Ireland, and either move abroad or try to go into some other field here in Ireland ?

Is there any realistic hope of any TEFL work over the Winter months here in Ireland?

roxyworldgirl

Can anyone clear up for me what courses are actually legit?
You see so many online courses available these days that youd think everyone would be qualified if they were all accredited?

SpaceTime

CELTA and CELT are both legit.

The major difference with CELTA is that it's a Cambridge qualification and they're also the people who set out most of the exams that people are studying for in those language schools i.e. :

Cambridge English: First (FCE)
Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE)
Cambridge English: Proficiency (CPE)
Cambridge English: Business Certificates (BEC)
Cambridge English: Legal (ILEC)
Cambridge English: Financial (ICFE)

and part of the groups that run:
BULATS
IELTS

That's why CELTA and DELTA are so internationally recognised.

CELT Certificate awarded by ACELS (The Advisory Council for English Language Teaching in Ireland) and it's also a fine course.

CELTA is however part of that whole Cambridge system and that's really the big advantage of it over anything else.

The Cambridge exams are used pretty much everywhere and the British Council is the other big backer of those qualifications and they're a bit like Alliance Française i.e. you'll find them almost everywhere.

...

Just remember though that in a lot of cases the jobs you're likely to pick up aren't always wonderful. It's a great option if you want to do a bit of international travel and check some places out while paying the bills, but in general I think the wages are ridiculously bad in a lot of places and in my experience the employers aren't always the nicest or the most reliable.

Be VERY careful to ensure that you've got your hours worked out and locked down and that you have sufficient funds for a flight home. I've had really bad experience with employers in Spain who promised a lot more than they delivered and left me with way less money than I had expected. I remember working an entire month and coming home with barely €512 (having worked full weeks and long days!) ... I was absolutely screwed over. I've heard plenty of similar horror stories and far worse from places in further flung destinations.

I would suggest having a few places lined up, as you may need to chuck a job and move to a better one. Also, you can usually add a lot of private classes on as you go. I ultimately ended up being self-employed (and paying taxes etc) in Spain which worked out quite well for a year.

Also, make sure that you're 100% familiar with what taxes, social welfare contributions and rent you'll have to pay. Depending on where you're going the charges can be enormous.

It's definitely something you'd do more for a bit of travel and exploring the world rather than a serious job.

If you're serious about becoming an EFL teacher in a university or something like that, you'd really be looking at doing something like at the very least DELTA (the next step up from CELTA) but probably more like MA in TESOL and probably something like Applied Linguistics.

It can be a good experience and you'll learn loads, but just bear in mind it's not all it's cracked up to be a lot of the time.

tinpib

Ok I'm resurrecting this old thread kinda for the purposes of good karma. I learned a lot from it and want to give my experience so that it may help others.

I was made redundant early 2013 and in figuring out what to do with my life I read through this entire thread at least twice, maybe 3 times.

As I had redundancy money while not exactly 'money is no object' I didn't have to cut corners in picking a course.

I decided to do CELTA, saving a few bucks for the hassle of explaining CELT to every prospective employer etc was not appealing.

So my choice came down to where to do it. I was based in Dublin then.

So the choices, as far as I was aware, would be IH International House on Dawson Street or The English Academy on O'Connell Street.

IH was ¢1750 and English School was ¢1500.

In the end I went with IH.

My reasons were, firstly I was willing to spend/had the funds to spend the extra ¢250 if I thought it was worth it.

Secondly I was very impressed with how IH had organised the application process. They have been doing this for 10 plus years, I think. I didn't want to be the guinea pig somewhere while they were having teething problems.

The English Academy had only been going a year or two at that stage so I didn't want to risk it. Now I have no idea what The English Academy would be like, it could be even better than IH but once I dealt with IH I felt I had made the right choice.

Actually my flat mate at the time took his English classes through The English Academy and he liked it there.

When I was applying for IH I had a number of questions. I clicked for the application form thinking to myself that I will fill it out and give them a buzz to get my questions answered. It turned out that their application form is also like a FAQ and every question I had was answered. That impressed me.

From working in a company that would do the very opposite of that I took it as a very good sign.

So I paid my money and signed up.

The course teaches you how to teach. It does not teach you any English grammar/rules etc whatsoever.

You are supposed to do all that before you do the course so I guess if you don't enjoy that side of things or are not very god at it then maybe you shoudln't be an English teacher.

Before you pay your fees you do a pre interview, just so you can suss each other out. It gave me an indiction of what was in the course which I liked. You also have grammar tasks to do. I think they do this so that if you haven't a clue how to answer them it scares you into knuckling down on your grammar etc before the course.

They have a recommended reading list with one book they expect you to read and others that would be good if you read.

The one they expect you to read is essentially an overview of the 4 week course.

The other books they recommended are books that I refer to most days in the class. Grammar points and 'How the hell do I teach the XXXX tense' books.

I thought the 2 tutors on the course were excellent. Again I reckon this may not have much to do with IH. The same tutors could be in The English Academy aswell as they are all freelancers as far as I know.

But I found the whole thing to be very well run in IH. It's a conveyer belt of classes, you are not the first and won't be the last on it.

As regards the course itself I don't have much to add to what has already been said here.

It is incredibly intense. Everyone on the class knew it and it is drilled into you at the pre interview too.

You go to class 9-5 then are pretty much studying/working until 12/1am each night just about grabbing a take away for food. You barely have time to cook.

Everyone is like that, so there is a great feeling of we are all in this together in the class.

I found the assignments to be an enormous pain in the balls. You work from 9am to 1am Monday to Thursday, you just want to chill out and switch off the brain at the weekends, right? Wrong.

It's full on for 4 weeks.

You just have to get through it. But it is an excellent course.

As noted before you teach 8 classes, on your first day you think 'oh Christ not a 45 minute class but a 60 minute class last, i'll never do that'. In fact the opposite happens. By the time you have completed 7 lessons, all the fear is gone, you are confident standing in front of a class. You know how to prepare original material, correct students, manage a class etc all without nerves.

Which is the object of the course. In other words it works.

You just have to go through hell to get there.

Since then I have wondered about those doing the online courses. The probably still have all that hell of standing in front of real live students for the first time to go through where with CELTA or equivalent you will be comfortable being a teacher from day one.

Also to clarify you are teaching real-live students from the get go on the CELTA course. As far as I know the classes are offered for free so the students know that their teachers are only training to be teachers so will be sympathetic to your plight.

Our students were a great bunch, I'm sure they are in general, and it was great to go for a few pints with them when we finished.

madmoe

tinpib wrote: »

Ok I'm resurrecting this old thread kinda for the purposes of good karma. I learned a lot from it and want to give my experience so that it may help others.

I was made redundant early 2013 and in figuring out what to do with my life I read through this entire thread at least twice, maybe 3 times.

As I had redundancy money while not exactly 'money is no object' I didn't have to cut corners in picking a course.

I decided to do CELTA, saving a few bucks for the hassle of explaining CELT to every prospective employer etc was not appealing.

So my choice came down to where to do it. I was based in Dublin then.

So the choices, as far as I was aware, would be IH International House on Dawson Street or The English Academy on O'Connell Street.

IH was ¢1750 and English School was ¢1500.

In the end I went with IH.

My reasons were, firstly I was willing to spend/had the funds to spend the extra ¢250 if I thought it was worth it.

Secondly I was very impressed with how IH had organised the application process. They have been doing this for 10 plus years, I think. I didn't want to be the guinea pig somewhere while they were having teething problems.

The English Academy had only been going a year or two at that stage so I didn't want to risk it. Now I have no idea what The English Academy would be like, it could be even better than IH but once I dealt with IH I felt I had made the right choice.

Actually my flat mate at the time took his English classes through The English Academy and he liked it there.

When I was applying for IH I had a number of questions. I clicked for the application form thinking to myself that I will fill it out and give them a buzz to get my questions answered. It turned out that their application form is also like a FAQ and every question I had was answered. That impressed me.

From working in a company that would do the very opposite of that I took it as a very good sign.

So I paid my money and signed up.

The course teaches you how to teach. It does not teach you any English grammar/rules etc whatsoever.

You are supposed to do all that before you do the course so I guess if you don't enjoy that side of things or are not very god at it then maybe you shoudln't be an English teacher.

Before you pay your fees you do a pre interview, just so you can suss each other out. It gave me an indiction of what was in the course which I liked. You also have grammar tasks to do. I think they do this so that if you haven't a clue how to answer them it scares you into knuckling down on your grammar etc before the course.

They have a recommended reading list with one book they expect you to read and others that would be good if you read.

The one they expect you to read is essentially an overview of the 4 week course.

The other books they recommended are books that I refer to most days in the class. Grammar points and 'How the hell do I teach the XXXX tense' books.

I thought the 2 tutors on the course were excellent. Again I reckon this may not have much to do with IH. The same tutors could be in The English Academy aswell as they are all freelancers as far as I know.

But I found the whole thing to be very well run in IH. It's a conveyer belt of classes, you are not the first and won't be the last on it.

As regards the course itself I don't have much to add to what has already been said here.

It is incredibly intense. Everyone on the class knew it and it is drilled into you at the pre interview too.

You go to class 9-5 then are pretty much studying/working until 12/1am each night just about grabbing a take away for food. You barely have time to cook.

Everyone is like that, so there is a great feeling of we are all in this together in the class.

I found the assignments to be an enormous pain in the balls. You work from 9am to 1am Monday to Thursday, you just want to chill out and switch off the brain at the weekends, right? Wrong.

It's full on for 4 weeks.

You just have to get through it. But it is an excellent course.

As noted before you teach 8 classes, on your first day you think 'oh Christ not a 45 minute class but a 60 minute class last, i'll never do that'. In fact the opposite happens. By the time you have completed 7 lessons, all the fear is gone, you are confident standing in front of a class. You know how to prepare original material, correct students, manage a class etc all without nerves.

Which is the object of the course. In other words it works.

You just have to go through hell to get there.

Since then I have wondered about those doing the online courses. The probably still have all that hell of standing in front of real live students for the first time to go through where with CELTA or equivalent you will be comfortable being a teacher from day one.

Also to clarify you are teaching real-live students from the get go on the CELTA course. As far as I know the classes are offered for free so the students know that their teachers are only training to be teachers so will be sympathetic to your plight.

Our students were a great bunch, I'm sure they are in general, and it was great to go for a few pints with them when we finished.

Very well said mate! I finished the CELTA in Kaplan International College before Christmas and can say all of what you said above applied there as well! Don't know if you knew it at the time or if it was the case but Kaplan offer the full CELTA as well, just another option if people are thinking about doing it in Dublin! I would rate them very highly, on the same level as IH!

Cheers,
M

playedalive

I know CELTA is considered to be far superior but I've got the Irish CELT and, so far, it has got me work in Ireland. I enjoyed my course in the Dublin School of English. I got so much support it was really nice.

In terms of going abroad, I am sure any good reputable school would realise Ireland is an English speaking country and would know the necessary authorities like ACELS and QQI. I know one guy from my course teaching in South Korea and another guy who is teaching in China.

DetteDublin

tinpib, great post, thank you. Regarding the difference between CELTA and CELT, what is it that you would need "to explain to employers".

According to the Dublin School of English ..."Now that CELT is officially equivalent to the CELTA and TESOL qualifications, you are assured of an industry standard and recognised qualification".

The cost of the CELT is about 990, the CELTA is about 1700 (with IH) and funding this is a big issue for us. Thanks.

tinpib

DetteDublin wrote: »

tinpib, great post, thank you. Regarding the difference between CELTA and CELT, what is it that you would need "to explain to employers".

According to the Dublin School of English ..."Now that CELT is officially equivalent to the CELTA and TESOL qualifications, you are assured of an industry standard and recognised qualification".

The cost of the CELT is about 990, the CELTA is about 1700 (with IH) and funding this is a big issue for us. Thanks.

Hi Dette,

I can put down 'CELTA qualified' in an email or on my CV and I know the employer will recognise the qualification. So case closed.

If I put down CELT qualified. Will the employer know or not it is the same? Will I need to explain that it is the same? Should I explain in my email that CELT is the same or not? Will the employer care or not? Will it affect my job prospects or not?

Because of this potential hassle I chose CELTA over CELT. I didn't want any of that to be at the back of my mind when applying for work.

I understand there is a huge difference in price alright.

Where do you plan on working? Ireland or abroad?

Probably best to do more research on it, maybe other CELT qualified people can chip in. playedalive above has said they haven't had any problems and two people on their course haven't problems teaching abroad.

spurious

playedalive wrote: »

Well definitely in Ireland where it's hard for a young languages graduate who is competing against qualified secondary/primary teachers and people who knew people and got into schools

I appreciate you're disappointed, but wild accusations will not get you anywhere here - perhaps the reason they got the jobs was because they were qualified teachers, with experience?

playedalive

queensinead wrote: »

Is there any realistic possibility of getting TEFL work here in Ireland (apart from July or August) on any kind of an on-going basis for someone with an English BA 2:1, a Masters and a CELT qualification---plus some on-off, part-time TEFL teaching experience in Dublin?

Or should that person just cut their losses and see CELT as a qualification that you use abroad, or when travelling outside Ireland, and either move abroad or try to go into some other field here in Ireland ?

Is there any realistic hope of any TEFL work over the Winter months here in Ireland?

Hi! I wrote a response to your post over the weekend but had written it incoherently in anger and wasn't communicating the main message.So I took it down.

Personally, I think it is easier to get work from your CELT/ CELTA abroad than in Ireland. From my experience, The schools in Dublin anyway are very competitive and, as somebody who is reasonably fresh from a TEFL course, I have been unable to get experience alone in Ireland. I can only get work one week at a time in different schools. There are so many teachers that employers can let you go as soon as a more experienced teacher comes around. I wish employers would have been more honest with me and told me from the very start that they could only offer me a week based on my experience.

While TEFL can be a very rewarding job, I wouldn't recommend it to people who will be only using it to find work solely in Ireland. It is more of a possibility to find more fulfilling work abroad than in Ireland as the competition with other teachers is tough.

ellie.zareva

Hi all,

Is anyone willing to sell ‘Teaching English Grammar – What to Teach and How to Teach it’, Jim Scrivener, MacMillan 2010 and ‘Learning Teaching’ (3rd Edition), Jim Scrivener, MacMillan 2011?

Thanks!

woodstock1708

Hello everyone,

I thought I might try posting here before putting these on adverts.ie, as teachers may be looking for these.

I have the following Past Papers books with audio CDs and keys, and I'd like to sell them as I'm transitioning from teaching TEFL into another line of work.

They are extremely useful!

- CAE Cambridge Advanced Past Papers 2 (C1)
- CAE Cambridge Advanced Past Papers 4 (C1)
- FCE Cambridge First Certificate Past Papers 5 (B2)
- PET Cambridge Preliminary Past Papers 6 (B1)
- IELTS Past Papers 4

All of these books are in pristine condition, with no writing whatsoever in them. All come with original CDs, in perfect condition.

I'm located in Dublin 2 and can meet you anywhere in the city centre area.

These books generally sell for between 30 and 40 pounds on Amazon (new). I'd like to get 20 euros per book or could do a deal for all 5 books.

Please PM me if you're interested.

hansbo

Hey lads,

I am currently teaching TEFL in Spain, have been for the last 2 years. My girlfriend is Spanish and is interested in doing a TEFL course. She has a C2 level of English. I've recommended her to do the CELTA course but due to time and money she cant, so we are looking at other courses.

Are there any courses you would recommend for a non-native?

We hope to find work outside Spain but remain in Europe.

Cheers in advance!

tazbars

Hi All,

I am in the middle of completing an Online 120 hour TEFLink course and I was wondering if anybody has complted this course and have found it beneficial - I just want to make sure I'm not wasting my time.

Thanks a mill

Choccie Lover

tazbars wrote: »

Hi All,

I am in the middle of completing an Online 120 hour TEFLink course and I was wondering if anybody has complted this course and have found it beneficial - I just want to make sure I'm not wasting my time.

Thanks a mill

Hi,

I don't know of that particular organisation.

To be honest, online certs aren't really the best way to go about securing work in the TEFL world. Of course, there are exceptions, but really a course with observed teaching practice is what attracts employers (ie CELTA,TESOL etc).

But, you have bought the course now, so take what you can from it. I'm sure there is some useful stuff on there about lesson planning, language awareness, classroom management etc.

What are your plans with teaching TEFL? That's really the important thing. In Asia, you can get away without certification of any kind (provided you have a degree). In Europe, it becomes more problematic.

dwayneshintzy

Just checking; has anyone done the CELTA part-time in the International House in Dublin? I've just applied for it, wondering if anyone had experience of working full-time and doing the course? And how they found it?

ClaireMarie

Hi, I have a BSc degree in Biomedical Science, would that combined with the CELTA be adequate for me to teach abroad? Or would they specifically be looking for people with English/Communications/Languages,etc. degrees?
Also, does anyone have experience of the part-time CELTA courses? Would it be possible to hold down a job at the same time? The CELTA part time course I'm looking at is 2 days a week 9-5.

Choccie Lover

ClaireMarie wrote: »

Hi, I have a BSc degree in Biomedical Science, would that combined with the CELTA be adequate for me to teach abroad? Or would they specifically be looking for people with English/Communications/Languages,etc. degrees?
Also, does anyone have experience of the part-time CELTA courses? Would it be possible to hold down a job at the same time? The CELTA part time course I'm looking at is 2 days a week 9-5.

Sure, that's fine to teach abroad.

I haven't done a part-time CELTA course, but know some people that did and they said it was just about manageable. That's why it's there I suppose....to accommodate people who wish to continue working. On the other hand, if you end up going the full-time route with the CELTA course, even having a part-time job wouldn't be feasible. The full-time course is very intense and takes up all your free time.

ClaireMarie

Choccie Lover wrote: »

Sure, that's fine to teach abroad.

I haven't done a part-time CELTA course, but know some people that did and they said it was just about manageable. That's why it's there I suppose....to accommodate people who wish to continue working. On the other hand, if you end up going the full-time route with the CELTA course, even having a part-time job wouldn't be feasible. The full-time course is very intense and takes up all your free time.

Ok great, thanks for the reply!!

dwayneshintzy

I've gotten into the part-time course in IH, starting the week of February 2nd. Face to face/teaching time seems to be 2pm - 5pm on Fridays, and 9am - 1:30pm on Saturdays for 12 weeks (I've made arrangements with work to have half days on a Friday).

Know I've asked before, but anyone one here have experience of working fulltime and doing this course in the International House?

moses23

Hi, thinking of doing the CELT course in Dublin but I'm slightly wary. My friend is qualified with CELTA and has taught English for the past few years. She doesn't seem to think CELT will be as highly regarded abroad as CELTA would be though. Has anyone out there actually used the CELT qualification abroad as well as at home? Thanks

madmoe

moses23 wrote: »

Hi, thinking of doing the CELT course in Dublin but I'm slightly wary. My friend is qualified with CELTA and has taught English for the past few years. She doesn't seem to think CELT will be as highly regarded abroad as CELTA would be though. Has anyone out there actually used the CELT qualification abroad as well as at home? Thanks

I looked at it this way mate! The CELT is about €1,000 (I think) and when I did the CELTA last year it was around €1,700 with Kaplan. If I am gonna spend the €1,000 then why not go ahead and spend the extra €700 and get the qualification that has Cambridge recognition!? The decision was easy for me as I had the extra €700 to hand to pay for it but if you do not have the extra €700 then it would be a harder decision no doubt! I'm working in France since September of last year and I have no doubt that having the CELTA helped me secure my job!

Hope this helps,
M

Choccie Lover

moses23 wrote: »

Hi, thinking of doing the CELT course in Dublin but I'm slightly wary. My friend is qualified with CELTA and has taught English for the past few years. She doesn't seem to think CELT will be as highly regarded abroad as CELTA would be though. Has anyone out there actually used the CELT qualification abroad as well as at home? Thanks

Depends on where you want to go really......

If you intend sticking with TEFL for a while and can afford the extra cash, I would just go with the CELTA. It's just easier and you won't run into questions about your certification wherever you go.

But if you let us know what countries you are thinking of, maybe we can give you some ideas....

CiboC

CELT and CELTA are equivalent There is not any truth behind the assertion that CELTA is more recognised, certainly not now.

What you will find is that people who have done CELTA will recommend it, as will those who have done a CELT. They are effectively the same course. Recognition of the CELT course is widespread, as much as CELTA.

bmartinh

Hi Guys, very interesting thread. I was thinking of getting a CELTA or CELT qualification for myself, only doubt that I have is if it is a real problem to find a job abroad teaching english being a non native speaker. In my case I am thinking of getting the CAE certificate first and then get the CELTA on top of that and hope for the best. What countries are more restrictive about this? I was thinking of going to Asia to get some experience and then trying less permissive countries with this issue. Any help would be hugely appreciated!


Borja

Choccie Lover

bmartinh wrote: »

Hi Guys, very interesting thread. I was thinking of getting a CELTA or CELT qualification for myself, only doubt that I have is if it is a real problem to find a job abroad teaching english being a non native speaker. In my case I am thinking of getting the CAE certificate first and then get the CELTA on top of that and hope for the best. What countries are more restrictive about this? I was thinking of going to Asia to get some experience and then trying less permissive countries with this issue. Any help would be hugely appreciated!


Borja

Hi Borja,

Not sure how permissive Asian countries are with regard to being non-native.....Certainly in Korea or Japan, they would be very strict about only hiring native teachers (.....at least as fas as I'm aware)......Not sure of Thailand, China, Vietnam, etc......Maybe someone on here knows more.

Are you Spanish? Your name sounds like it is? :-) Would you be interested in working in Spain? From what I've seen, some academies are open to hiring non-natives if their level is high enough. Not sure about the rest of Europe.

madmoe

Choccie Lover wrote: »

Hi Borja,

Not sure how permissive Asian countries are with regard to being non-native.....Certainly in Korea or Japan, they would be very strict about only hiring native teachers (.....at least as fas as I'm aware)......Not sure of Thailand, China, Vietnam, etc......Maybe someone on here knows more.

Are you Spanish? Your name sounds like it is? :-) Would you be interested in working in Spain? From what I've seen, some academies are open to hiring non-natives if their level is high enough. Not sure about the rest of Europe.

I work in France and we have a French girl with an extremely high level of English working for us.....so it is possible!

Cheers,
M

Naoko

Does anybody know of language schools or summer camps anywhere in France that might need teachers between mid-July and late August this year?

I know most of the classes take place during the school year but I'd go to any part of the country if there was even a small amount of work available.

I have a master's in English, PGDE, CELTA and experience.

bmartinh

Hi ChoccieLover thanks for your reply, yes I am spanish but I want to do a little of more living abroad before I go back home. I thought Asia might be the easiest option but apparently not or depends on the country. I was travelling in Thailand this summer and they dont seem to be very strict about anything. Does someone know more on the matter?

Borja

MightyMc92

Just a quick question lads and lassies.i got a phone call yesterday off a love tefl representative,after I liked a link on the love tefl page on Facebook.the rep offered me a 120hour course for €152,reduced by 15% from €179 and open until 18:30pm Irish time this evening.i was wondering has anyone availed of this course before,I know it's accredited by the odlqc but is it accredited by the department of education?