Looking for schools that do CELTA courses.

Goiter

I'm thinking of doing a celta course but I'm not sure which schools are reputable. I guess if they're doing celta they must have some quality teaching it in the first place, but it would be nice to get people's opinions on different schools, or show me some websites where I can look up people's experiences.

Also, if I get the course finished after October, is it too late to get a teaching placement? It would be nice to keep my options open for the next few weeks because of all the college open days, but it looks like the celta courses fill up like crazy and I don't want to end up doing the course only to find out that iv'e missed the boat and have to wait another year.

Thanks a lot;)

Dionysus

Goiter wrote: »

I'm thinking of doing a celta course but I'm not sure which schools are reputable. I guess if they're doing celta they must have some quality teaching it in the first place, but it would be nice to get people's opinions on different schools, or show me some websites where I can look up people's experiences.

Also, if I get the course finished after October, is it too late to get a teaching placement? It would be nice to keep my options open for the next few weeks because of all the college open days, but it looks like the celta courses fill up like crazy and I don't want to end up doing the course only to find out that iv'e missed the boat and have to wait another year.

Thanks a lot;)

The ACELS CELT is now the standard TEFL qualification in Ireland. The CELTA is an English tefl, and is a few hundred euro more expensive. Most Irish schools have changed to the ACELS sanctioned course but International House in Dublin still runs the CELTA:

http://www.ihdublin.com/ihdublin/Main/CELTA.htm


I went to a different tefl school but the guy who owned it gave us a talk about tefl as a business on our last day and, of the Dublin schools, he had respect for the International House.

PS: In their own advertisement for teachers of English, International House are seeking applicants who have "A recognised teaching qualification, such as the CELTA, CELT or Trinity Certificate": http://www.jobs.ie/ApplyForJob.aspx?Id=969567

Goiter

Sadly I don't have a level 7 diploma, so even though I can do the celt course, I won't get the proper certificate. Shame really, I wouldn't mind just doing the celt and saving a heap of cash.

Yeah, I had a look at the international house website, should give them a call to see if I can get to talk to some of the teachers.

Dionysus, are you teaching at the moment in Ireland? If so, was it hard to get a job here?

Thanks for the job link. I should give the trinity cert a look then as well.

Dionysus

Goiter wrote: »

Sadly I don't have a level 7 diploma, so even though I can do the celt course, I won't get the proper certificate. Shame really, I wouldn't mind just doing the celt and saving a heap of cash.

Yeah, I had a look at the international house website, should give them a call to see if I can get to talk to some of the teachers.

Dionysus, are you teaching at the moment in Ireland? If so, was it hard to get a job here?

Thanks for the job link. I should give the trinity cert a look then as well.

Hi, I just finished my ACELS Celt at the end of January 2009, and I still haven't received the certificate although I did pass it. I was lucky enough to get a teaching job in the summer. It lasted for slightly over 3 weeks and I got €954 for that period. Classes were for only 3 hours per day, in the morning, and this was the norm across language schools in Dublin anyway. In the afternoon I could have applied for 'social hours' which was basically where you brought the kids on history or cultural tours etc. The money in my place was only something like €36 for 4 hours so I gave it a miss.

The ACELS course cost €1050, so I've almost covered it from this summer's work. It was really, really good experience, I have to say. The kids were really sound and giving me gifts from all over the world by the end of it. It was cute. I was being paid €18 per hour. UCD's Applied Language Centre was paying a relatively excellent €24 per hour, but that was quite exceptional. Between €16 and €19 per hour was more normal.

It was easy enough to get a job teaching English here this July, but June and to a lesser extent August were quite dead. Apparently, this summer was substantially quieter than other years due to the recession. I'd say it would be hard to get a job teaching English in Ireland now that the kids have largely returned. There are, however, many teaching English posts abroad. I applied for one rather well paid one in Saudi Arabia and was offered it but declined. I haven't been teaching since early August and I'm now back in college doing the PGDE.

Would you not just go back to college and get your degree? With the recession, now is the best time to do it. It would be the best move you could make and you'll be out when the economy is improving again (hopefully).

Goiter

Dionysus wrote: »

Hi, I just finished my ACELS Celt at the end of January 2009, and I still haven't received the certificate although I did pass it. I was lucky enough to get a teaching job in the summer. It lasted for slightly over 3 weeks and I got €954 for that period. Classes were for only 3 hours per day, in the morning, and this was the norm across language schools in Dublin anyway. In the afternoon I could have applied for 'social hours' which was basically where you brought the kids on history or cultural tours etc. The money in my place was only something like €36 for 4 hours so I gave it a miss.

The ACELS course cost €1050, so I've almost covered it from this summer's work. It was really, really good experience, I have to say. The kids were really sound and giving me gifts from all over the world by the end of it. It was cute. I was being paid €18 per hour. UCD's Applied Language Centre was paying a relatively excellent €24 per hour, but that was quite exceptional. Between €16 and €19 per hour was more normal.

It was easy enough to get a job teaching English here this July, but June and to a lesser extent August were quite dead. Apparently, this summer was substantially quieter than other years due to the recession. I'd say it would be hard to get a job teaching English in Ireland now that the kids have largely returned. There are, however, many teaching English posts abroad. I applied for one rather well paid one in Saudi Arabia and was offered it but declined. I haven't been teaching since early August and I'm now back in college doing the PGDE.

Would you not just go back to college and get your degree? With the recession, now is the best time to do it. It would be the best move you could make and you'll be out when the economy is improving again (hopefully).

I have a city and guilds diploma which as far as I know you can't extend for a degree. Maybe If I applied for another film course they could knock a year off and speed up things.

To be honest, I'm not sure if I want to go back to college, as I have spent 3 years already in college, and no course at the moment has really jumped out at me. Looking back, I would rather of gone abroad than completed my last two years of college (terrible classroom environment). I'm 26 at the moment and I feel like I haven't really seen enough, so the celta would be a good way of working in foreign countries without needing to know the language straight off. I guess it doesn't really matter if I get a job in Ireland if I'm gonna travel anyway. I heard that some places abroad don't pay you until two months after though, which is a bit concerning.