Advice on CELTA/TEFL Courses in Dublin

Up-n-atom!

Hi - I've been looking into doing a tefl course for a while, one that will qualify me to work in Ireland as well as abroad - I've heard good things about certain training centres, namely the one in Dun Laoghaire (I believe it's called AnnaLivia), but they aren't doing any courses until January, and, frankly, Dun L's a bit of a trek. Dublin School of English are doing the same course in the city centre, beginning next month (they're also a little cheaper) - I was wondering if anyone had any experiences with them and if they were any good. I'm assuming that, since the school is Acels accredited that it's a decent course that's going to train me well and get me a job. Cheers for the help!

yosser hughes

I am interested in this as well.Does anyone have any recommendations for TEFL courses?I'm sure there are good and bad.

El Tarangu

Me three. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Up-n-atom!

I've just started the course in DSE (after all...) - I'll let you know how I get on. It seems comprehensive enough, but turns out it's cheaper because it's a CELT rather than a CELTA (Cambridge) award. Don't think it makes a huge difference, but think the CELTA courses have a more rigorous application process - so brush up on the grammar before doing the assessment!

poncho000

How is the course going in that school? Im thinking about doing it there myself.

El Tarangu

Hello OP et al,

came upon this thread during the course of my research - I found it pretty helpful.

yosser hughes

El Tarangu wrote: »

Hello OP et al,

came upon this thread during the course of my research - I found it pretty helpful.

Thanks for that.It actually does throw some light on the subject for me anyway.Cheers

Up-n-atom!

Hey, eventually getting around to posting here about how I got on - course is finished now, I've been approved by the internal assessors and awaiting the externals. Best part of the course was that you had to do 6 hours of teaching over 7 classes - the first of which was in the first week! Really feel the better for having planned my own classes and stood up in front of different students at different levels and survived (and maybe even taught them something!) We went into a lot of grammar but there's tonnes more that I don't feel so confident with - it's very weird to look at your own language with a stranger's eyes. We also had to complete a portfolio of 6 assignments at the end of the course, along with all our teaching materials and plans. Anyways, I'm looking for a job at the moment, wish me luck! While lots of foreign schools don't necessarily look for an acels/CELT/CELTA qualification, some of them do, and it can also be a good thing to have to get a higher level post abroad. And for anyone interested, I wouldn't even consider wasting money on an i-to-i course, don't think they have any recognition whatsoever.

shujanb

Hi there, I am considering changing my carear to teaching english abroad and i read that celta would be the best course to do. I am trying to teach myself all the rules of grammer, verbs, phrasels etc........ i heard that the Celta course does not teach grammer but do you think I could do the course and learn grammer while I put lessons together for the course or do they expect me to know everything already going into it? Is celta just about how to teach others and plan lessons or do you recomend to have at least 100% understanding of grammer. I am irish and speak english but dont know the rules, yet I can correct people to speaking the right tenses but don t know way. I will take any advice that you have ,Thanks, S

Up-n-atom!

The CELT course I did taught some grammar - you are expected to at least have a handle on it though (although the majority of my class didn't!) Swotting up on it beforehand is probably best - even if they do teach it in the CELTA (which I believe is a bit more strict on these things) you'll have a head start with it.

Planning the classes as you go along does help with your own understanding - we had different topics for each of the classes we had to plan and teach, so not all of them were grammar-based, but some were. You should get to look at coursebooks etc to get an idea of what is expected of each class level and you can tailor your own classes accordingly. You only teach 1 main grammar point in a class anyway, just so you don't confuse the students. The students might bring up stuff that they're struggling with, however, and you might also spot mistakes during your teaching (but if you can't explain it well straight away you could make note for a later class). When you're beginning you teach you get the lower levels so you don't need to be exactly 100% with the grammar (but you need to be getting there!) but you do if you're teaching the higher levels/exam classes.

Oh, and another thing, some countries don't expect a qualification like this - Korea, for eg, just looks for a native speaker with a degree, like wise for many other Asian countries. I'm sure it doesn't do any harm though.

Hope this helps!

nickyh59

My Daughter has an opportunity to go to China for a year. At present she is a Montessori teacher with a qualification enabling her to teach 3-6 yr old (HETAC) Montessori College and is also working as a nanny. She would like to work as an English teacher in China and needs to know whether she can do a CELT/TEFL course without a full degree. We can't seem to work out from all the threads and courses whether this can be done.

deman

shujanb wrote: »

Hi there, I am considering changing my carear career to teaching english English abroad and i I read that celta CELTA would be the best course to do. I am trying to teach myself all the rules of grammer grammar, verbs, phrasels phrasal verbs etc........ i heard that the Celta CELTA course does not teach grammer grammar but do you think I could do the course and learn grammer grammar while I put lessons together for the course or do they expect me to know everything already going into it? Is celta CELTA just about how to teach others and plan lessons or do you recomend recommend to have having at least 100% understanding of grammer grammar. I am irish Irish and speak english English but dont don't know the rules, yet I can correct people to speaking the right tenses but don t don't know way why. I will take any advice that you have ,Thanks, S

Correcting a person's tense is one thing, teaching English is another. I really don't think you'd be cut out for it judging by what you've written. Sorry. It's advice you wanted and it's advice you've got.

yosser hughes

I've come across another school in Dublin offering the CELTA course.The English Academy on O'Connell street. Does anyone know anything about them? Good,bad or indifferent? They are a bit cheaper than International House,that's why I am considering them. Do you think it makes any difference as long as the CELTA accreditation is there?
PS: Just found another school. Kaplan International in Temple Bar. Again any advice on this is appreciated.
Thank you.

yosser hughes

Sorry for bumping this but I am close to commiting to doing a CELTA course so any help/advice is greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

annie85

My friend is doing a Celta at the English Academy on O Connell Street, it is a new centre.She chose it because the dates suited her but she is so glad she did.She has encouraged me to sign up for the next course as we are thinking of going to work abroad in July and Celta seems to be the most highly regarded TEFl qualification. My friend has told me how hard the course is, it requires a lot of time and effort to complete but she says the facilities and premises offered at the English Academy are amazing.She did her homework on the school before starting, it is a recognised Cambridge Esol centre and runs all the Cambridge English Exams and was the first centre in Ireland to offer computer based exams.Before Ih were the only school offering Celta but now you can choose. The English Academy are running their first course now and from what I have heard it is very professional with very experienced tutors.

Banjara

My penny's worth - IH are the longest established centre with established tutors in Dublin and are part of the International World Organisation. I did my course with them aeons ago (IH, but not in Dublin) and found that this made it so much easier to get a job with an IH school and once 'in' the organisation, you can transfer around from school to school quite easily (as long as you do a reasonable job of course!!) which I did for ten years. So personally, I would choose them for this reason.

The other two centres mentioned are v new. AFAIK, Kaplan only got their accreditation a week or so ago and the English Academy a bit earlier. This is not to say that their courses are in any way inferior to IH. One important thing to note that the CELTA is v heavily moderated by Cambridge assesssors to check that certain standards are adhered to/criteria met etc. My only concern would be that there are bound to be teething problems with first courses and new tutors working in new premises etc. I know that EA has been advertsing for CELTA tutors recently for their first course which suggests they don't have somebody trained up in their own organisation. I might be wrong, but afaik there are very few CELTA tutors in Ireland, and most teacher trainers here are only trained up for CELT and would need to go through training by Cambridge to work on a CELTA.

Personally, if I was spending a lot of money on a course I would go with the more experienced centre or wait until the others are more established.

Spooky4

Hi,

Me too! Don't know much about English Academy.I've just signed up with a place called Kaplan International? It's in Temple Bar. Had the interview.and got the place. pretty gruelling, and they've given us all this work to do before the course. I chose them because they're all over the world.Starting at end of May. Does anyone know a good bookshop to get a book called 'How to teach English?' by Harmer. Just checked Easons but don't have it.
Thanks.

Spooky4

Isn't the thing with CELTA that it's supposed to be same wherever you do it? Kaplan told me that they run it in Australia and New Zealand too, so it's not their first one. Frankly for me it's about price and the fact that IH and Kaplan are all over the world. man....decisions...decisions. i just hope I get through the bloody thing!

Banjara

Isn't the thing with CELTA that it's supposed to be same wherever you do it?

It is standardised, yes, but the quality of delivery does vary (acc to trainee accounts).

Kaplan told me that they run it in Australia and New Zealand too, so it's not their first one

Yep, they have been established for a while over there (Cairns and Auckland) but each individual school still has to apply for accrediation separately, so it's their first course in Ireland. I would imagine though that they will be bringing over experieced trainers from the the UK to set up the first course. It's the EA I would have reservations about.

i just hope I get through the bloody thing!

It's not rocket science, but it is very intensive, so I think as long as you are prepared to dedicate a lot of time to it over the 4 week period, you should be fine........ and I should add that a lot of people do actually enjoy the course despite its intensive nature. Good luck with it!!

Banjara

Forgot to mention that you can get this book in either 'International Books' 01 679 9375 or 'Modern Languages' 01 676 4285. I'm not in Dublin so not sure exactly where the shops are located, but if I were you, I would check if they have them in stock first.

Failing that, there's always Amazon!!

yosser hughes

Thanks for the information Banjara. It really is most helpful. I appreciate it.

annie85

Why are you worried about the EA?? Their tutors worked in LCI for 20 years, before it closed down, so I guess it's not a new course,it just moved premises. My friend loves the course and I'm going with her opinion.

CiboC

annie85 wrote: »

Why are you worried about the EA?? Their tutors worked in LCI for 20 years, before it closed down, so I guess it's not a new course,it just moved premises. My friend loves the course and I'm going with her opinion.

You seem to know an awful lot about EA and their staff rom just having a friend starting a course there - you wouldn't be involved with them in some way, would you?

annie85

No I don't work for them. When I did the interview, which was very tough, they told us about the course,the tutors,the hard work and showed us around the school. If you have done an interview for a Celta course you would know that. I am starting my Celta course so I'll let you know how it goes.

luckyshot

Hey everybody,

Just wondering if anybody knows what percentage of applicants get accepted on the CELTA courses? I haven't finished my degree yet but am currently in college and really interested in teaching English abroad when I'm finished. Would I be the sort of candidate they would be looking for? I think I'm going to apply to all three just to cover myself !! If I got offered them all I'd probably choose IH first then Kaplan then English Academy?? Would most people agree with that?

Also, is the CELTA course really worth the extra 500/600 euro over the CELT course? I have no problem paying it if it is but I don't want to waste my money on nothing if there is no real diference between the two?

Thank you in advance to whoever replys

yosser hughes

Could anyone advise/give pointers on the interview for the CELTA course in IH?
What format does it take? Is it difficult?What questions are asked?
Any help is greatly appreciated.

BananaWhoops

Don't know if this is any help to anyone but I found doing the TEFL in the city/region I wanted to move to was a great help to me. I live in Seville in Spain and I did my TEFL course here, and it helped me get work a lot easier since I had made friends and built up contacts. As far as individual TEFL courses go, here they don't seem to give a damn what your course was like - if you have the certificate you're good to go. That said I did enjoy my course and found it helpful when I started to teach.

On a side note if anyone was thinking of doing your TEFL course here in Spain I've a ton of 10% off cards for the course that I did, probably make a difference of a 100 squid or so! They gave us a load when we finished the course to hand out to our friends so if anyone wants one give me a shout

Spooky4

Said I would get back to people about the course.
I've just (present perfect) finished my CELTA in Kaplan international in Dublin and it was amazing! The tutors were great and I would really recommend it.
An assessor was over looking at everything yesterday from Cambridge. So it's of a higher standard than CELT and looking at jobs most people want it abroad..It's been such a journey..and it's super intensive. I advise anyone to block out everything in your life for the month. the tutors fab and have honetly learned so much.Great place.

Now to find a job.....the next step.Good luck to all you future trainees. We wrote you guys a letter for you to read on your next course..suckers ha ha

Spooky4

Said I would get back to people about the course.
I've just (present perfect) finished my CELTA in Kaplan international in Dublin and it was amazing! The tutors were great and I would really recommend it.
An assessor was over looking at everything yesterday from Cambridge. So it's of a higher standard than CELT and looking at jobs most people want it abroad..It's been such a journey..and it's super intensive. I advise anyone to block out everything in your life for the month. the tutors fab and have honetly learned so much.Great place.

Now to find a job.....the next step.Good luck to all you future trainees. We wrote you guys a letter for you to read on your next course..suckers ha ha

C Devlin

Your CELTA is just the first step. As someone said above, CELTA courses are audited by Cambridge, but input sessions vary from tutor to tutor. That being said, if any centre is running a CELTA course, then Cambridge have checked them out and there will be an external examiner.

Checking out course on sites like this is useful only in one regard - checking for horror stories. The glowing reviews of course here are not really useful other than they tell you that the participants have had a good learning experience. I felt great about my own CELTA course. But after nearly ten years of teaching, I can see that some of the stuff on it actually hindered my early teaching. (This is a reflection on my tutors - not CELTA. CELTA is a good course).

I expect most CELTA graduates to be very happy with their course and tutors, but, unless they are already ESL teachers - as happens, they simply don't have any teaching experiences to measure the course content against. You might love your Kung Fu classes, but unless you have been in a street fight with it, you really can't say if it's any good.

I did my CELTA nine years ago and my advice is that the real learning begins with your first school. Look for a school with a programme of professional development. This will tell you two things. One, you will learn in a structured and supported way (CELTA scratches the surface in terms of ESL knowledge, so you NEED in-service training). Two, that school thinks your professional development is important. There are many schools that we call factory schools. They are usually very big, a franchise and will want you to work a lot of contact hours (30+). If you want to be a hack, then go for these. If you want to develop as a teacher, then schools like IH and Bell should be considered.

Start looking on ESL/TEFL forums, ask questions about particular schools in places you are interested in teaching in. (One thing to remember when looking at location is that cities like Paris and Prague are very popular, so plan ahead.)

Your first year will be a continuous and demanding learning curve. Pick a school that gives you as much support as possible.

Good luck.

clape

I have been looking for a good TEFL CELTA course in Dublin myself. The best TEFL courses have a price that range from 1200 to 1600 euro. These expensive courses are all top class courses, and you hardly can go wrong, I think. on line courses or part time do not give the preparations these one month long, full time intense courses give. Sure for such a high price, you want the lessons to be delivered at a high level, and to be treated right as a customer, not as a pupil.. There are at least four or five well-known colleges that deliver this type of course in city centre. Personally, I had a very bad shocking experience with the English Academy. They demonstrated to have no customer care interest, and only interest in getting the money in. Very hard to correspond with, they hardly answer your questions. The information they give about the class, teachers and weekly or daily time-table is zero. You have to pay 500 euro deposit before getting any course information. They were very unpolite to me, and unprofessional in their reply. Hope this helps.

Kim Ling

I too am very interested in completing a full time intensive course in Dublin with the objective of working in China for a year to teach English as a foreign language. I note that the Dublin Business School runs a CELT course and a few other places run CELTA courses. I would be very grateful for any further input regarding these courses or, if anyone has undertaken any other TEFL Courses, e.g.TESOL. Also if anyone has gained employment as a teacher in China, any words of wisdom as to which course would be most beneficial/agencies, etc. I have read the other threads posted. Many thanks.

hmphill

I'm Looking to do a part time TEFL course hopefully starting this month. I live in south Dublin. Can anyone recommend a suitable college/course. Much appreciated.

paddythedan

deman wrote: »

Correcting a person's tense is one thing, teaching English is another. I really don't think you'd be cut out for it judging by what you've written. Sorry. It's advice you wanted and it's advice you've got.

Actually he or she could go to Asia and get a teaching job still. In asia they have specialists who are Chinese, Koreans etc who explain grammer in their own language alongside english, from my own experience which is in 8 cities across China, I thought kindergarten , middle school and at university and was often told to avoid the boring grammer, foreigners classes are suppose to be mainly fun and about pronounciation, it gives them a chance to talk with a native english speaker which is already enough of a challenge if the teacher has an accent

jbombon

Hi everyone!

I want to do a CELTA course in Dublin next September, I am a French native and I currently live in France but my bf is Irish and we are planning on moving to Ireland.

I am a fully-qualified ESL teacher at secondary-school level in France (I have been teaching for a little more than a year) and trying to get my qualification recognised for QTS status, but it's a bit of a drag and I am not very hopeful since France doesn't have the same training system for teachers at all

My question is: do you think I can find employment in an English language school once I get CELT although I am not a native speaker? This question has probably been answered before sorry....

Thanks!

CiboC

As far as I know there is no requirement that a teacher in a recognised school be a native speaker.

From a marketing point of view most reputable EFL schools advertise that their teachers are native speakers - I think this is more to do with the expectations of the customers than anything else.

I suspect it would be quite difficult for a non-native speaker to get employment as a teacher in a recognised English language school.