TEFL/CELTA/CELT answers...

The Black Pearl · 07-03-2011 1:11pm

rentboy wrote: »

Just wondering can anybody please help and advise me on what are the best regarded and intensive/comprehensive T.E.F.L courses that can be done in Dublin. I do not have a degree and am 27. I am well educated though and would like to teach in either France or Spain. Thank you for any advice whatsoever. Note, I am thinking of doing the 450 euro month long weekend course by Merrion Square in the 'International TEFL College of Ireland'. It is 9-5 Saturdays and Sundays for a month. Is this sufficient for teaching in say Spain, France, Germany, Czech Rep., Austria etc? for a year.

Identical situation to this one. Ive heard the above course would be enough to secure a job is Lisbon although Im a little unsure personally....any thoughts?

rentboy · 07-03-2011 1:33pm

Hi there 'The Black Pearl',

Cheers for your reply. Yeah you see I do think that the course in Westland Row I mentioned above is actually fine. I am just a bit fussy as I want to get the best possible TEFL considering I don't yet have a degree. My friend actually done this month long weekend course in ITCI and he said that it is actually fine. My only concern is how will it be viewed abroad and will its status reflect pay etc.

I have been doing a bit of research on other alternatives and I stumbled upon what I believe to be the best course to do and you do not necessarily need a degree. It just means you cannot teach in Ireland. It is a CELT course and a good few schools around Dublin offer these courses which cost approximately €1,000 or a bit extra. This is probably what I will do even though it is quite pricey. These courses are Internationally recognised and are ACELS approved. Here is the link to the ACELS site which gives a list of all the legit schools and courses in Ireland.

http://acels.ie.somedomain.ie/Search.aspx?location=Dublin

(I, myself, might do the one in The Swan School on Grafton Street or the one in Bray.)

Note also that I am not sure that all of these schools offer teacher training courses and that I think when doing such courses without actually holding a degree you must sign a waiver precluding you from working in Ireland whilst allowing you to work abroad. As far as I can surmise, this is the best possible avenue for our wee 'situation'! I hope this helps you. Feel free to ask anymore questions. Cheers.

rentboy · 07-03-2011 1:42pm

The Black Pearl wrote: »

Identical situation to this one. Ive heard the above course would be enough to secure a job is Lisbon although Im a little unsure personally....any thoughts?

See what you think of this link.

http://learnenglishireland-swan.com/Teacher%20Training.html

squeakyduck · 07-03-2011 1:51pm

I'm off to do a CELT course with Dublin School of English. It's 980 for the full and part time ones. My best friend who is in Switzerland at the moment did this around November time and basically got a job immediately

I'm starting my course on the 28th of March and it runs until the 12th of May roughly, about 6 weeks. 6.00 till 9.30 at night mon to Thurs and 10-4ish on Saturday.

rentboy · 07-03-2011 1:58pm

squeakyduck wrote: »

I'm off to do a CELT course with Dublin School of English. It's 980 for the full and part time ones. My best friend who is in Switzerland at the moment did this around November time and basically got a job immediately

I'm starting my course on the 28th of March and it runs until the 12th of May roughly, about 6 weeks. 6.00 till 9.30 at night mon to Thurs and 10-4ish on Saturday.

Hi Squeaky Duck,

That sounds brilliant, thanks for the heads up. I might look into that myself actually. Does it matter if you have a degree or not?

Thanks a million.

squeakyduck · 07-03-2011 2:04pm

I think you would have a degree in general or the likes. Especially if you wanted to teach around the world.

I have a BA in History and English and a MA in English as well.

I would get on to DSE quickly to see if you can get a place for the 28th of March, 200e deposit and the remainder 2 weeks before to course. They had me take a little test to see that I could actually speak the language (it was really hard, stuff you don't learn in school and college) but I got a place!

They are really nice in there too!

rentboy · 07-03-2011 2:15pm

squeakyduck wrote: »

I think you would have a degree in general or the likes. Especially if you wanted to teach around the world.

I have a BA in History and English and a MA in English as well.

I would get on to DSE quickly to see if you can get a place for the 28th of March, 200e deposit and the remainder 2 weeks before to course. They had me take a little test to see that I could actually speak the language (it was really hard, stuff you don't learn in school and college) but I got a place! They are really nice in there too!

Cool, thanks a million Squeaky Duck. I will surely check it out!

The Black Pearl · 07-03-2011 4:13pm

rentboy wrote: »

Hi there 'The Black Pearl',

Cheers for your reply. Yeah you see I do think that the course in Westland Row I mentioned above is actually fine. I am just a bit fussy as I want to get the best possible TEFL considering I don't yet have a degree. My friend actually done this month long weekend course in ITCI and he said that it is actually fine. My only concern is how will it be viewed abroad and will its status reflect pay etc.

I have been doing a bit of research on other alternatives and I stumbled upon what I believe to be the best course to do and you do not necessarily need a degree. It just means you cannot teach in Ireland. It is a CELT course and a good few schools around Dublin offer these courses which cost approximately €1,000 or a bit extra. This is probably what I will do even though it is quite pricey. These courses are Internationally recognised and are ACELS approved. Here is the link to the ACELS site which gives a list of all the legit schools and courses in Ireland.

http://acels.ie.somedomain.ie/Search.aspx?location=Dublin

(I, myself, might do the one in The Swan School on Grafton Street or the one in Bray.)

Note also that I am not sure that all of these schools offer teacher training courses and that I think when doing such courses without actually holding a degree you must sign a waiver precluding you from working in Ireland whilst allowing you to work abroad. As far as I can surmise, this is the best possible avenue for our wee 'situation'! I hope this helps you. Feel free to ask anymore questions. Cheers.

Thanks v much, I think you saved me a few hours of further research.

Geansai Rua · 08-03-2011 12:25pm

Do I need to have my degree finished to do a TEFL course?
I am 22 years old and am in year three of a four year honours degree : Advertising and Marketing communications

I really wanted to do one of the courses during the summer to have it to use immediatly next year.

Also which is best? CELT or CELTA? I want to mainly teach in Ireland, Oz, NZ, or around Europe.

rentboy · 08-03-2011 5:23pm

Geansai Rua wrote: »

Do I need to have my degree finished to do a TEFL course?
I am 22 years old and am in year three of a four year honours degree : Advertising and Marketing communications

I really wanted to do one of the courses during the summer to have it to use immediatly next year.

Also which is best? CELT or CELTA? I want to mainly teach in Ireland, Oz, NZ, or around Europe.

Hi Geansaí Rua,

Fair play to you on nearing the end of your degree, one year to go. As far as I know you can do any top TEFL course. The fact that you are in your last year is fine. I think you can do ANY TEFL course you want once you let the school know you are in your last year. You can do the course either full time (Monday to Friday 9-5) or part time (on the weekends/evenings).

As regards which is best, well, I think CELTA is teaching English to adults specifically. Anyway, tar éis an lá, the very fact that you have one year left for your degree speaks volumes and you should have no problem doing and getting any TEFL you want. Degree holders can teach in Ireland AND abroad.

Hope this helps.
RB.

Geansai Rua · 08-03-2011 8:11pm

Thanks for the reply.

So the CELTA is mainly teaching to adults and CELT to kids???
Sorry if thats a stupid question, havent a clue!!

I would be initially looking for jobs in Ireland from doing the course as it will be a while before I can move abroad, and its unlikely I will get a job straight from my degree.

I was looking into the day course in the International house dublin. So expensive though. Is there a cheaper and similar alternative. I dont mind paying the extra money, but Id hope it would be worth it!

Patricide · 11-03-2011 5:28pm

squeakyduck wrote: »

I'm off to do a CELT course with Dublin School of English. It's 980 for the full and part time ones. My best friend who is in Switzerland at the moment did this around November time and basically got a job immediately

I'm starting my course on the 28th of March and it runs until the 12th of May roughly, about 6 weeks. 6.00 till 9.30 at night mon to Thurs and 10-4ish on Saturday.

Wow, I didnt see this course at all. Seems a good bit cheaper than the International House Celta which between everything costs in and around 2k.

Do you know of any advantages/disadvantages it has over it?

squeakyduck · 11-03-2011 5:56pm

http://www.dse.ie/courses-one.php?id=43

There is the webpage for it Patricide. The only difference would be what you would be awarded CELT for DSE compared to CELTA with the international house and maybe a difference between the amount of teaching hours you might do.

Gansai Rua. The OP outlines CELT v CELTA in the very first post. I continue to get mixed up between them even now! :rolleyes:

KevinDublin wrote: »

Firstly; In order to be considered qualified to teach English in Ireland (or in the UK) the ONLY certificates allowed are certificated issued by ACELS (the English schools branch of the Dept. of Ed.). This means that I to I courses are NOT valid TEFL courses to teach in Ireland. A full list of these providers can be found on www.acels.ie

If you are looking to actually learn to be an English teacher, you should do either the CELTA or the CELT. IMO both courses are the best qualifications in the world to become and English teacher. Also, BOTH will allow you to teach in Ireland and the UK but also are very highly regarded everywhere else.

Whats the difference between the CELTA and the CELT?
One difference is that the CELTA is run by Cambridge University whereas the CELT is an Irish Dept of education (acels) certificate.
The CELT is also considerably cheaper, (around 1000 euros Vs 1500 for the CELTA)

Realistically, to learn to teach English, you have to, at some stage stand up in front of a bunch of non native students and learn by doing. The CELT has at least 8 hours of you teaching students whilst being observed by a trainer. That kind of experience is invaluable and cannot be found by these nonsense online courses.

My advice for people looking to teacher at home or abroad is to do a CELT course. It might be 200 or 300 euros more expensive that the online or weekend courses but it will equip you to be an English teacher and even if you are not planning to teach in Ireland, you never know what will happen in the future and you might find yourself having to apply in Ireland for a few hours work in which case the CELT course will stand to you.

Sorry for such a long post but I go into rant mode when I see some of the false claims floating around about weekend courses on online course enabling you to teach. They neither qualify you nor equip you!!!

Geansai Rua · 11-03-2011 7:55pm

Thanks squeakyduck.

Im currently undecided between the CELTA course in International House and the CELT course in DSE.

There is a considerable difference in price, wondering if the extra 700euro would be worth it with the CELTA. In terms of getting a job in Ireland for a while and then abroad.

Both are held in August so that is good for me!

Up-n-atom! · 13-03-2011 4:39pm

I'm just going to throw my 2 cents in here to see if it will help - I did the DSE 4 week full-time course back in November (so I think I know your friend squeaky duck!). As the original post states, there's not that much difference between CELT and CELTA courses other than the Cambridge association with the latter. Having spoken to people on the course who also did the entry exam for a CELTA course, their opinion was that it was a bit harder than the one for the CELT course.

IMO the CELTA course might be the better option if you want to make a serious career out of tefl (because I get the impression it's slightly more indepth and geared towards teaching the Cambridge system). At the same time, the Cambridge system isn't as dominant as it used to be, and the qualification from the CELT course is more than adequate for jobs working in Ireland and abroad (and, in any case, there's nothing stopping you from persuing a long-term career using this once you get your foot in the door).

Since the course I'm finding it hard to get jobs here, since most of the schools are looking for people with experience rather than newbies. Most of the people from my class who have work in the area are working abroad. I'd say if your interested in working in Ireland, there should be tefl work in language camps in Ireland over the summer - there always seems to be a lack of teachers for these as the work is a bit tougher going than teaching adults in a classroom (which most experienced teachers are used to). Hope this helps!

Patricide · 13-03-2011 8:07pm

Thanks for all the information here guys. Although that 700 euro is a LOT of money for me I think I will go for the CELTA over the CELT. If my experiences abroad have taught me anything its that every small advantage helps and in the long run it should hopefully pay me to do the course.

Before I apply, is there any last minute advice that people in here are willing to give? Also is international house in Dublin the only Celta provider in Ireland that I can apply for without already having a degree? I would have applied for the course in UCC but unfortunately it is the case there.

Cole · 13-03-2011 9:43pm

Patricide wrote: »

Thanks for all the information here guys. Although that 700 euro is a LOT of money for me I think I will go for the CELTA over the CELT. If my experiences abroad have taught me anything its that every small advantage helps and in the long run it should hopefully pay me to do the course.

Before I apply, is there any last minute advice that people in here are willing to give? Also is international house in Dublin the only Celta provider in Ireland that I can apply for without already having a degree? I would have applied for the course in UCC but unfortunately it is the case there.

There is a new school teaching the CELTA in Dublin, don't know anything about them. I would suggest checking them out.
http://cambridgeesol-centres.org/centres/teaching/search.do;jsessionid=99D62546D67C78A84BBFBB0318D082B0.node02?source=teacheraward&country=IE&qualification=10&Input=Search

I did mine in IH. The one piece of advice that I would give is, don't take the tutors grading/feedback too much to heart. I thought (and nearly everyone else on my course did also) that much of the assessment of individual trainees was incredibly subjective. Some of us could do no wrong, others could do no right......I came somewhere inbetween.:)

Just keep your head down, do the work, nod and agree with the staff.....even if you feel like exploding with frustration....and you'll be fine.

Geansai Rua · 14-03-2011 7:08pm

I was at the CELTA info session in IH Dublin on Saturday. The impression was that this is REALLY difficult! 10% of participants fail the course and most get a C grade.
I hope to do the course in August and teach in Ireland from next summer.

Just looking at the other Dublin course that Cole mentioned above. Only one course date so far, probably unlikely that there will be another this year??

Patricide · 14-03-2011 7:38pm

Geansai Rua wrote: »

I was at the CELTA info session in IH Dublin on Saturday. The impression was that this is REALLY difficult! 10% of participants fail the course and most get a C grade.
I hope to do the course in August and teach in Ireland from next summer.

Just looking at the other Dublin course that Cole mentioned above. Only one course date so far, probably unlikely that there will be another this year??

Well the way I see it is. If these courses were easy then everyone would be doing them. A lot of people who have a great grasp of English may not know the proper terms for what they are doing, or at least not enough to explain/teach it.

fatguss · 15-03-2011 8:52pm

I am hoping to begin the CELTA course in IH. I was wondering if anyone who has completed the course, or a similar course, could provide me with some resources to help get my grammar up to scratch before I begin?
I have been researching online but there is so much information, I don't know where to begin!

Any help would be greatly appreciated,
thanks!

Up-n-atom! · 16-03-2011 10:17pm

A popular one is Raymond Murphy's English Grammar in Use. It can be used as worksheets in class too so it's handy and pretty straightforward. I also got Martin Parrott's Grammar for English Language Teachers, which is very good but kind of intimidating for someone new to all this (it has tons and tons of complicated rules that I didn't even know existed, and ones you don't necessarily need to know starting out!). A lot of these books are in the Dublin libraries (but are often out!) so keep an eye out.

Online, the One Stop English website isn't bad. I liked English Club, it gives good explanations of common grammar points. Hope this helps!

dapto1 · 20-03-2011 5:16pm

Edit: nm!

scoogie · 20-03-2011 5:34pm

Hi Everyone

I am currently training to be a Primary School Teacher but plan on doing a CELT course when I graduate in August as a back-up as the job situation for newly-qualified teachers isn't looking too good.

I definitely want to do an ACELS accredited course as I intend on staying in Ireland. Would CELT be sufficient do you think? I don't really fancy doing the CELTA.

Is there a different course out there that I should be looking for as an un-dipped primary school teacher? I was thinking if doing the CELT course in Edgewater in Drogheda...

captainspeckle · 30-03-2011 4:06pm

Does anyone know what exactly the ELT masters in UL equips you to do?

I am getting incredibly confused by all of this!

Toto Wolfcastle · 30-03-2011 7:42pm

Off-topic post deleted. If you have a problem with a post please report it rather than commenting on thread.

rentboy · 30-03-2011 8:59pm

Hey guys,

As I will be doing the CELTA course in International House in a couple of months I was wondering if anybody can direct me or give advice on the course itself i.e where I can prepare myself in advance? I want to basically get studying now as I really want/need to pass this course!

Many many thanks,
RB.

rentboy · 31-03-2011 12:29pm

rentboy wrote: »

Hey guys,

As I will be doing the CELTA course in International House in a couple of months I was wondering if anybody can direct me or give advice on the course itself i.e where I can prepare myself in advance? I want to basically get studying now as I really want/need to pass this course!

Many many thanks,
RB.

Scrap that guys. Profuse apologies everyone. My lazy eyes have located relevant material and answers.

RB

Cole · 31-03-2011 5:10pm

rentboy wrote: »

I want to basically get studying now as I really want/need to pass this course!

Don't stress too much about preparation. They realise that most people doing the course are far from experts on most of the grammar and anyway that's not really what you're assessed on.....it's your teaching practice classes.

They will do a few sessions on different aspects of grammar, but that's more for your benefit rather than testing you....there were a lot of confused looking trainees when we were doing this.:) I think if you just brush up on very basic grammar, nouns, prounouns, adjectives etc. and the tenses, you'll be fine.

As for passing...I don't know the statistics...but I think its very, very high. They're not trying to fail you, but want you to achieve a certain level of competence.

You seem to be a conscientious student.....preparing beforehand, like myself;)...so I think you'll be fine. Good luck.

rentboy · 31-03-2011 5:24pm

Cole,

Thanks a million for responding and your heads up is reassuring yet informative. I actually realised they ( International House Dublin ) have a reading list near the end of their 'Information for Applicants 2011' on their website. So, with your advice and others in this thread I shall scan through the aforementioned reading list. Thanks again Cole.

RB.

P.S For anybody looking for the course prep reading list by International House here is that link and it is on the top of page 11 ( Four books )

http://www.ihdublin.com/ihdublin/Files/CELTA%20information%20application%20form%20and%20language%20task%202011%20%282%29%5B1%5D.pdf

rentboy · 22-04-2011 6:43am

Hey everybody,

For anybody that has successfully completed the CELTA course in International House In Dublin, I was wondering roughly how long it takes from the day you finish the course, to the day you actually physically get your CELTA certificate? I only ask as I want to be heading off to job hunt ( mainland Europe ) as soon as I finish the course, in August but more realistically September! Thanks for your help.

rb

TEFL/CELTA/CELT answers...

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