If you have ever looked into teaching English abroad, then surely you have been directed towards a CELTA course. CELTA stands for a Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults. It is an internationally recognized certificate that allows you to teach English all over the world. The British Council and International House are the most well known institutions that offer these courses at varying prices in almost any location. The most popular version of the course is four weeks full time. The course consists of daily input sessions, observed and unobserved teaching practice, and a series of assignments and evaluations.
Input Sessions
The first half of every day belongs to input sessions with your teacher trainer(s). Often you will find yourself in the place of the students you will teach later that day. You will experience the techniques firsthand to see how it all works. In these sessions, you will be exposed to different teaching lesson plans. For example, you will learn the difference between a productive skills lesson and receptive skills lesson and all the stages involved. You will be given the tools to teach vocabulary and grammar and you will see how they work and why.
Practice Sessions
You will begin teaching practice on your second day. You will be terrified, but you will not be alone. You must have six hours of assessed, observed teaching practice at two different levels. You will teach for forty minutes and you will be expected to manage your time well. Depending on the size of the course, you should have unobserved teaching practice as well. The unobserved sessions are more relaxed, but must be taken seriously. Your trainer will still learn how you did from your fellow teaching trainees. In the beginning, you will have a lot of lesson planning support from your trainer. This decreases as the course goes on and by the last week you will be planning lessons on your own.
Do not worry if you feel that your own grammar skills are not up to snuff. Nobody knows all the rules of grammar and how to teach it. You will always know what you are teaching beforehand and have an opportunity to brush up on the rules and exceptions.
Assignments & Evaluation
There are four assignments that vary from course to course. If you do not do well on an assignment the first time, you will have the opportunity to discuss it with your trainer and resubmit it. These assignments are all graded on a pass/fail basis. You are also evaluated after every teaching practice session. Your lessons can either be below average, average, or above average. Your trainer and your group will discuss your lesson with you and talk about what went well and what went poorly. Remember that this is a supportive environment and everyone wants you to do well. It can certainly be difficult to hear this criticism, but it is in your best interest to listen and take it all in without getting defensive. At the end of the course, you will either have a Pass, Pass B, or Pass A. Very few people fail the course.
After the CELTA course
At the completion of the course, it’s time to get a job. The institution where you complete the CELTA can offer you some guidance as to where to look and what’s available in your desired location. It is impossible for them to guarantee you a position, though. You should be wary of any course that advertises this as a possibility. Some locations might offer a two week extension of the course designed to certify you to teach children as well. This certificate is called the CELTYL and that stands for the Certificate in English Language Teaching to Young Learners.
If you are still teaching English after a few years, you may want to look into a DELTA course. DELTA stands for Diploma in English Language Teaching to Adults. This course is even more intensive than the CELTA course and takes two to three months full time. This course is for you if you want English language teaching to be your career. A DELTA qualification will entitle you to a higher salary and also give you more job opportunities.
A CELTA qualification will open the doors of English language teaching internationally. It is not difficult to get if you are a dedicated student and attentive learner. Just remember that nothing can prepare you for the work involved in completing the course.