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CELTA certification and everything after | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Immersion, Schools & Certificates |  | |
| espejismo Diglot Senior Member Russian Federation Joined 4837 days ago 498 posts - 905 votes  Speaks: Russian*, English Studies: Spanish, Greek, Azerbaijani | Message 17 of 23 24 June 2013 at 8:51pm | IP Logged | ||
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Well, it's still easier for natives to get a job, it's just that in some places their numbers are too few to leave
non-natives out of work. I didn't mean that native speakers are ever at a disadvantage! Sorry if I worded it confusingly. Edited by espejismo on 24 June 2013 at 8:52pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Talib Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6447 days ago 171 posts - 205 votes Speaks: English*, Arabic (classical) Studies: Arabic (Egyptian) | Message 18 of 23 25 June 2013 at 1:27am | IP Logged | ||
Native speakers need help with getting visas, finding accommodation, and other things. Some schools don't want to deal with those issues and thus have to rely more on non-native speakers who already reside in the country. Those logistical issues make more work for the school, but other schools are willing to help with those issues because they see the importance of having native speakers. I think that it will be easier to find work without a degree if you have some contacts in the country where you want to work and you don't need to rely on the school to help you get settled in. But in places where there is already a lot of competition among English teachers, you may need a degree to get hired. Edited by Talib on 25 June 2013 at 1:33am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| I'm With Stupid Senior Member Vietnam Joined 3959 days ago 165 posts - 349 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Vietnamese | Message 19 of 23 25 June 2013 at 7:12am | IP Logged | ||
It's not the ad that's discriminatory, it's likely to be the visa requirements. I had a friend with dual British/Irish nationality who went to teach in Indonesia who had to get a British passport to do so because the Indonesian government didn't recognise Irish people are native English speakers. But there is a lot of discrimination in the industry, particularly in Asia. I know a few Asian-Americans who've had problems in the past (not being allowed to take certain classes because of racist parents, not being given an interview until they applied for it with their more American-sounding middle name, and even one case where a parent insisted on watching the teacher to make sure he wasn't teaching in "an Asian way"). As for the CELTA, it's all much of the muchness anywhere you do it in the world (that's the point, and that's why employers like it, because they don't have to do any research). I know someone who did another course called TESOL and she said it was a decent course (same price as the CELTA though). But a year after she finished, she found out that the same course was being taught by someone who graduated from the same class as her. I know someone who did the CELTA in New York and had a great time. However, personally I agree that doing it in the country where you want to teach is quite a good idea, mainly because it gives you a trial period in the country before committing yourself to a year's contract. There's also the cost, because not only is the course more expensive, but you really do need to be doing it full time, so you also need to find a months worth of rent in one of the most expensive cities in the world. Finally, spare a thought for your first job after your CELTA too. I once went for an interview for Japan in which a recent CELTA graduate was told during his demo lesson to "forget all of that CELTA stuff." The CELTA doesn't make you a teacher, it just gives you a good grounding. In my experience, working for a school that also does the CELTA itself is a good move in this respect. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 4795 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 20 of 23 25 June 2013 at 1:09pm | IP Logged | ||
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Well, I don't expect CELTA to make me a teacher by itself. What I expect: widening of my horizons, practice and feedback, deepening my knowledge and some directions to how to further work on myself, different views on language teaching/learning(including some of the stuff I hate about language schools and "modern" ways of teaching I must admit)and, sadly the most important thing, the piece of paper confirming I got an education in this area and therefore can trully have it as a reasonably paid part time job.
I wonder, has anyone tried the part time course? I might have a trouble joining the september full time course due to some issues. But there is a course with the same amount of content and time (provided by the same language school) spread over fridays and saturdays from november to february. Has anyone tried such an alternative? I looked at the online courses as well but I find them much less worthy of the money because the live contact with your teachers and with your students-guinea pigs is the most valuable part of the package. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| viedums Hexaglot Senior Member Thailand Joined 4452 days ago 327 posts - 528 votes Speaks: Latvian, English*, German, Mandarin, Thai, French Studies: Vietnamese | Message 21 of 23 26 June 2013 at 4:01pm | IP Logged | ||
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I did the CELTA course at the Embassy CES school in New York (Fashion Avenue, a bit down the street from Penn Station) around 1995. Apparently their training course has been discontinued now. Our ‘guinea pigs’ (very nice ones) were mainly Polish people from Greenpoint. If your undergraduate major was English, you may not need this credential to find work teaching English abroad. However, it’s valuable in that you’ll learn about the communicative method of teaching and get to try it out on real students. It was a confidence builder as much as anything in my case.
There’s a book I used to get ideas for where to go when I first started, called simply ‘Teaching English Abroad’ by Susan Griffiths. It gives a pretty balanced picture of the TEFL situation in different countries, although it’s coming from a British perspective. Dave’s Eslcafe is interesting to browse, but the last time I looked at their Thailand discussion board, it was very negative, dominated by a few disgruntled people. There are also better sources for jobs, like ajarn.com for Thailand. Looking for work, my feeling is that it’s best to just show up in the country and visit schools in person, after doing some research. People do tend to gravitate to Asia (as I did, after a few years in Latvia.) The economies are just more dynamic, it’s easier to get set up and earn a living wage in Asia – I don’t regret coming out here at all. It’s a totally different world in terms of language learning too. Edited by viedums on 26 June 2013 at 4:07pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| I'm With Stupid Senior Member Vietnam Joined 3959 days ago 165 posts - 349 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Vietnamese | Message 22 of 23 09 July 2013 at 6:29am | IP Logged | ||
Yeah, it's the same in the Vietnam forum too. Almost everyone I speak to in real life loves it here, yet reading that forum, you'd think it was a hell hole. I guess it's the nature of ESL teaching that it attracts a lot of the sorts of people who were already miserable at home and think that moving abroad will solve all of their problems. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| espejismo Diglot Senior Member Russian Federation Joined 4837 days ago 498 posts - 905 votes Speaks: Russian*, English Studies: Spanish, Greek, Azerbaijani | Message 23 of 23 22 September 2013 at 7:11am | IP Logged | ||
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I finished my CELTA yesterday.
If you're still interested in taking it, don't opt for the full-time intensive course, especially if you have health issues. Do the part-time extensive one instead. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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