Celta

I think I would ask this question on a forum that specializes in TEFL and not a travel forum. Try Dave's eslcafe.com

Ruth

That's a good point; however, considering that this post if for the Long Haul - Living and Working Abroad, I think that it is apt to ask a question that many expats might be able to answer or at least give some useful information. If you don't want to or don't have any information on the topic you don't need to reply.

Dave's Cafe is good for information focusing on Asia, but generally is just foreigners complaining about Korea. That's not the information I was looking for. Thank you for your advice though, I appreciate your input.

I got my CELTA recently in Playa del Carmen. Good program.

When I did my research re: where to get the cert, my take was that - from prospective employers' perspectives - it didn't matter where you got it. So for me, the criteria were:

1. Cost at a particular CELTA (plus cost of accommodations in the area);
2. Transportation costs to/from CELTA destination; and
3. What destinations held intrinsic interest for me?

For others, a fourth criteria - get the cert in a location where there are plenty of schools nearby, so you can simply stay in-country if you snag a job.

About locations with intrinsic interest (e.g. beach): When they say the course is really intense and there's not much time for local sightseeing or hanging out, this is the truth. So getting there in advance or planning to stay for awhile after is a good strategy, if you can afford it.

Hope this helps. TEFL.net is another source with a helpful forum.

Edited by: mzurie

Make sure whichever centre you choose is accredited and providing the cert TESOL (Trinity) or the CELTA (Cambridge). Other courses are not worth doing.

As Mzurie said - you won't have free time, so maybe choose somewhere that won't be expensive to live in for a month.

TEFL.com has lots of ads too.

CELTA and Trinity are standardized and they have to be good to keep their certification. There are also many other magnificent courses all over the world but sadly they don't command the recognition of the big two: you really have to go with one of those if you are interested in getting a job easily.

Yes, choose a place where you won't be paying through the nose. London is too expensive unless you have a friend to stay with.

Consider the question of which country you are going to teach in. If you plan to stay in Europe, there's no point in spending your precious CELTA hours on a course where all the other teachers will be working in China, and want information about how to teach the alphabet to beginners. Also, check with the school about how many people from different countries are going to be on the course. Now and then you get a group of peeople who want to do the course together and will "drag" the course's focus (despite the trainer's best efforts) towards the problems of their particular school. Also, if you do a course in a particular country, that country's grammar and vocab, particular problems, and school system will dominate the course. Finally, a course that is done abroad will often have foreign teachers doing it. Ask what level of English is required for foreign teachers. The minimum demanded by Cambridge and Trinity is IELTS 8 but this is a level of English where teachers will still be making English errors (though not many.) It can actually be useful to do a course with non-native speakers but there's a down side too: ask the school, and hopefully you'll get an idea of how honest and blunt they are.

Finally, get some feedback. Find out how many people have failed the course in the last 6 months. (Ask the school, and then write to Cambridge to confirm it. There IS a central website for CELTA.) Ask for the name of someone who completed the course successfully 3-12 months ago, and then email them and ask if they would take that course again, and if there are any trainers that weren't up to scratch.

Trinity and Cambridge are both good courses. Do the pre-reading in advance so that you can get the maximum out of the course. Ask lots of questions. Enjoy yourself!