Busting CELTA Myths!

Myth 1:

‘I have experience/ a uni degree; I don’t need a CELTA!’

Comment:

The CELTA course is ideal for those who have no or little experience in language teaching. However, it is a very good course to fine-tune your teaching, explore new areas which you were not familiar with, and get feedback on your teaching.

If you have an academic qualification, the CELTA is a plus as it is a professional qualification – and a very prestigious one all over the world; in fact, there are employers all over the world who would rather hire a CELTA holder than a BA graduate.

Myth 2:

‘I have experience; so, I’ll definitely get a PASS A!’

Comment:

This depends on the quality of your experience. More often than not, trainee-teachers who are set in their ways find it harder to develop than those with little or no previous teaching experience.

So, previous teaching experience has very little to do with getting a PASS A.

Myth 3:

‘The CELTA technique/method is not useful in real-life!’

Comment:

There is no such thing as the ‘CELTA technique’ or the ‘CELTA method’! What you get from a CELTA course is a set of basic techniques and strategies that English language teachers should have and should be able to put into practice in almost any teaching context, e.g. teaching Business English, teaching on Exam-prep Courses, etc.

Myth 4:

‘If you are not a native-speaker, it’s not worth your while because you won’t get a job abroad anyway!’

Comment:

Couldn’t be less true! There are far more non-native speakers working as English language teachers around the world than native speakers.

Myth 5:

‘It is so intensive that you do not get the time to learn anything!’

Comment:

That is an obvious myth for the pure reason that during the course, you get to witness your development from one day to the next. The progress is evident and fast. However, there will be areas of your teaching that you will become much more aware of after the end of the course! This, of course, does not mean that you do not learn during the course; quite the opposite!

Myth 6:

‘I don’t know how to use technology; so, I can’t do it!’

Comment:

If by ‘technology’, you mean interactive whiteboards, audio, speakers, etc, then you should remember that the CELTA course is a training course! Your tutors will show you how to use these technical aids as it’s part of your training!

Myth 7:

‘I will never find the time to prepare such a detailed plan for my lessons in real-life as the ones I prepare on the CELTA! So, what’s the point?

Comment:

Of course you won’t! And you are not supposed to anyway! Lesson planning is mainly a thinking process; on a CELTA course, you complete a detailed plan for assessment purposes so that you show you know how to put this ‘thinking process’ both on paper and in practice.

Myth 8:

‘We all get the same treatment and we are all trained like circus animals!’

Comment:

All candidates have to meet the same criteria; however, different candidates have different needs. The tutors are aware of that and there is no ONE behaviour expected as an outcome of the training to pass the course.

Myth 9:

‘Wherever I do the CELTA, I will get the same learning experience.’

Comment:

Not true. Different centres have different styles of delivering the CELTA syllabus. They also differ in the amount of support they provide candidates with, e.g. VLEs, libraries, etc, during and after the course.

Myth 10:

‘All centres give the same number of hours.’

Comment:

No. All centres need to provide a minimum of 120 hours; however, there are centres offering a lot more than 120 hours, e.g. 140 or 160 hours.

Myth 11:

‘All centres give you a lot of personal attention, for example one-to-one tutorials.’

Comment:

All centres give you one-to-one private tutorials (maximum 3 tutorials); however, there are centres that offer a lot more support to trainees who need it; not just those trainees who are not making progress, but those who might have a chance of getting higher grade.

Myth 12:

‘All centres have a massive library and a VLE.’

Comment:

No. In fact there are not that many centres around the world that offer candidates a great number of resources and books both in printed and electronic format for free.

Myth 13:

‘All centres provide you with resources and support for life.’

Comment:

Not in a million years. In fact, to my knowledge, there are very few centres that provide you with post-course support to help you with your continuous professional development.