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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think I can manage part time work and a CELTA course?(lone parent)

38 replies

CaramelisedOnion · 27/02/2014 01:33

I think I can....if I do the online one it is 10-12 hours study plus one afternoon a week face to face (teaching practice)

I was originally thinking of taking a month off work at some point and doing the 4 week course however I think that might be a bit too much for me given my personal circumstances (my son is almost 3)

Does anyone have any experience of the CELTA course?

OP posts:
Xmasbaby11 · 27/02/2014 11:36

Hi, I do. I work somewhere that runs these courses and I have been on the course myself.

The 4 week course is very intense. Think 12 hour days every day including weekends. Part time is much more manageable!

Feel free to ask anything more specific or PM me.

Original poster
CaramelisedOnion · 27/02/2014 15:34

Thanks! O thought that I would do the part time online one with teaching practice what do you think of that one?

OP posts:
magimedi · 27/02/2014 15:59

My DS did a four week CELTA course (about 9 years ago). He said it was the hardest he had ever worked in all his life. Don't forget that the teaching practice will need lesson plans, gathering material etc etc. He was at the college from 9 - 5 every day & working at home until midnight most evenings. This was after getting a 2.1 in languages so at least he knew his grammar - which is a big part of it!

Great opportunities for travel if you get the qualification from a good college.

magimedi · 27/02/2014 16:02

PS I'm not implying that you don't know your grammar, but he did say it made things much easier knowing the difference between all the verb tenses, gerunds & gerundives etc etc. Don't forget it's not just beginners that you will teach - they are some pretty advanced language learners as well.

CaptainUndercrackers · 27/02/2014 16:08

Name changed for this as I'll out myself! I've done the CELTA and DELTA and I work in this field. The full time CELTA is very full on and I think it would be very difficult to manage alongside work and childcare. Go for the part time option if you can.
What are your plans for after you've done it? I work in recruitment for a language training consultancy so I'd be happy to give you some advice if you'd like. PM me if so.

Xmasbaby11 · 27/02/2014 21:35

I would always choose a face to face course rather than online, but if the choice is between part time online and full time, in your situation definitely part time.

Use the time beforehand to read the suggested materials and gen up on your grammar, as others have mentioned. I had a Linguistics degree behind me but those without a language background were just not used to explaining grammar and sentence structure, so you can get ahead by preparing in that way.

I think it's a great course! I hope you enjoy it.

mercibucket · 27/02/2014 21:52

why are you doing celta? what job are you hoping for? i dont know if its worth the bother if you are not looking at tefl abroad.

morethanpotatoprints · 27/02/2014 21:56

merci

I heard this too, way back in 2008 before choosing to do a PGCE, then they were saying that both Celta and Delta weren't worth the paper they were written on. I wonder why?

mercibucket · 27/02/2014 22:10

they are both valued in their field, but celta is mostly for working abroad.

delta is far superior to pgce languages in terms of academic content (and is a level 7 qual i think?) but not much use if you want to teach in uk schools or colleges unless you also have a pgce or similar

CaptainUndercrackers · 28/02/2014 09:09

Merci, it very much depends what field you're looking to work in. If you want to work in a UK-based English language school, particularly a British Council accredited one, then you will need a CELTA or Trinity TESOL qualification. Working in a university language centre would require higher level quals I believe. I work for a business language training company and we wouldn't consider anyone who didn't at least have CELTA (for a role as a business English teacher).

shemademedoit · 28/02/2014 09:21

Can you even do a CELTA online?

MaddAddam · 28/02/2014 10:03

I did a CELTA course, the 4 week intensive one, at International House in London (mid 90s so it might have changed now). It was fairly hard work but certainly not intensive study if you're used to studying - less intensive than my undergraduate degree, say. I had studied linguistics as part of my degree so maybe that made a difference, I found the teaching practice the hard bit as I hadn't done much teaching, but if you already have experience of teaching or working with children and young people that might be easier.

I found it took up 6 hours a day in the school and then 2-3 hours homework a day, not more than that (maybe I'm not the most perfectionist student, and I did it after a Ph.D. so I was used to studying).

I used it to get TEFL jobs abroad, and also I have taught TEFL to foreign students in a UK university, so it was fairly useful for me, and also I really enjoyed the course. It was fun and challenging and the other students were interesting.

BertieBottsJustGotMarried · 28/02/2014 10:12

I've done it. It was tough as hell but I did it and it was fantastic and I would say go for it. Do the 3 month one though not the 4 week one. I don't know about doing it online... I think you really need to do it in person. Not sure how they will fit in all of the TP with just one afternoon a week, too.

DS was just 3 when I did it. 2 afternoons - though I went all day and used the mornings to study - and 1 weekend day at college, 2 8-hour weekdays working (to get my minimum 16 hours for tax credits!) It was hellish because he was at nursery from 8.45 until 12, at a childminder until about 7pm when I got to pick him up and at weekends he had a sleepover at my now SIL's house, I was with DH, but he was abroad then (and still DP). DS' dad didn't have contact at all. He would sometimes go to XP's mum on a Sunday.

It was hard, I had behaviour problems with DS, it was very stressful, especially when I was in a group with someone who kept saying "Oh well, we're all on the dole aren't we, got loads of time to work on the extra lessons etc" and I was dog tired but still working on my perfect lesson plans for hours (not that anybody does this, ever, when you're actually a teacher!)

I got a Pass B :) Which is actually really hard to get - they told us to aim for a pass and be pleasantly surprised if we got anything higher. I've now been teaching 4 months and love it.

I think the 4 week one would have been too intense with a child and no partner/husband. People were crying and having panic attacks just in the 3 month one.

BertieBottsJustGotMarried · 28/02/2014 10:14

Can you link to the online site? Because TBH I'm pretty sceptical that it's offered online as it seems like a strange way to do it. I'm worried you might be looking at some kind of scam, TBH.

Nokidsnoproblem · 28/02/2014 10:31

I work in this field, however I don't have a CELTA.

In my experience employers prefer the face-to-face one. Some companies won't accept the online one, same goes for TEFL, TOFEL etc.

Also, most companies will want to see a copy of your CELTA diploma and some will take a lot of interest in the final grade that you get, so you really can't slack off.

tryingreallytrying · 28/02/2014 18:31

Only do an online one if it gives you either the CELTA or Trinity Cert TESOL - anything else is a scam and not worth it.

TheCunkOfPhilomena · 28/02/2014 19:44

Agree with everyone else here; don't do an online one unless it's a CELTA. I used to be a Director of Studies in an English Language School and would never hire anyone without this qualification at least.

I did my CELTA ten years ago and I found it incredibly tough (I did the four week intensive one) but immensely enjoyable.

NigellasDealer · 28/02/2014 19:45

sorry to repeat but the online course is not worth the money and will not gain u employment

EarSlaps · 28/02/2014 20:01

Can I ask those who work in the field what they do?

I did a Trinity TESOL about 11 years ago then taught business English to adults abroad for a year. I haven't done any teaching since but would like to get back into it. I'm just guessing that most teaching would either be evenings or summer courses though? So not that good to fit around my children. I'm not in London, where I guess most jobs are.

I loved the course but it was a lot of work. I did a few hours homework each evening plus through the weekends. I did manage to spend a fair amount of time in the pub too though and come out with an A (Trinity don't award grades but our training school did).

Learning all the grammar was fascinating, I knew quite a lot but some people really struggled with it. It does turn you into a bit of a pedant though.

NigellasDealer · 28/02/2014 20:04

i did a CTEFLA (what the CELTA was called before) and taught overseas for 2 years and then taught in private language schools, FE and universities for quite a few years.
now i do proofreading and editing and yes i am a total pedant.

NigellasDealer · 28/02/2014 20:05

EarSlaps have you contacted your local universities?

EarSlaps · 28/02/2014 20:06

Thanks.

NigellasDealer · 28/02/2014 20:07

also try Protocol National, it is an agency for FE colleges

EarSlaps · 28/02/2014 20:11

Thank you again. I haven't really done anything about it as I'm currently a SAHM and not really planning to work until he's at school- another 2 1/2 years. By then it will be such a long time since I taught I'm not sure if they'd want me to train again.

I'll have a look as it gets nearer. It would be much better to go back into than accountancy (my other career pre children).

BertieBottsJustGotMarried · 28/02/2014 20:13

Haha, yes, it certainly does turn you into a pedant. Although I'm always paranoid on these threads that I'll make some ghastly mistake!

I am teaching abroad but a friend I met on the course is still teaching in the UK, at the same college we did the CELTA! Before she got that job she was working in a Refugee centre. This was around Birmingham so not near London. I'm not sure of the actual location. But certainly it's worth looking around your nearest biggish city. There will always be language schools around and you can look for any kind of facility which is aimed at particular ethnic groups who struggle to integrate as they will need English teachers.

Another woman on the course was at the time working for her local children's centre teaching English to some of the mums who didn't speak it. May be less likely now but I know that our Children's Centre was always looking for ways to spend the budget so that it wasn't cut, you could enquire. She was paid.

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