Any CELTA experts around? (Any EFL teachers maybe?)

[BertieBotts]

Trying to finish one of my assignments. I have to think of a controlled and freer practice and I've been suggested to focus it on pronunciation, it's specifically for a Russian learner, so w/v or th would be best.

However - you can't really do freer practice for pronunciation, right? So what do I doooooo?

Try places like Wall street and inLingua first. They are franchises so quality of experince varies.

Franchises are useful to get yourself established somewhere, then you can find out where the other teachers hang out and discover the inside track on local schools.

Once you have a couple of years experience keep checking in at the nearest British Council for freelance work. I got my (no degree, no DELTA) foot in the door that way and ending up working full time for them, (inc running conferences, seminars and workshops for the region on the BC's recommendation) as a result for several years before I got up duffed.

If there is a BC near it is worth going to any seminars they offer, especially those for the Cambridge exams, as a way of getting your face known and making contacts. Make sure you go and introduce youself to the seminar giver at the end and say how much you enjoyed it/found it helpful. Ask if you can email me them for suggestions of additional reading material/resources.

All sorts of better/good school lower their on paper requirements for teachers if they have a class with no teacher during golden time, so once you are in the place you want to be don't stick to just looking at ads and only applying for jobs that decribe your experience and qualifications. Try to devolp contacts with other teachers and let it be known you are up for onwards and upwards opportunities.

And research anybody who offers you a job. There are some right cowboy outfits out there. Google the school name, place with "esl black list" or "esl grey list" "esl teacher review". Should give you a heads up if a school is notorious for not paying or treating its teachers like shit.

I am fully freelance now. Don't even take contracts in state school, let alone private language schools at this point.

But it was hard work getting to this point and I made some serious miscalculations along the way.

The benefit of even a bog standard (not as bad as Belitz) language school is that you get a wide range of experience thrust upon you. From teeny tinies to Big Wanky Bankers who think alot of themselves and expect a bit of bowing and scraping. It can feel like being hurled on a particularly scary fairground ride sometimes. Lots of new stuff before you feel confident you have found your feet. But the pay off is fantastic if you just white knuckle it and learn as you go. You will make mistakes, we all do, but those mistakes are the foundation upon which your future experitise is built.

Do you need a fixed income every month? Do you have back up savings ? How is your stamina, as in can you keep going from 9am to 9pm for the sake of five contact hours ? Are you teaching to travel, or is the travel a lovely side benefit of the teaching ? Once you have worked out what you need and what you want from this new adventure, it'll be easier to work out what kind of work suits your needs.

Worth giving this forum a read, to see if anybody has had any really rubbish experiences with a school you are considering applying to.

forums.eslcafe.com/job/index.php

I have a DS who is only 4, so no way can I do 12 hour shifts for the benefit of 5 hours' teaching.

The reason for teaching is because it seemed interesting, and DP moved here with his job, so sort of the teaching and travel are all rolled into one new exciting package!

DP is hoping that we can survive on his income alone and is looking for a house based on that figure, but it might be important to have my income too - it would certainly make things easier.

I can't speak German (which is where we are) and I don't have teaching qualifications or a degree, only the CELTA. So I've been told it's unlikely I will find work in a state school - but I don't even know what that means particularly - is it a state school as in a high school, with teenagers? Or something else?

Basically I know roughly what I want/need, fairly predictable hours, preferably mornings or evenings although daytimes could be negotiable, no waiting around not getting paid, don't really mind if the pay is shit to start out with, but would prefer some support if possible!

I think there is a Wall Street here. I'll have a look. DP reckons that he should be able to get me some work-from-home stuff with his company for when we first move over which will be a help, and give me a chance to go looking around!

Sorry, I meant to say - I know what I want, I just don't know what's realistic and what the different options will offer me.

I think if you already have one income, and yours is supplementary, you can afford to be a bit more picky. With a kid I don't see how you have any option other than to avoid the sausage factory type schools.

Is the little one going to nursery ? If so any idea what hours he'll be doing ?

I worked for Berlitz years ago and while the method was repetitive at the lower levels,it was a great place to start,for me,at any rate. I had classes ranging from kids classes to business English classes in various companies,although it was a bit of a waste of all the CTEFLA stuff I had done. All that cutting and pasting,all gone to waste

CarpeVinum,I lurve relative pronouns and def/non-def clauses. I used Focus on FCE to teach it once and it just clicked with me! ( Of course,I couldn't tell the students why I kept saying 'Oh,now I get it!!' )

I am not a fan of the comparative/superlative...what a load of old palaver

(Oh and,if I might share my EFL highlight which means nothing to regular folk. I have touched Mario Rinvolucri's sweaty back Don't hate me!)

Mario Rinvolucri's sweaty back

And may one enquire on the context for that target language ?

Was he hairy? I have always immagined him hairy.

And a bit unkempt.

I think it was a getting to know you game from 'Grammar Games' ,you had to write something on your partner's back and then they had to guess what it was...I can't remember what I wrote on his back,but I think it was something short :D Oh the heady days of EFL

He was quite hairy,but the sweat is what I will never forget Is he still on the go? I miss EFL :( I am now in ESOL and we all take ourselves Very Seriously Indeed.

I think it was a getting to know you game from 'Grammar Games'

And they you have it people, EFL foreplay

I think he is still on the go, him and Harmer will probably be on the conference circuit til the nursing home rips the transparacies from their cold, dead hands. But at least you know where you are with the old guard.

Unlike these Dogme boys who appear to have "discovered" winging it and siezing a learning op by the short and curlies on the fly and managed to market it as The Next Big Thing.

Come back to the (slightly boozy) TEFL dark side Fite We are all unplugged, loose, responsive and deliciously unplany these days (allegedly).

Unless caring and shareing in the EFL classroom get a revival, in which case I am defecting to you lot.

EFL foreplay

Had no idea there were so many fellow TEFL-heads on here! I made it to the dizzy heights of EAP thanks to my (now rather dusty but hard-won) diploma, get me...

Would hardly recognise a relative pronoun if it smacked me round the chops now though!

As not taught for years.. Miss it in some ways but had definitely got sick of crappy UK pay & conditions after Asia burnt out though.

I have been thinking about doing an MA as everyone seems to have one in ESOL. I did my diploma yonks ago,though.Twas all about chunking back then and being eclectic. Not sure I have the brain power any more!

I thought of another EFL claim to fame on my way home from work today. I have seen Felicity O'Dells bra. Twas grey.

The shame!! Felicity O'Dell's bra,I meant

Sorry I haven't been posting - my Internet access is pretty rubbish at the moment. Just wanted to come on and say thank you all so much for your input, my assignments passed! I told my tutor today about the flappy cycling short man at the bus stop and she laughed and said she liked it. I did my last ever TP today. Out on my own now. I feel quite bereft. Also had my first swearing incident in class - one student offered "pissed off" as a feeling word. I even wrote it on the board I just put (rude) after it.

Well done Yoni! I'm laughing at Mario's sweaty back. I think of him as a very 70s touchy feely type. It is a long time since I taught but I do a bit of consulting which keeps me in touch with EFL centres and I don't want ot give that up.
My claim to fame- I did my CTEFLA at IH with Liz Soars (of Headway fame and $$) as one of the trainers. Then in the 90s I co-authored a book which was associated with the Headway series. Still get small royalty cheques each year.

Yay!! well done,YBB!! What a relief to get it over and done with :)

Saffron,love your claim to fame! Is it true the bould Liz and John have their own island?!

Headway was great when I lived abroad,when I moved back to the UK to teach we couldn't use it at all as it had been done to death by every efl student in the world. I used to know HW int by heart,the reading about Paul McCartney driving a mini? I have repeated that story many a time around a dinner table! Indeed,a lot of my general knowledge came from an efl course book. People knew when I started a sentence with ' Oh I read somewhere that...' what would follow would be a very grammatically-correct anecdote from Grapevine or Distinction or Reward Upr or summat

Yay Yonibotts that's great news!

I worked for a fairly large but not chain school just after I got my certificate, they were great as they had a set coursebook but were pretty flexible about what supplementary materials you could use. They also had a great DoS, who was very supportive of new teachers. I've never worked for a big chain actually, sounds a nightmare. My last proper job was another small school overseas where they let me loose writing course curricula, that was fantastic! I was in geek overload

After that job, I worked freelance overseas, and found it fantastic, I could set the hours I wanted to work, design my own lesson plans and courses and I was really lucky to get great students. It was good money too, but it was Japan so people were willing to pay £15+ for an hour. It would have been quite nerve racking to do that just after getting the certificate, but if you find a good textbook and materials and get used to mostly one-to-one lessons, it can be great. I found most people who chose a freelance teacher wanted something a bit more casual and less structured than they would get in a school, so that's worth bearing in mind too.

I'm currently applying for teaching jobs in the UK, in the Cambridge area, is anyone local to me? Also hoping to do the AppLing/Tesol MA too.. Has anyone here done the MA and survived?

Then in the 90s I co-authored a book which was associated with the Headway series. Still get small royalty cheques each year.

Headstart?

Luff that one. Lifesaver when you discover your false beginners are ...not so false.

I actually got a Pass B on the course! I'm really chuffed

I think I have more of an idea what to look out for now. DP has started looking for apartments :) It's all happening!

Massive Congrats!

That's a fab result.

Thanks Carpe :)

interesting thread! am doing a 4 week CELTA course in June - eeek!

Ooh how exciting Salvo :)

I advise you to prepare for those four weeks like childbirth. Freeze meals in advance, preferably ship the DC off for a holiday with granny and expect to get no sleep - get some iron and vitamin C supplements. Breathing exercises might come in useful too come to think of it :o