Setara A. L. Pracha

The CELTA interview is designed to ward off the faint of heart – and it does!

This course is as intensive and as rigorous as it purports to be, and a great deal of fun too. Like all worthwhile challenges it was stressful and tiring, and exciting and satisfying. It is structured to foster a supportive peer group and that sense of being 'all in it together' encourages you when things are tough. Fortunately, the Study Centre is in central Oxford - perfect for essential coffee breaks and 'group hugs'.

I would encourage anyone interested in teaching to hone their skills by taking a month to study learning and teaching. My attitude to learners, teachers, and lessons, was refined on this course. The tutors are friendly and encouraging, the students are kind, and the sense of achievement is immense.

My advice is – don't be faint-hearted – go for an interview!

Gavin McKinley

The feedback from the tutors and my peers has been very encouraging. Shortcomings are handled very gently. I came away from Teaching Practice sessions, not discouraged, but with a desire to 'do better next time'. I have achieved more in terms of both my self confidence and personal development than I would have ever imagined possible in just a few weeks.

 

Adam Stewart

Doing a CELTA course at British Study Centre was an amazing experience. The school has a relaxed, friendly atmosphere which made it a great place to study. The tutors provided a high level of support and had a great range of experience to draw on.

The input sessions were well organised and provided a good model of the teaching ideas being introduced.

The feedback from teaching practice sessions was constructive and contained a good mix of general areas to develop and specific advice. The students in the classes were lively and eager to learn which created a great atmosphere for them and the trainees to learn in.

Mercedes De Vara Ros

I found the CELTA course tough but definitely worth it. For a month you get immersed in the English language and develop great and useful skills to teach it.

You are teaching from day one, which proves how practical this course is. There is also a very good balance between the input sessions in the morning and the practical ones in the afternoon. Observing other teachers and your peers is a very helpful way to get lots of good ideas that you can try to put into practice straight away.

I particularly enjoyed the fact that the course gave me a totally different prospective about teaching English as a foreign language. It is a very student-centred approach to teach and you become very aware of student's needs and classroom dynamics getting away from a more traditional teaching role.

Tutors were great and very supportive. They provided a whole range of useful ideas, tools and materials to teach effectively. They gently push you with positive observations and feedback so you achieve your best and improve your teaching skills throughout the course.

Due to the intense nature of the course you develop a growing and special relationship with your class mates. You constantly help and support each other creating a great and safe atmosphere, making the stressful moments much more bearable.

I am really glad I have done it!

Hannah

I must admit that I found my CELTA training every bit as tough as I had expected, but it was an extremely rewarding challenge. The trainers at British Study Centres offered lots of support and friendly advice to help us all to develop both our skills and our confidence and I was able to feel comfortable when I began my first proper teaching job.

The content of the course was highly enjoyable and taught in an interesting way; I really enjoyed discovering rules I never knew existed that form the basis of my own language. The teachers were keen to help us learn and were professional but not intimidating, offering constructive criticisms and delivering feedback in a positive manner.

Since we were spending so much time together, I became really close to the other trainee teachers and we were able to have a laugh together and help each other along the way, sharing ideas and friendly advice. The element of the course I valued the most and remember most clearly was the supportive and welcoming atmosphere.

Stewart Neale

Pre-course administration

Fine. Everything worked well.

Course administration

Generally very good and efficient. I would, however, like to see wall charts in the group training room. One for the assignments, showing when they're given out and when they're due in. This would engineer out of the course the problem of someone missing an assignment through being unaware of it, as everyone would have a visual check on what was due in when. The other one would be a big version of the Teaching Practice Timetable, complete with names (instead of letters) and a couple of words signifying what was to be covered (e.g. "Page 93, grammar focus"). That would engineer out the week 3 problem I had, which though trivial in the great scheme of things, was a bit perplexing at the time.

I think wall charts are useful in addition to individual copies, since nobody can lose them or miss them. Changes can be made (as with the Week 4 teaching schedule, although this did not cause any problems) and are immediately and enduringly visible to everyone.

Tutors

Did a fantastic job. A hugely impressive feat of alertness, attention, empathy, and intelligence. We were all amazed at the detail and precision (to say nothing of the tact and the balance) of the completed assessment forms. I (and many of the group, I'm sure) could not imagine any way in which it could be done significantly better. Morning instructional work was also excellent.

Instructional content

Generally well-chosen, at the right level (i.e. not too much detail but a good grounding) with good examples and interesting training room exercises.

Not so sure about the handling of the tenses. Fine on the narrative tenses - a good session - but nothing else on how they fit together as a system. Ah, says the TEFL industry, but they don't fit together as a system - look at all the exceptions. My view is look at the exceptions later, take the mechanical view first. You'll get a lot of coherence from it. As it is, newcomers are sent scurrying to the grammar books, which tend to slice and dice the subject, making every tense look like a law unto itself. This gives the student an unnecessarily (in my view) hard time. This isn't a comment about this course specifically. The whole industry seems to think the same.

Group dynamics

Having encountered a number of training groups ranging from the good to the gruesome, this CELTA group seemed just about as good as it gets. A lot of this came down to the skill of the tutors and the course design. I've never had to maintain a relationship of this sort for as long. Four weeks is a lifetime in this sort of environment. The fact that it held together without conflict or, more typically, splitting into cliques, is remarkable. The obvious potential split with this group was the twenty-somethings splitting off from the older members (e.g. me). This didn't happen. Although the younger set formed a social subgroup that tended to hang out a lot together (as I would expect), they remained engaged with the rest of us. Great job by the tutors.

Eva A.B., Gerry A.S., Suzanne F., Elizabeth G.F., Karin P., Richard S., Evelyn K., Carina C., Natalia L.

The BSC in oxford offers a wide range of subjects which are all relevant to the teaching of English as a foreign language such as 'Exploiting Literature for the Classroom' and 'authentic materials'.

We were introduced to different teaching methods easily applicable to our own classes. On top of that our teachers proved to be highly flexible, adapting their schedule to ur particular needs. Additional material was generously handed out and reference books presented.

But most of all we enjoyed and greatly benefited from the course thanks to our enthusiastic and most competent teachers. It was primarily due to their commitment that this two weeks course was tremendously refreshing in every sense of the word.

Bozena Felsz, Montreal, Canada

I have taken the course called Teacher Refresher 'Methodology of Teaching High School Students' with Elaine Allender at the British Study Centres Oxford. I appreciate both the approach and the content. The approach was open, interactive and focussed on the learner. The content included hands-on interactive activities and practical suggestions concerning follow-up enrichment.

I especially liked the following activities:

• Dictagloss
• Writing a Blub
• Min Sagas

I also appreciate an easy access to other teaching material and Elaine's willingness to suggest appropriate books related to my interest such as 'Learner English' by Michael Swan.

Elaine is a dynamic teacher who can quickly adapt to her students needs. Her ability to build a warm rapport has been greatly appreciated by all students.

The only point for consideration would be a better balance between the duration of the course and the amount of information we have been offered. We have received many useful handouts but we didn't have enough time to discuss some of it in class.

Having said so, I wish to emphasise that the course has been very informative, practical and useful. I wish we had three weeks to study together and enjoy even longer both the professionalism of our teachers and the beauty of Oxford.