What does it take to be a good teacher?

All types of people become teachers. Many people choose ELT as a life long career, but others, such as gap year students, or people in the middle of a career change, may teach English for just a year or two.

There is no one kind of person that makes a typical teacher. Generally, if you enjoy meeting people and welcome the challenge of working abroad and discovering new languages and cultures, teaching English is probably for you. It can also be tough at times, which is why it is important to be well prepared before you go. A well-recognised certificate, with proper training is essential.

It really doesn't matter if you are shy or feel that you will be unable to stand up in front of a group of strangers - it's all about being yourself, and the course obviously prepares you for this. If you work hard and prepare your classes well you will be up to the challenge.

CELTA is not only for adventurous types who want to take off for an exotic destination with a backpack once the course is over. There are plenty of opportunities for work in countries where English is the first language. This is increasingly true in these days of increasing immigration and the popularity of education in the UK, USA, Australia, and so on.

Do you really know what to expect?

The 4-week CELTA course requires a lot of commitment and a lot of work. It is very intensive because there is a lot to cover in a short time and so you will have classes all day and then spend most of your evenings/weekends doing lesson-planning and completing written assignments. this makes it extremely good value for money. Trainees often describe it as like a year's university work in one month!

Some practicalities before you take the plunge..

If you are thinking of enrolling on a CELTA Course read the information below carefully:

If you are unsure whether ELT is the right step for you try to get a taste of it first. If you have a friend that is an English language teacher ask them if you can shadow them at work for the day or ask someone at your local college or centre if you can sit in on a few of their lessons.

If you are in Barcelona, you can sit in on some of our lessons and meet our English teachers.

If this is not possible, enrolling on a language course in your home town can give you interesting insights into the whole teaching and learning process.

If you have a wedding, or graduation coming up, or a part-time job. You are expected to attend 100% of CELTA so put the course off if you have outside commitments that might interfere with your attendance.

Once you have enrolled on the course...

Do the pre-course work. You can reduce the workload and stress factor greatly by doing some pre-course studying. Read the recommended methodology books, do the whole of the pre-course task and take time to work on raising your language awareness. Basically, bring along plenty of enthusiasm, energy and a sense of humour and you'll be successful!