CELTA (1) (originally Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults) now Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, one of the best-known teacher-training qualifications for people who want to become English teachers (both with and without teaching backgrounds).
The intensive version is a four-week teacher-training course that candidates join in order to start a teaching career.
It consists, on the one hand, of input sessions conducted by experienced trainers focused on theoretical knowledge, such as teaching approaches, classroom management techniques, language skills and teaching resources.
On the other hand, there are the TPs (Teaching Practice) where each trainee has to teach at least 10 hours to actual students not fellow trainees; which involves: planning, creating and adapting teaching materials and receiving feedback.
I personally took part in the intensive version in 2016, because it was the only possibility for me in my city.
It challenged me in every imaginable way and got me ready for a new career in only four weeks.
I remember asking myself: “Will I be good enough? How demanding is it really? Can I survive four intensive weeks of teaching, studying, writing assignments, and receiving constant feedback?”
Having completed the course, I can honestly say that the Intensive CELTA was one of the most challenging yet rewarding professional experiences of my life. It pushed me far beyond my comfort zone, challenged many of my beliefs about teaching, and helped me grow tremendously in just four weeks.
This article is not meant to scare you away. Quite the opposite. It is to prepare you and inform you about “what to expect if you’re planning on doing the CELTA”, simply because I wish someone had done the same for me.
If you’re willing to put in the effort, I absolutely recommend taking the CELTA. However, I also believe it’s important to know what you’re getting into. So, here’s my experience, from the application process to graduation, with a few lessons I wish someone had told me beforehand.
The application process
The CELTA journey actually starts before the course itself: the moment you apply. The purpose of the application process is to assess whether you’re ready or not for the course.
It involves an “application form”, a language analysis task (grammar and vocabulary exercises) the completion of which is only possible if you are at least a B2-level speaker. Finally, there is an interview with the main course tutor. I remember feeling nervous while waiting for the acceptance email (48 hours after the interview) and excited afterwards.
I had to start preparing myself mentally and physically for the four upcoming demanding weeks. As I knew it would require concentration, hard work and multiple late nights studying.
Week One: The first steps
One thing is sure, week one doesn’t start smoothly. Quite the opposite. Everything happens at once.
Starting from day 1, you get to know the tutors, the other trainees and the “Getting to know you activities (GTNY)” every single task and activity is something related to teaching that you will need during the following four weeks.
During the first week, it’s a whirlwind of observation of the tutors teaching, getting familiar with the various activities as well as the students you will teach for 2 weeks before switching groups.
Because there are usually 2 cohorts of students: Elementary and Intermediate. Candidates teach each group for two weeks before swapping mid-course, with each cohort being supervised by a CELTA tutor.
Every hour, a session is focused on a task, such as lesson planning, classroom management or language analysis to introduce the trainees to teaching-related concepts.
Another huge part of the first week of CELTA is the administration and updating of your portfolio which is a folder where you store every single piece of paper related to your teaching, organised in a very specific way.
The most challenging part of the day was being given the part of the lesson I would teach for 20 minutes (vocabulary) and an example of lesson plan.
I taught three times during that week: Day 2 for 20 minutes; day 4 for 30 minutes and day 5 for 30 minutes to a group of Intermediate adult students.
Each lesson plan had to be more thorough, more detailed and better scripted.
In addition to the TP (Teaching Practice), twice a week we had to observe experienced teachers working in their actual classrooms and complete the “Observation booklet”, more simply we had to “Watch and learn”.
Back then, I had ZERO experience teaching and the early sleeper that I was started staying awake until midnight to prepare the lesson plans, type neatly and reorganise all the notes taken during the day. I also had to get ready to be at the CELTA centre at 7.30 am on the following day.
In addition to the previous, there were the assignments. Every trainee had four assignments to complete during the CELTA, and you couldn’t fail more than one.
The first one was “Language related tasks” which I personally failed on the first submission and had to submit it again (successfully this time).
That’s when I realised that I had to forget about “relaxing during the weekend because the real work was only about to start”.
Week two: The coffee addiction begins
I really started to struggle with two aspects of the course (in addition to the workload) the sleep deprivation and the feedback from the tutors
For sleep deprivation, I sought the only feasible thing in front of me: Coffee, in the morning, instead of lunch (because I had no time for lunch break), in the afternoon so I could keep up with the INPUT sessions and stay awake and in the early evening so I could complete the peer observation and planning lessons for the following days.
The feedback: received from my first tutor (I was still with the first group – Intermediate) was, to say the least, blunt. However, in hindsight I realised that she wasn’t trying to criticise me, but was helping me become a teacher.
Every single aspect of the teaching was under scrutiny: The lesson planning, the worksheets, the instructions, the TTT (Teacher Talking Time), classroom management, the tone of my voice, the facial expression… you need to be like a sponge. Whatever you were instructed to do or given feedback on had to be taken into consideration and improved in the following TP.
This is what made the difference between the 3 criteria on your TP feedback sheet:
- Not to CELTA standard
- To standard
- Above standard
FYI: A trainee isn’t allowed to fail more than three TPs out of the 10 lessons they teach.
Add to that the second assignment “Focus on the Learner” where you choose one of the students, analyse their strengths and weaknesses and establish a personalised list of recommendations and teaching techniques to help them improve their English (based on a sample of their writing and a recording of their speaking).
Halfway through the course, I was only sleeping 4 – 5 hours per night and was knackered all the time.
I failed my fifth TP, because I blacked out during the teaching due to sleep deprivation and used an old worksheet again by mistake, I forgot how to speak English and kept looking at the students in silence for almost one WHOLE minute.
It was awful since it was my last TP with that group before switching to the Elementary one on the first day of week 3.
However, I could still count on the support and advice and encouragement of my classmates, who didn’t hesitate to share resources and ideas, help me make photocopies if I was late, cut, glue and sort out worksheets when I was overwhelmed. Most importantly, they provided me with tissues because I tend to cry when tired.
Week Three: A complainer, but not a quitter
I could speak on behalf of most of the CELTA trainees around the world, this was the most demanding week of the intensive course. You change tutors, you change learners and the workload (teaching and non-teaching) gets bigger.
However, after my fifth disastrous TP I realised it couldn’t get worse.
I was juggling teaching practice, assignments, peer observations and input sessions all at the same time, on 3 hours of sleep per night.
However, I was lucky because planning lessons for the Elementary group felt more manageable.
Also, I personally enjoyed working on the third assignment “Focus on the skills”. It basically consists of choosing an authentic material and creating a lesson from scratch around it. I chose an article published on “Lonely Planet” website about tourism in Morocco and suggested reading for gist and details tasks as well as a writing task for the productive skills. Simply because I enjoy travelling. I made a lesson based on something I enjoyed and I am convinced that was the key to the success of this assignment.
I finally was able to get an “Above standard” in my sixth TP (somehow, the harsh feedback from my first tutor was really on point).
I had to slow my speaking pace, grade the language for the elementary students and get to know them, as well as work more closely with and get to know the methods of the new tutor.
That’s when the assessor came. A person sent by Cambridge University Press & Assessment, who acts like a quality controller; making sure to audit the whole course and having a short discussion with all trainees to collect their feedback on the course.
Unofficially, it felt as though, by the end of his visit, the candidates and tutors already had an idea of how things were going.
Despite exhaustion, I knew by the end of week 3 that I would continue till the end despite how I felt (I was drinking up to 8 coffees a day) and was still getting only 3 hours of sleep.
I realised an important reality: My parents raised a complainer (I was complaining all the time) but certainly not a quitter (Don’t give up, there’s still just one week to go).
After all, lesson planning became slightly more manageable. I started recognising recurring lesson structures and became more aware of my learners’ needs rather than focusing only on myself. The workload was still heavy, but my confidence slowly began to grow.
Week four: A slow return to normality
There was something different about the fourth and final week. Without even noticing it, the pressure started to ease off, we started having time for lunch, personally I started to smile again.
It was some kind of internal peace.
I had become slightly faster at planning lessons, more effective, more focused and efficient.
The final TPs went extremely well: students were more receptive and interacted more during the lessons.
The fourth assignment ”Lessons from the Classroom”, encouraged you to reflect on your own teaching development throughout the course, focusing on everything you have learnt from the input sessions, the peer observations and the feedback you received from your tutors and peers.
Looking back at where you started compared to where you finished is surprisingly rewarding.
On the penultimate day, after we all finished our TPs, I remember that all of us trainees were in a circle, looking at each other wondering if it was really over. Then we started laughing at the same time.
It felt like a long, endless dream that finally came to an end. “We did it, all of us”, and without using Artificial Intelligence.
To conclude, if I had to sum up the CELTA in one sentence, I would say this: it is exhausting, demanding and sometimes overwhelming, but you come out of it knowing much more about teaching than when you went in. It taught me to reflect, not take any feedback personally, and think from the learner’s perspective.
Would I Recommend It? ABSOLUTELY, but you need to set realistic expectations, as it is a highly demanding course.
Ideally, I wish someone had told me about the long evenings, the working sessions at the library during the weekends, the self-doubt and the HUMONGOUS need for coffee.
Books I wish I had read before CELTA
Also, it would have made my life easier to read these books before starting the course:
1 – Learning Teaching: The Essential Guide to English Language Teaching by Jim Scrivener
2 – Concept Questions and Time Lines by Graham Workman
3 – The Practice of English Language Teaching by Jeremy Harmer
4 – An A-Z of ELT by Scott Thornbury
If you’re about to start your own CELTA journey, I wish you the very best of luck. Work hard, listen to the feedback, support your fellow trainees and, most importantly, don’t give up when it gets tough. At some point, every experienced teacher was a nervous trainee, standing in front of a class and wondering if they were good enough.
| DO’S | DON’TS |
| Have access to a reliable laptop/computer and a stable internet connection. | Don’t postpone tasks. Do every task on the day you are asked to. |
| Go to the doctor for a little check-up beforehand; you are going to need your energy. | Don’t say, “I will remember it.” You won’t.
Use an agenda or a to-do list. There is too much stuff to rely on your memory alone. |
| Sleep whenever you can (even during short breaks) |
Don’t omit something and think the tutors won’t notice, because they will. IT IS THEIR JOB. |
| Research in advance: what is expected from you. It isn’t a walk in the park. |
Don’t get upset or offended by the feedback you receive. Whether you like it or not, it is useful, and you will need it. |
| COFFEE ☕ ! lots of it ! | |
| Share information, knowledge and advice with the other participants in the course and during feedback. You must support each other. Some of your fellow CELTA trainees can become colleagues and friends.
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| Photocopy every single document or take a picture of it during the last week of the course. You will need it once you get your first teaching job. |
(1) CELTA Course official page https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/teaching-english/teaching-qualifications/celta/about-the-celta-course/
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