Basic Introduction to CELTA

What does CELTA stand for?

CELTA, short for Cambridge Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults, is a special qualification from Cambridge for Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL). CELTA is actually the most widely recognized English teaching qualification in the world and is often requested by employers.

Who need to prepare for CELTA?

CELTA is a good kick not only for teachers with no or mere experience but also for teachers with experience but hoping to develop their skills furthermore. Having CELTA on your CV definitely moves you up the TEFL job application ranks.

How to take the CELTA courses?

CELTA courses are run by authorized centres based on specifications produced by Cambridge Assessment English. There are more than 350 authorized centres in more than 80 countries, running over 1,500 courses a year(Find a center on Cambridge English). You can choose the way you'd like to take your CELTA course and the centre that fits your needs – whether that's your local centre, or an online course provider.

The CELTA courses are delivered by authorized centers on behalf of Cambridge Assessment English. The courses cover the principles of effective teaching, and gives you a range of teaching techniques and practical experience. You get hands-on teaching practice and observation of experienced teachers, and you'll apply your learning by delivering communicative teaching with English language learners.

All CELTA courses last for at least 120 hours of contact between candidates and course tutors.The courses, which include the following contents, ca be taken for either full-time (usually over 4 to 5 weeks) or part-time (from a few months to a year):

• tutorial support and consultation
• supervised lesson planning
• 6 hours' assessed teaching practice per candidate supervised by a course tutor
• feedback on teaching practice
• peer observation of teaching practice (i.e. watching the other candidates' lessons)
• 6 hours' directed observation of lessons taught by experienced ELT professionals, up to 3 hours of which may be of filmed lessons

You should also allow for 80 additional learning hours for pre-course preparation, reading, research, assignment writing, lesson preparation and record keeping.

Is CELTA Helpful for Teaching in China?

Since a lot of the schools in China place a higher value on CELTA than other certificates, so if you want to start and boom your English teaching career in China, CELTA will be a right choice for you.

With the knowledge and skills you learned from the CELTA courses, you will surely maintain a good relationship with multiple learners and soon become a so-called good English teacher.