What was the last thing you wrote? A Whatsapp message? Shopping list? Maybe an email? So why are teachers still getting students to write descriptions of picture stories to practise writing skills? Let’s look at some ways of making our writing skills lessons more useful for real life. Continue reading “Developing Writing Skills in the EFL Classroom”
Error correction can be a tricky area in English language teaching- too much and students lose their confidence to speak, too little and they don’t feel that they are making progress. Read the situations and think about what you would do in each of the following cases before reading the solution … Continue reading “Error Correction: To Correct or not to Correct???”
It is very interesting when observing trainee teachers on a CELTA course, how many feel the need to “teach” in the old-fashioned sense of the word. Many trainees believe that if they haven’t stood at the front of the classroom talking at the students for a good chunk of the lesson that they haven’t actually taught anything.
In my opinion, teachers of EFL (though I am sure teachers of other subjects would benefit too) need to stop thinking that they have to teach but rather that they have to help students learn. After all, if you have discovered something for yourself, you are more likely to remember it. Continue reading “Focusing on Language in the Classroom”
Reading is a great way to broaden students’ passive knowledge of the language and this in turn increases their active use. But how should we use reading skills in the classroom to ensure students are getting the most out of what they’re reading? Read on for a Q & A on reading skills…
You might have noticed that things have been a little quiet over the past month on our The Ultimate Guide to CELTA blog. This is due to the fact that we’ve been busy with another intensive CELTA here in Munich and have been helping another great set of trainees through their course. Read on to find out what I took from this particular course! Continue reading “Reflections on a CELTA course”
Before investing time and money in a CELTA course it’s inevitable people have questions that need to be answered. Read on to find out the answers to the questions most commonly asked. Continue reading “CELTA FAQs: Everything you wanted to know!”
In my previous post I talked about a difficult trainee but I don’t want to harp on only about negatives because that’s not what I’m about. I have seen many genuinely lovely people walk through our doors who have gone out into the teaching world and done very well for themselves because they had at least some elements of my idea of a perfect trainee. I don’t want to single anyone out here so instead I would like to list some qualities of what I consider to be required to be a perfect trainee. Continue reading “The Perfect Trainee”
I have been working as a CELTA tutor for over eight years now and I am pleased to say that I can still, just about, count my bad experiences with trainees on one hand. That’s not to say there has only been five trainees who have annoyed me, there have been many more of those but they were all likeable in their own way.
On the CELTA course, there are four written assignments. Read on to find out what is required and how to make sure you pass them- if you fail more than one you will automatically fail the course, they are not to be taken lightly! Continue reading “Written Assignments: What they are and how to pass them!”
The vast majority of trainees pass their CELTA course but fact is, it is extremely intensive. Follow these tips from CELTA trainers to make the course that little bit easier …
The Ultimate Guide to CELTA 