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What was your professional or academic background before starting the course?
After leaving medical school in my second year, I spent a few years travelling and learning languages, with focus on Arabic, Urdu and Persian. As a result of my learning and travelling experiences, I developed a deep love for the way languages work and for teaching them. I had tutored Arabic in a private capacity for over a year before joining the course in hope that it would open the door of English teaching to me and help me in my general approach to teaching languages.
How did you hear about the CELTA, and why did you choose it over other teaching qualifications?
I heard about the CELTA from friends who had done it years back. They all had very positive impressions of the CELTA and had all benefitted from it greatly, even when teaching other subjects. I chose the CELTA because it was an accredited and respected qualification while at the same time not being so long as to cause inconvenience to my other life plans. I chose to do it at UCL due to credibility of the institution and found access to the university’s libraries and resources to be extremely helpful.
Can you describe your overall experience during the CELTA course?
My experience with the CELTA at UCL, in short, was that it was the best educational experience I have probably ever had. The mixture of theory and practice, the feedback of the teachers and my fellow trainees and my experiences teaching the students were all exceptional and extremely useful. I am not sure I will ever have a similar educational experience again.
What aspects of the course did you enjoy the most?
The input sessions were very enjoyable for me. Even though the teaching practice is the main assessed component of the course and it was greatly informative and instructive, I found the input sessions to also be very useful. One of the main highlights was that the input session tutors, in teaching us, employed the techniques they were teaching us to use with our students in the sessions themselves. This was a great practical education!
What were some key teaching methodologies or techniques you learned that you didn't know before?
I was previously unaware of the power of Concept Checking Questions. It is very easy for a teacher to ask, ‘Do you understand?’ and for the student to reply, ‘Yes’, but how does a teacher know if that is actually true? Concept Checking Questions allow for a teacher to assess whether the student has really understood the word or point of grammar without using terminology or the word itself but focusing on the concept and meaning behind them – a very powerful tool!
How did the feedback process help you improve as a teacher?
The feedback given was extremely detailed and personalised – every moment of my teaching was commented on by our tutors and feedback was given on a variety of things, from my teaching techniques to my standing position in the classroom. This gave me a lot of material for reflection and self-improvement, and I was able to take immediate steps to fix any problems in subsequent lessons.
Would you recommend the CELTA to others, and if so, why?
I would very highly recommend the CELTA to anyone with a love for language and teaching, particularly at UCL. I have learnt so many new ideas and concepts that have direct practical relevance to teaching and can aid me greatly. It’s not just a theoretical course. It is highly enjoyable for those who are willing to put the effort in. If every language teacher did the CELTA I am certain there would be many more students who could competently speak and use foreign languages!
What advice would you give to future CELTA students?
I would strongly advise students to do the pre-course task that is provided before the course. It is extremely valuable and will save you a lot of confusion. If you complete it, you will have been exposed to a lot of the course content before the start of the course and will be able to understand things at a deeper level, as well as having more chance to ask questions and develop. I would also advise the students to go through the 12 verb tenses in the English language before starting. Although the course is definitely not a grammar course, it is helpful to have some basics under your belt before starting.
If you could go back, is there anything you would do differently during the course?
I would put more effort into my teaching practice lessons – those are the main assessed parts of the course and the better your lessons are the better you will do. The assessments are important, but they are a matter of passing or failing; your teaching is actually graded. I regret planning lessons the day before my teaching as that leaves you with little time to reflect and criticise your own lesson plan. I often say to myself that all writing should be left to ‘marinate’ for at least a day before being used, and that applies to plans too!