Preparing for the CELTA Etc _ TEFL

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Preparing for the CELTA etc (TEFL.net)

15 practical suggestions on what you should do prior to taking any CELTA orsimilar TEFL certificate course

Written by Alex Case for TEFL.net

1. Learn a language

This can help you put yourself in the shoes of your future students and get some

ideas on what ways you like learning and therefore are most likely to choosewhen teaching. If possible, try studying in a monolingual class (one where

English isnt used), learn to use phonetic symbols in a dictionary (languages

where the spelling is irregular like French are good for this), and learn as much

grammar terminology as you can. Learning another script like Thai or Russian can

also be good experience. Keeping a language learning diary and experimentingwith as many self-study methods as you can (e.g. different ways of learning

vocabulary) will also be useful. If you cant find or cant afford classes, a

conversation exchange or self-study materials are nearly as useful.

2. Buy and use an Advanced learners dictionary

This can be a difficult habit to get into, as native speakers naturally use skills of

guessing new words from context (skills that you will be trying to teach yourstudents) rather than reaching for a dictionary all the time. Still, try to keep a

good Advanced level learners dictionary around and keep it in mind when

reading something pretentious or playing Scrabble, because even if you dont use

it before the course to improve your own vocabulary or pronunciation, you will

certainly need it during the course to help you explain the meaning or pron of

words and expressions to your students.

3. Learn some grammar

Learning a foreign language can be an interesting way of doing this. Otherwise,

people tend to find that analysing sentences for parts of speech, tenses etc. is

the most interesting thing to do on your own, especially if you are amathematical/ analytical kind of person. Recording and transcribing one of your

own conversations and then analysing the grammar (and lack of grammar) in it

can also be more motivating than most grammatical study. Other interesting

topics include regional differences and differences between spoken and written

grammar, e.g. looking at a corpus based grammar like the Cambridge Grammar



of English and seeing how much you agree with its findings.

4. Mix with foreign people

This should help you work on speaking slower and with simpler language. Ways

of finding people to speak to include conversation exchanges and volunteering to

help foreign people, e.g. as a tour guide, host family or in a local tourist

information office. If there arent any people from other countries to practice on,

time spent with a hard of hearing relative or small children might be a goodsecond best.

5. Get yourself interested in the language

Having a detailed knowledge of the history of English is in no way useful in the

classroom, and can in fact cause all kinds of confusion if you try to introduce

your students to it. Prompting your own interest in such things can, however,

improve your enthusiasm for your subject, which is perhaps the most important

quality for any kind of teacher. Many famous writers have written books about

the English language, but Bill Brysons Mother Tongue is almost certainly the

most entertaining. Writers from the world of linguistics who are also very

readable include David Crystal and Stephen Pinker.

6. Polish up your own EnglishAlthough factors like speaking speed and not having a good lesson plan or not

sticking it have a lot more impact on passing a TEFL certificate than your abilitynot to make spelling and grammar mistakes, having a mistake pointed out by a

student is one of the most embarrassing things that can happen in class. Waysof working on this include keeping lists of mistakes you make that a spellchecker

picks up and reading books on common mistakes. Reading a book on commonmistakes designed for non-native speakers can also help you become aware of

which mistakes to look out for when your students are speaking and writing.Alternatively, a book written for native speakers, especially one written in alively style such as Troublesome Words by Bill Bryson, is more likely to focus on

the things you have problems with. Just as for your students in their grammarstudies, you are probably better off using such books in small chunks with lots of

breaks.

7. Learn the phonemic scriptLike certain types of grammar, learning the secret code of the phonemic script is

something that mathematical/ analytical types get into straight away. Forothers, it is reassuring to know that you are not expected to be able to write

whole sentences out in phonemics without a dictionary even at the end of thecourse. Interesting ways of getting into and practicing this include learning

foreign languages with the help of a dictionary, looking up words you have neverknown how to pronounce (e.g. foreign words in English), and looking atphonetics more generally and using it to try and pronounce sounds that dont

exist in your language.



8. Learn the jargon

You should quickly pick this up when you are on the course, but it can bedaunting until you do. Easy ways into it include reading forums and blogs by

people who are already teaching English, where they will often use expressionssuch as TTT and Find Someone Who without any further explanation. You can

then look these things up in an English teaching book or elsewhere on theinternet, or just leave a comment asking them to explain.

9. Teach something else

Although teaching languages is very different from teaching maths, the samepatience, ability to explain in simple terms etc. are necessary for both. If you

cant get a paid or voluntary teaching or assistant teacher position, just helpingout at a summer camp or with someones homework are useful too.

10. Study something elseThis will help you prepare for the more academic parts of the course, make sure

you have all the stationery etc you will need when you start writing essays, andhelp you give your students tips on self-study skills such as finding time to do

homework.

11. WriteThis can be a way of making up for not having anything to study if you want to

get yourself into the habit of sitting down to do something everyday, or as away of realising what your own problems with English are. The simplest things to

get into writing are a diary or a blog. If you are lost for things to write about,your struggles to prepare for the CELTA might be a good topic.

12. Pre-reading

Your course provider will probably give you a list of books to buy, but please beaware that this might not be the same as a pre-reading list. For example,Michael Swans book is hardly meant to be read from cover to cover and The

Practice of English Teaching makes little sense until you have actually been inthe classroom and so can start to make your own mind up about the many

options it gives you. If the place where you will be doing your cert doesntprovide a specific pre-reading list, you might be able to find one elsewhere on

the internet or can make your own by looking for books that are simpler (How toTeach English rather than or before the other Harmer mentioned above) or more

systematic (a grammar book that is arranged logically by sections rather than A

to Z).

13. Get organised

One of the greatest challenges of the CELTA is just lack of time- time to do yourcoursework, time to relax and time to do anything else that comes up in your

life. You can make more time for all of these things by doing the things

mentioned in the other points above before the course starts, but also by buying

all the books and stationery that you could possibly need, clearing your email



inbox, paying all your bills etc before the first day of the cert. You may alsowant to put some time and effort into improving your time management skills by

reading a book on it, filing things that are often difficult to find, starting a to do

list, buying a new diary etc.

14. Learn timing

Planning how long things are going to take and then checking how long they

really took is not only another good time management method that can help you

deal with the pressures of the course, but is also a useful skill to have whenwriting a lesson plan and checking your progress through it in class without

having to look at your watch every ten seconds. You can practice this with

literally any daily task.

15. Relax

The thing you will have most problems finding time for during the course is

relaxation, so when you are reading up for the course do so in a reclining chairwith a freshly squeezed orange juice just before you go to the pool, so that you

start the course healthy in body and mind rather than already frazzled.

Written by Alex Case for TEFL.netAugust 2008 | Filed under Teacher Training

There are links to more than 400 articles and 1000 worksheets plus 1500 blog posts by Alex

Case on TEFLtastic blog.

Preparing for the CELTA Etc _ TEFL

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