Hmm… I think I should have mentiond “in Taiwan” 
Specifically about the courses that they specifically are offering (and not some school in Barcelona). How they are going to offer the course, as most of us are already working at various schools/buxibans and won’t exactly be able to take time off to do the course?
I’d already found out about what CELTA is (from a different website).
sorry for trying to help…
Realised that the link wasn’t “in Taiwan”… but the CELTA is a pretty standardised course world-wide… It is a 4 week course and as such I wouldn’t think that cambridge would make any exceptions…
but that is just my opinion of course… lets wait and see what Hartley has to say.
Cheers!
Daryl
If the course is offered, it would have to be 4 times a year to cover costs, and would need to have 10-12 participants per course. As everywhere else in the world, it would need to be a 4 week course full-time (perhaps a couple of the courses would be in the Summer).
Some schools, though certainly not the majority, would be willing to release teachers for such a program.
Another option could be a part-time course, running 6-9 months, one evening a week.
Hmm… I’m guessing that has something to do with instructor schedules. The problem for teachers, of course, is that the summer time is usually the busy “money making” time of year.
For teachers I would think 6-8 weeks before summer and a month after would be an ideal start time. The reason being that it’s not so busy + there’s usually a new intake of teachers at these times.
No, not to do with instructor schedules, just percieved best times - thanks for the input.
I’d be interested in such a course if:
I don’t know what the fee would be, but I’m pretty sure less expensive than Barcelona.
Freddy Mercury… “BAAAARCELONAAAAA!!!”
Hartley,
as pointed out above, a problem for you is that much of your ‘target market’ are already likely to be teaching. I think it highly unlikely that a school here would willingly release a teacher for a month.
Another point is that the value of a CELTA here doesn’t necessarily seem worth the cost of the course, and the lost income.
I would be willing to do CELTA part-time in evenings or possibly weekends, but a month full-time would be almost impossible unless I was between contracts.
I’ll keep an eye on this thread, hopefully I’ll be able to do a course here.
Most if not all English cram schools go through a slack time before and after summer. This means many teachers are getting below average hours. It’s not just the summer when this happens, either. Before Chinese New Year there is a similar drop. At these times it may facilitate schools and teachers to have an “educational” month off work. The school gets the advantage of having a better qualified employee, while the teacher gets the qualification when he or she could otherwise have been twiddling his/her thumbs waiting for the hours to pick up.
We’re currently looking at options - part-time is a possibility, but still at the fact finding stage right now.
Do it in China if you want to do a CELTA.
It’ll be cheaper.
Conversation schools don’t recognize EFL certificates and don’t even know what they are.
So, then, why would anyone take a month off of work, lose a month’s pay or more, and spend $2,000 US on a EFL cert?
I don’t see many people wanting to do that - it’s not like they’ll get a better job with better pay.
That’s the situation with EFL in Asia.
Thanks for the viewpoint Shimokitazawa - where did you do yours?
I think a Taiwan CELTA course is overdue. I’m no expert, but I’ve heard that it’s acceptable as an ESL credential in many parts of the world that pay ESL teachers well, such as Japan, Pakistan and the Gulf states. Also, it wouldn’t instantly translate into better pay here but it would probably increase one’s chance of landing a better job in the future. Plus, Taiwan has a dismal reputation for ESL teaching and learning skills compared to other countries. Why not try and improve it? I’d take it if it was offered, as long as it was reasonably priced. But why not try to make it more relevant to teaching kids, ot at least teens?
I think by having a CELTA course in Taiwan, it’ll not only improve the caliber of teaching here, but by being local, it may even help improve its status in schools. If I may make a suggestion, though, seeing as teaching children is a much bigger and lucrative industry than teaching adults and there are plenty of potential subjects to use in a practicum classroom, you might do well to think about offering a CETYL program as well as a CELTA. The biggest problem I have in finding a CETYL program (now that I have finally found some) is that they are often the longer term ones, eg. weekend programs, which makes it impossible to do since they are not in this country. The closest one is in Hong Kong and ridiculously expensive. If Taiwan could set up a CETYL program, you’d generate a lot of candidates and a marked improvement of how English is taught here.
I can’t remember which poster said it, but for those who are wondering why the CELTA is so special and sought-after despite being so difficult is that it teaches you to focus on the purpose for your lessons and what your students are getting out of it, rather than on new games to teach your kids or on methodology theories. That was probably the hardest part of the program.
Amos, I found that I did not learn how to do things the Cambridge way. I found that the CELTA taught me how to plan my classes more effectively. Granted, if you are being spoonfed your lessons from the central office of your chain school, this skill will not be particularly useful. I still use a lot of the things I was taught in my CELTA program two years ago, despite the fact that I teach children. I went into the program with three years’ teaching experience, an EFL certificate, and a degree in linguistics with a specialization in TESOL and still gained something from it.
The CELTA course, while having mostly to do with teaching adults has many applicable uses in teaching children. Since in ESL children are defined as being under 14 or so (Critical Age Period Theory anyone?), it is totally relevant to teaching high school and university students. There is a section in the course where they talk a little bit about the materials used for children and doing a lesson with kids.
Hartley, you also might want to think about doing the less intensive classes since many teachers here have to work year-round and can’t take a month off to do the regular CELTA course. You could start them in the off-months so those teachers (and potentially newbies who typically arrive during these months) can get used to the workload of the course before they have their regular hours again. Maybe one longer-term course beginning in July and another beginning in February or January whenever Chinese New Year begins.
I highly recommend the CELTA to others, even those certified teachers here who have no ESL training. It would be fantastic if it could get up and running here. And even better still if a CETYL program could be set up as well.
Thought I would post a follow-up here as I have just completed my CELTA in Bangkok and will be returning to Taiwan tomorrow to start a new job on Monday…
Even after having taught for 5 years in Taiwan, I can’t say enough about how valuable I found the CELTA course… It definitely made me realise what a crap teacher I was before… Even though it was only 4 weeks long, it has totally changed the outlook and methodology in which I will now prepare for and approach my classes…
On a sadder note thoug… I am returning to Taiwan. One thing I really hated about teaching English in Taiwan was the lack of professional development. Having now completed my CELTA, I would love to go on in a couple of years and do DELTA and then move onto other places around the world…
I think its seriously about time the situation in Taiwan changed… both for the good of serious teachers, causal teachers, and most importantly those people who are paying to learn English…
Does the BC have any plans to try and change the situation? Is it even able to do much in the face of the MOE? I would love it if there were some form of professional organization for certified language teachers in Taiwan, with regular training and meetings… (hint to the BC, or anyone who could do this…)… and not just for foreigners either but all qualified English T’s…
I was checking the BC website for seminars and such and saw two that are on weekdays… Does the BC ever do seminars over weekends so teachers can attend without skipping work?
A CELTYL program would be great as well… maybe over Chinese New Year when more people have time off…
Most schools in Taiwan, it could be said, are not overly interested in the ongoing professional development of their teachers… is there any way to change this? Or is it something we just have to worry about ourselves… or else get out of Taiwan?
Cheers!
Daryl
Wouldn’t be much use to me. I already know everything.
A month in Bangkok would be a life changing experience 
, with or without CELTA.
Aaaahhh… so you too have spent some time in Bangers…
Actually… we had very little time for fun (well a bit of time but not much)… as I was constantly in a state of trying to be ahead of the CELTA workload…
Cheers!
Daryl
[quote=“daryl_ks”]Aaaahhh… so you too have spent some time in Bangers…
Actually… we had very little time for fun (well a bit of time but not much)… as I was constantly in a state of trying to be ahead of the CELTA workload…
Cheers!
Daryl[/quote]
I was wondering about your choice of location. When it comes to work or study, Bangkok is not the first place that springs to mind.