My Celta experience: "the best-laid plans of mice and men"...

In late 2017 I was stuck at Park Road station at 9:30PM, having just missed the train. I had half an hour to kill, it was raining miserably, and I only had my Korean textbook and my ancient smartphone for entertainment. I was on my way home after a nighttime Korean class, so perhaps I should have wasted my time by reviewing a grammar point, but I had a spark of inspiration. Just like my Korean teacher Kim Seonsaeng-nim, I wanted to teach a language. The choice was between the only languages I know, English and Latin, and well, one of those languages is considered to be dead! The rabbit-hole on the internet that I ended up pursuing sitting on that cold train station bench led me to the Masters course that I'm currently completing in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages), and I decided to apply right then and there on my tiny and sluggish phone. However,  the course is all theory and no practice, and therefore does not qualify me to teach English at the end.

I found that I had two options available to me to become qualified: do a Cert IV in TESOL at TAFE, or do a Cambridge Celta. I quickly decided on doing a Celta as I have ambitions to teach abroad one day, and the Celta is recognised worldwide, where the Cert IV is an Australian-based qualification. The time-frame of the Celta was also a major draw as a full-time course takes four weeks to complete and I could just about squeeze one into my university schedule during one of the breaks. There are only two places in my city that offer a Celta, so I didn't have a lot of options and flexibility, but I found a course that was running in between semesters and I began the application process. First, I went to an information evening about the course which was full to the brim with interested people. Then it was revealed that there was only twelve places available in the course and I started to panic. The room was full!. Luckily, I had spent the previous night on my application and was able to submit then and there, so then I just had to wait for it to be approved. It was approved and then I had to go to a group interview that was a couple of hours long! It was my first group interview so it was kind of scary, but I survived and the administrator told us that we'd hear whether we got on the course in the next week.

At the end of the next week there was still no email and I was starting to panic. Was there something wrong? Had I not got on the course? About a month later I got my answer, there was not enough candidates to run the course, and my perfect plan to do my Celta before the second semester of university crumbled. One of my university friends who I'm convinced is an angel in disguise told me about the second place in the city that offers a Celta, and I began to look into it. One night I hastily completed the application and sent it off at 1AM, and I was offered an interview by 9AM that same morning! This time the interview was solo, only lasted an hour, and I was offered a place then and there! The train was back on the track.

In January of this year I began my Celta, and successfully completed it in early February. This is my experience:

I was warned beforehand that you could be teaching on only the second day of the course, and guess what lot I drew? It was a cathartic experience that was like ripping off a bandage and opening a portal to a new world at the same time! The rest of the first and second week passed by like a blur, and my fourth teaching practice went really well, as if something had clicked within me. I was not so successful at the assignments and found myself needing to resubmit three out of four of them. This was a bit of a shock for me as I was used to submitting university assignments, and the format was quite different. The assignment word limits were 800-1,000 words each so I had no space for my typical flowery language and writing style. The lexis assignment was definitely the hardest, but a good grammar book will help. They should suggest books that you should get for the course and I heartily recommend getting them!

The third week was HELL. I had three teaching slots and it was physically and mentally draining. I nearly failed a grammar based teaching practice because I got so flustered and nearly didn't meet my goal. To exemplify how flustered I was, I nearly submitted an assignment with my last name spelled wrong (Would instead of Wood... at least it's a homophone, and it's where I got my twitter handle @WouldJenny from!) I wasn't the only one to suffer a near miss, the threat of failure loomed over a few of my colleagues. Grammar is definitely the hardest type of lesson to present, which is no surprise to anyone! However, the pay off was that I only had to do only one teaching practice on the fourth and final week. The dodgy schedule I had was due in part to Australia day absorbing a Monday as a public holiday, so I don't think three teaching practices in one week is normal.

At the end of the fourth week I was kind of sad that I didn't have to wake up at 5AM to catch the bus and then the train to the city to be at the language centre by 8AM (I usually went in an hour early to do photocopying etc.) I missed the busy atmosphere, and the people that I met on the course. We were hardened in battle together! But, I was also relieved that the course was over and I could now finally begin my journey as an English language teacher.

Here are a few quick tips and suggestions that I have for anyone doing or thinking about doing a Celta:

• Get the textbooks that they recommend on the course. I get that the Celta is already financially draining but seriously, get the books!
• Wear comfortable shoes, my memory foam runners were a lifesaver (footsaver?)
• Learn all of your students' names. They really appreciate it and it gives you a boost of professionalism! I'm terrible at names and I was able to learn all of the their names.
• Prepare your lunch beforehand. It's easier to just eat at the language centre than run around the city looking for food (especially in the height of the Australian summer). It also gives you more time to go over your plans.
• Be super attentive during input sessions. They go by super quickly and there is a lot of information! Keep an eye out for any strategies that you can use in your classes.
• Try to plan your lesson as much as possible before you show the tutors. Definitely have your language analysis done as this can help you see what difficulties might pop up.
• And lastly, have fun! It's a unique and rewarding experience.

Now, I just need to finish my Masters and then I can begin my career. I'm thinking about volunteering so that I can get some experience first though! I still feel a little bit like an imposter.

Good Luck, and feel free to ask me any questions as I left quite a lot out of this account!

Jenny

(@WouldJenny).