CELTA and post-CELTA

Language Corner
1
Hello everyone,

I am considering doing the CELTA course at either Flying Teachers in Zürich or Academia Languages in Basel and would love to hear about how it was/is.

Is it feasible to do the course part-time and work 40%?

Also, for teachers who are post-CELTA already -- how is the situation for employment? Especially without prior teaching experience?

Thanks and Kind regards

2
Did celta ten years ago, coughed up a shed load of Swiss money for it and haven’t used it once.

Probably one of the worst ideas in a sea of bad ideas.

Unless of course you go to Asia or one of these Countries using the „Stan“ suffix then you may be able to feed yourself.

In my very humble opinion a Celta is a way for a kid wanting to travel to earn some beer money.

There are exceptions, but they are rare pearls in a sea of broken dreams.

3
The job market is barren and the competition fierce. Far fewer language teachers are needed and job security is lacking. Times have changed in Switzerland and many learners are now using italki and other websites to find inexpensive tutors.

4
I did this in the UK some 30 years ago. A full-time intensive 4-week course. Probably 1⁄4 the price of doing it here.

I would not have liked to stand in front of a real class for the first time without having taken a number of training classes first .

The qualification got me some interviews when I came here. However, I was then a mature student and had considerable business experience in the UK. Thus, I was able to eventually leave the two language schools I worked for in Zurich and go freelance teaching at director level.

It was competitive then. Today, as Olygirl states, it's much tougher.

Bottom line: if you want to teach English as a foreign language, I wouldn't attempt it without taking the course. It's not a simple course and you could take it part-time while working 40%, but not ideal...

5
Dear slammer, olygirl and AbFab

Thanks for your honest if not exactly heartening replies.

We'll see...

6
Hi tasp,

I can perhaps lead you to one of the potential "pearls" (via private communication). But I have to say: I totally agree with what has been said by others above. Digital transformation (apps, internet) and globalisation really kill the market in the private sector - especially in combination with the attitude of "price is everything, quality is nothing". As a freelancer, you might have very low-price competitors (e.g. English expats etc.) who are in Thailand etc. I am teaching German here in Switzerland and I had a lot of luck so far. As formerly intended, I do this job as a part-time job and I am not too dependent on it. Being dependent on such a job is very risky and absolutely not advisable (no job security; see above). For instance, it can easily happen in the private sector that too many participants of your class do not renew the enrollment (level finished, holidays finished, job found, working full-time again etc. etc.) and the class is cancelled. In this case, your workload and income can go down from one month to another. Also, it is difficult to work full time and the salary is usually very low compared to the qualification needed.

Apart from that: Teaching a language can be a lot of fun, of course.

I hope this helps.

Have a good one!

Rene