Celta

[magdalena]

Hello!
A crazy person accepted me into CELTA and I wonder whether he had momentous blackout or my cleveage was too deep. Anyway, I have already paid for that, it is starting soon and I feel an overwhelming need to announce to the whole world that I am scared shitless. I just did my CPE (no scores yet), my British accent is nonexistent, my pronunciation makes people wonder whether I am talking about ear plugs or implants (sic!) and yet I got into the course. Is there anyone with experience of Celta? Non-native speaker, perhaps?

[Tdol]

Where are you living?

[BobK]

Originally Posted by magdalena

Hello!
A crazy person accepted me into CELTA and I wonder whether he had momentous blackout or my cleveage was too deep. Anyway, I have already paid for that, it is starting soon and I feel an overwhelming need to announce to the whole world that I am scared shitless. I just did my CPE (no scores yet), my British accent is nonexistent, my pronunciation makes people wonder whether I am talking about ear plugs or implants (sic!) and yet I got into the course. Is there anyone with experience of Celta? Non-native speaker, perhaps?

I'm a native speaker, but I have recent experience of a CELTA course (earlier this year). Two of the people on my course were non-native speakers (one Brazilian, one French), and they didn't have more difficulty than other students - just different sorts of difficulty: they were better than us in some respects, worse in others. They had some disadvantages (especially a lack of confidence about pronuciation, and not having native-speaker intuitions about syntax and collocations), and some advantages (they understood the difficulties students were having, and often knew the theory of English grammar better than we did). In some respects (to do with teaching, rather than dealing with language) we were all in the same boat. They were certainly a big asset to other student teachers!

Don't worry, Magdalena. They wouldn't have taken you on if they didn't think you could do it.

b

[boothling]

I just finished a CELTA course. There were trainees from Holland, Hungary, Spain and Ireland (and the Irish guy was by far hardest to understand despite being a native English speaker). None of the accents seemed to bother the students in the practice classes, though.

My advice is to take the course with a pinch of salt. The tutors will give you lots of useful ideas and (probably harsh and tactless, but also helpful) criticism -- but practice classes are much harder than real classes, and if you haven't taught before it will give you more confidence when you step into a normal classroom.

I agree with BobK that in some ways you'll probably have it easier than a typically grammar-ignorant English person. On the other hand, if you get a tutor with a superiority complex who takes pleasure in making trainees feel inadequate (which isn't uncommon), they may pick on your accent out of spite. Don't let it get to you.

I found it helpful to read this article whenever the course tutors got on my nerves.

[magdalena]

Tdol I live in Cracow. I may imagine that you are not exceptionally showy and confident type of people, at least not all who do Celta are and so I do have a chance.....and it helps to know that there is not much difference between natives and non natives when it comes to teaching practise.... I know the article on Englishdroid, I often go back to it to untie a knot in my stomach when it gets worse :) Thank you for all the advice, hopefully I will survive the whole affair. Have a great NY eve!

[magdalena]

Tdol I live in Cracow. I may imagine that you are not exceptionally showy and confident type of people, at least not all who do Celta are and so I do have a chance.....and it helps to know that there is not much difference between natives and non-natives when it comes to teaching practise.... I know the article on Englishdroid, I often go back to it to untie a knot in my stomach when it gets worse :) Thank you for all the advice, hopefully I will survive the whole affair. Have a great NY eve!

[Tdol]

You too, and all the best for the course.

[Cedric Picard]

Hi Magdalena,

first of all, best of luck with the course.

As your interviewer probably already made clear to you, be prepared for an intensive couple of weeks of really hard but grealty rewarding work. I've just completed week one and you should really prepare to devote your life to the course for the duration. You will no doubt meet a great bunch of people, from your tutors to your fellow wannabe teachers, and last but not least your students!

I'm originally from France, so not a native speaker of English, and I should say that in some ways it does help on the course, especially when it comes to identifying potential problems with a specific point of language that natives would not necessarily anticipate, from your own experience of having learnt English or witnessed classmates get confused about.

Hope this helps in easing your mind a bit about not being a native,
Best of luck, and keep us posted about your progress on the course,
Cedric