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Q: Where's the best place to do a CELTA in China?.....
How much does it cost? Anyone ever had a school pay for you to get one?
there are CELTA centres in Shanghai and Beijing.
I worked for a university in my home country that paid for mine - in my home country.
it cost them 1,500 Euro.
if you are doing it in China, make sure the centre is authorised by Cambridge university
you will also have to budget for accommodation and food.
sorrel:
i should add, having a CELTA means nothing in China.
if you are a teacher here, for the most part all you are is a glorified entertainer/babysitter.
ou812:
Sorrel, Your post are generally spot on and unbiased, so I was glad to see your feedback on this subject. I have been looking into getting some Cert., because many employment adds especially at colleges are saying its required. How many of your fellow colleagues at your Uni/prison actually have the Cert.? Do you receive extra pay for having it? Since me and the others respect your input, I was wondering if you would mind writing a bit of a (rant) about your experience at your Uni/prison. No need for location or name of said prison. I am wondering what makes you feel it is a concentration camp. I can only think that since you’re an attractive woman you are treated to the 11:00 pm lock down etc. since many men are also treated to this privilege. I even have a friend who works at a respected University that won’t let him use the library even though he can read and speak Chinese. Thanks
It may help you at some international schools and others, especially if you have an English or related degree.
To be honest a CELTA won't do much for your interview or reputation as a teacher.. I got one in HK and any school I ever got hired at never cared to see it. They only wanted it for the visa requirements.. So don't invest too much time and money into it, unless CELTA is really a lesson you want to learn. there's also a phenomenon and a belief that you will be offered a higher salary because of the CELTA, well sometimes yes but mostly no and occasionally can make you over qualified and sometime the company will think you're too expensive because you have this CELTA certificate. so if I'm the HR I prefer the TEFL kid because he'll accept the lower salary offer..
Returning to China in September 2012 with my CELTA, i had discussed at length with my trainers the specific circumstances unique to teaching in China.
They said it would be wasted in China.
The President of my univesrity Department, at the end of that first semester, told me that i was not to use CELTA teaching methods because it "was not Chinese"
Granted this a**-**** was rabidly anti-foreigner (and very anti-foreign woman) and after listening to him patiently as he shouted at me for 5 minutes, I smiled and thanked him for his suggestions.
Despite having this CELTA, and 2 years teaching experience, not to mention the experience from my previous job, last April/May when i was looking for a new place ( i couldn't stay there any longer), younger guys straight from uni with only 1 year experience were getting better offers than me.
Luckily i got a position in a MUCH better Uni now and have been asked to teach from my CELTA recommended material, using the CELTA method
as regards salary: i am still being paid less than my male counterparts who have less experience than i do.
in my last uni, only one of my colleagues had a CELTA, all the others were newbies
currently i am not working with anyone with a CELTA
the CELTA was more for myself to be a better teacher.
the only reason to get a celta in china is to be an ielts examiner for the money you pay for the course.
you could get lucky and teach celta related courses but this is contigent on demand and demand, well, read the above posts for demand or lack thereof,
as an examiner myself, its not really getting better, now examiner forums are talking about getting us visas and having to pay taxes to china on our earnings, so i will be an x examiner soon.
sorrel:
yes, that is my plan, to be an IELTS examiner.
i have met people prepared to pay big bucks to be trained by IELTS examiners
ambivalentmace:
yes sorrel, big bucks is an understatement, but lets keep that a secret from the hordes and selfishly enjoy the bounty.
Thanks but I want to do it for life after China! Many positions in other countries require one. I was hoping to find a place in China that I could do it cheaply during the year or so I'll be staying. Anywhere else other than Shanghai?
ambivalentmace:
if you work for a public university with mid july to sept1 off from work, you can do this in thailand or prague pretty cheap also. thailand was 1600 dollars for the course last summer and prague was slightly higher, beijing and shanghai were both higher last summer, close to 1800 to 2000 dollars.
