Our school
TEFL jobs
Learn about jobs in the international English teaching industry
Do I need a CELTA to teach?
If you want to improve your ability to teach English to speakers of other languages, the Cambridge CELTA helps. Getting certified is a lot of work and you need to be ready to commit yourself to this hard work for the duration of your CELTA, but the payoff of being a better teacher is worth the sacrifice and schools will recognize this. A CELTA will set you apart from other candidates applying for the same job.
Establishments that do not require any certification are often low quality and the conditions are poor. Choosing the Cambridge CELTA will prepare you to land good English teaching jobs at reputable institutions where you will be able to continue developing as a teacher while loving your job.
If you already speak English, that's great! That's the first step to being an effective English teacher. It's important for teachers to be able to provide a good model for students to follow when they speak English, but it's far from being the only job requirement. To be able to teach effectively, English teachers need to know grammar, vocabulary and teaching methodology. The Cambridge University CELTA course provides participants with hands on experience employing the most modern English language teaching methodology.
Where can I go with a CELTA?
Whether you want to stay close to home, be a complete nomad, or something in between, the Cambridge CELTA can help. It is offered by over 150 centers around the world more than 300 times per year. Since 1978, the CELTA has been recognized around the world as a TEFL/TESOL certification course that helps its graduates teach English effectively.
There are a variety of options for Cambridge CELTA graduates who choose to stay in their own countries. If they are from English-speaking countries, it is especially easy to find work during the summer when language tourism is at its annual peak. There are also longer contracts available with private language schools, universities and other institutions.
For those who choose to teach in non-English speaking countries, there are often full-time jobs available right away. Different continents and regions have slightly different annual schedules, and many language schools hire all year long. If you are flexible, you can find a job immediately after completing the CELTA course!
While some people plan on using their TEFL/TESOL qualification to stay in the English Language Teaching (ELT) industry for the long haul, others only intend to teach for a number of months or a few years. There are short-term jobs and volunteer opportunities available to suit these people too. Teaching English can be a great seasonal summer job!
What skills will I gain?
Aside from the immediate outcome of becoming a better English teacher, the CELTA prepares people for a full, rich, rewarding career in English language teaching or any industry.
Taking the Cambridge CELTA gives you an understanding of teaching methodology, so becoming a full-time teacher or corporate trainer are often good fits for CELTA graduates. Along with added confidence, you will take your improved public speaking and presentation skills with you to your next career. You will find yourself with a new awareness of the English language which can help your speaking, writing, and editing. You might even learn a new language while you're teaching abroad!
Taking the Cambridge CELTA, working in other countries, and teaching people from a variety of backgrounds will also prepare you for a diverse and multi-cultural working environment in any country.
Professional development in ELT
In her book A Course in English Language Teaching, Penny Ur writes, “It has been said that teachers who have been teaching for twenty years may be divided into two categories: those with twenty years’ experience and those with one year’s experience repeated twenty times.”
It is essential to continually study, experiment and adapt in order to be effective in the classroom in the long run.
For a teacher, there is no better place to do this than a teacher training course because nothing will help you adapt to the times more than doing your professional development in a communicative classroom.
On the CELTA course, you won't sit and listen to lectures, you'll have professional teacher trainers guide you through activities. While preparing for written assignments and lessons you'll select materials from a variety of resources to support your decisions and analysis, instead of just reading books about theory. You won't just talk about teaching, you will plan and teach actual lessons to English language students. And for each part of the course, you will receive feedback from our teacher trainers about what you're doing well and how you can improve.
Don't repeat the same year's teaching experience twenty times!
The Cambridge CELTA can help you advance in your teaching and your career by providing you with the opportunity to learn about teaching in the style in which you want to teach - in a supportive, communicative classroom environment.