Doubts about CELTA

[ARUK2008]

2 weeks ago, I was interviewed through Skype and got accepted so I'll start the course in July. Yet I have my doubts about being accepted to such a demanding course. I've been studying English for about 12 years and I've been teaching it for about 3 years now; therefore, my command of the language seems to be pretty good and I have no major problems with my accent.

The thing is I've started to brush up my English skills and decided to test myself with one of those practice CPE tests and to my disappointment, I did awfully; I realized that I don't have neither a wide vocabulary at my command nor the best listening skills so I started to wonder if taking the course will be, after all, worth the money and the time.

As my teaching experience, I can say that I'm considered one of the best in my city; most of my students say that I have "something" they can't explain and that I know how to make them understand English better than anyone else. I know I'm not that good though. I decided to take this course because I want to improve my teaching skills as well as my grammar and get over with my vocabulary weaknesses.

Honestly, I just love learning and teaching English. It's such a rewarding feeling. I'm just afraid...too afraid of failing it.

What do you think?

 

[corum]

Nothing ventured nothing gained.

 

[Tdol]

Vocabulary, other than teaching it, will not play a huge part in the course.

 

[Alex Case]

Did they set you a language test as part of the entry requirements?

 

[ARUK2008]

Yes, the usual ones for CELTA.

 

[bwkcaj_ca]

Based on your posting I would say your command of written English seems to be more than adequate for you to teach English effectively -- and no one writes English that well without a good command of English grammar.

If you have been teaching for 3 years you already have significant teaching experience which should make CELTA somewhat easier for you

In my experience teaching English (12 years) I have found that most students are forgiving of grammatical mistakes and lack of vocabulary on the part of the teacher. Enthusiasm and a teacher who is really motivated to help them learn are much more important (and obvious) to them anyway.

So if you truly love to teach and enjoy learning English go for it and don't worry about failure.

 

[Tdol]

If you handed a CPE exam to a native speaker who had no background in teaching or learning English and asked them to do it, they would in mos cases find it hard and make mistakes.

 

[Delapoma]

So…is it possible that a native speaker flunk a CPE exam?

 

[Tdol]

They might, but they're more likely to struggle a bit with some of the exercises- it's not always immediately obvious what is expected, which is why exam practice is so important.