Cambridge CELTA Barcelona, Spain

Cambridge CELTA, Spanish and chill out package

---

Course Details

---

---

Course Description

---

Course Details
2 weeks Spanish + 4 weeks CELTA + 1 week chill out
= 7-week bargain price package!

And while you are brushing up on your Spanish you will be given the chance to taste real life English language teaching by shadowing some English classes at our school before you start your CELTA.

Prices and dates are as follows

Course Dates 2006 (1615 GBP)
Spanish Intensive: 6 - 17 November (2 weeks)
CELTA: November 20 - December 20 (4 weeks)
Chill out: 21 - 27 December (The ‘chill out' period at the end of this course is shorter because of a mid-course break from 6 - 10 December)
Accommodation: arrival November 5, departure December 23

Course Dates 2007 (1725 GBP)
Spanish Intensive:18 January - 31 January (2 weeks)
CELTA: 1 February- 28 February (4 weeks)
Chill out: 1 March - 7 March (1 week)
Accommodation: arrival 17 January, departure 7 March

Spanish Intensive: 30 April- 11 May (2 weeks) OR 18 June- 29 June
CELTA: 14 May- 15 June (4 weeks)
Chill out: Because the CELTA course is five weeks there is no chill out.
(Intensive Spanish can be before or after the CELTA course)
Accommodation: arrival 29 April, departure 30 June

Spanish Intensive: 18 June- 29 June (2 weeks)
CELTA: 2 July- 27 July (4 weeks)
Chill out: 28 July- 4 August (1 week)
Accommodation: arrival 17 June, departure 1 September

Spanish Intensive: 16 July- 27 July (2 weeks)
CELTA: 31 July- 28 August (4 weeks)
Chill out: 29 August- 1 September (4 days + 1 long weekend during the course)
Accommodation: arrival 15 July, departure 1 September

Spanish Intensive: 16 August- 29 August (2 weeks)
CELTA: 30 August- 28 September (4 weeks)
Chill out: 29 September- 3 October (1 week)
Accommodation: arrival 15 August , departure 3 October

Spanish Intensive: 25 September- 5 October (2 weeks)
CELTA: 8 October- 7 November (4 weeks)
Chill out: 8 November-10 November (3 days plus 2 long weekends during the course)
Accommodation: arrival 23 September, departure 10 November

Spanish Intensive: 5 November-16 November (2 weeks)
CELTA: 19 November- 18 December (4 weeks)
Chill out: 19 December-22 December (4 days plus 1 long weekend during the course)
Accommodation: arrival 3 November, departure 22 December

How will this package benefit me?
You will meet the foreign students in the classes you observe and see experienced teachers in action. This will help to make your teaching practice during CELTA less intimidating and you will probably find it easier to anticipate and deal with students' language problems during teaching practice.

The Spanish course is 20 hours per week, at any level, in international groups with other language learners. You will benefit from seeing your Spanish teachers in action whilst improving your own Spanish language skills.

The last week of this package is a much needed one-week chill out period. This time can be used to prepare your CV and start job hunting (using the Spanish that you have learnt on the course). If you have already found a job or don't want to start looking yet you can have a well earned holiday in Barcelona.

Do I need to speak Catalan?
If you come to Barcelona to take the CELTA course you don't need to learn Catalan because all Catalans speak Spanish, too. Spanish and Catalan are both official languages in Barcelona and you will find that people switch from one language to the other without even thinking about it. Information for transport, public services, etc. is in both languages (and often in English, too). Obviously, if you intend to stay on in Barcelona long-term you will need to learn Catalan

In a nutshell
If you work hard and dedicate the time, you will learn a lot and pass the Cambridge CELTA course. You will become a confident English teacher, ready to embark on an interesting career.

For many people, doing the Cambridge CELTA has been a turning point in their lives.

The Cambridge CELTA course (Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults) is probably the best known and most widely taken initial 'TESOL/TEFL' qualification of its kind in the world. People of all different ages and backgrounds study CELTA. Many are recent university graduates, but others are already qualified as teachers of other subjects or are professionals looking for a rewarding career break. Some people use CELTA to teach English for just a year or two, while others carry on to teach for many years. For students working on their gap year, CELTA is a passport to teaching overseas and an ideal way to travel the world whilst developing new skills.

Why take the CELTA Course at this centre?
The school in Barcelona has been welcoming international students since 1985 and prides itself on providing high quality education and training in a hard working but friendly learning environment. As an approved Cambridge CELTA centre, the qualification that you gain at this school will be accepted throughout the world by organisations which employ English Language teachers.

The school offers full-time CELTA courses throughout the year. Over the course of four weeks, candidates will become familiar with the principles of successful teaching and begin to develop the practical skills that they will need to teach adult learners effectively. The training programme includes teaching practice, observation of experienced teachers in the classroom and the completion of four written assignments.

CELTA Entry Requirements
According to Cambridge regulations, applicants must:
- be at least 18. It is generally recommended that candidates should be aged 20 or
over, but candidates between 18 and 20 can be accepted at our discretion
- have an awareness of language and a competence in English, both written and spoken,
that enables them to undertake the course
- have the potential to develop the necessary skills to become effective teachers and
to successfully complete the written assignments and the assessment of practice
teaching.

There is no formal academic entry requirement for CELTA. However, the recommended minimum entry requirement is that candidates should have a standard of education equivalent to that required for entry into higher education. We may accept candidates who do not have formal qualifications if we feel confident that they would be likely to complete the course successfully.

CELTA Selection Procedure
Selection of candidates is based on the completion of the application form, pre-interview task and an interview, either in person (in Barcelona) or by telephone. Telephone interviews can be arranged at a UK number to save on international calls. Acceptance on the course is not automatic and the selection process is rigorous in order to ensure candidates' suitability and a high degree of successful completion of the course. Acceptance is at the discretion of the centre.

What will I do during the course?
The course time is divided between input sessions , teaching practice and feedback , supervised lesson preparation , observation of experienced teachers and tutorials . There are 120 contact hours during the month.

The practical nature of the course and the emphasis placed on teaching practice is reflected from day one. On the first day you are divided into small teaching practice groups and you start teaching straight away. Each group works closely with one of our tutors and is assigned a practice class of students. These students are mainly Spanish but can be any nationality. During the course you work with at least two different levels of students and often three.

Here is an example of a typical day:

- Input Session 1
09.30 - 10.45

- Break
10.45 - 11.15

- Input Session 2
11.15 - 12.30

- Lunch
12.30 - 14.00

- Assisted Lesson Preparation
14.00 - 15.30

- Teaching Practice
15.30 - 17.45

- Break
17.45 - 18.00

- Feedback
18.00 - 18.30


After 18.30, trainees undertake continued lesson preparation (on your own or with fellow trainees), written assignments and observation of experienced teachers. N.B. The work done after 18.30 is not included in the 120 contact hours, but forms an integral part of the course. As you can see the course is intensive and requires a full-time commitment for the four-week period.

What happens in the input sessions?
Again, the emphasis is on learning by doing and many of the input sessions will be like workshops, rather than lectures. Therefore, trainees are expected to participate fully in these sessions.

What's the teaching practice and feedback like?
The aim is to make you a confident English teacher. The tutors give you lots of help at the start of the course, and while continuing to support you during the month, you become more and more autonomous. They help you develop the skills to become independent in your classroom preparation and confident in the execution of the plan. This reflects the real world of language teaching.

You start by teaching a short slot on the second day and during the month teach different periods of time up to an hour. You teach different areas of the English language systems and skills.

The feedback sessions are designed to help you build on your successes and learn from your classroom experiences.

The aim is not to prescribe one way to teach a class, but to guide you and give you exposure and practice in different ways. At the same time, you will be informed about what is at the cutting edge of teaching practice these days. With experience and further professional development, you can make informed choices about what to do in the classroom.

What about observation of experienced teachers?

During the month you observe different experienced teachers in real classrooms teaching different levels of students. You are given an observation task to do to help you focus on particular aspects of the class, the teacher and the students. In addition to this, you always observe your colleagues teaching in your teaching practice group.

What kind of written assignments are there?
Over the month you do a number of written assignments according to the Cambridge CELTA syllabus. The areas covered are
- the language systems of English
- reflections on classroom teaching
- adult learning and learning contexts
- teaching materials.
All of these assignments tie in closely with the input sessions and reflect the developmental nature of the course. You have access to the school library and your tutor is always available to help you.

Assessment

Assessment for CELTA is continuous and integrated. Continuous here means that assessment takes place throughout the course. Integrated means that each assessed component contributes to the overall grade and any one assessed component can cover a number of topics and objectives in the syllabus. There is no final written exam. The three components of assessment are Teaching Practice , Written Assignments and Candidates' Professional Development. Every course is moderated by an external assessor. This, in addition to regular standardization meetings, ensures quality and fairness in assessment.

Grading
Candidates whose performance meets the specified criteria are awarded a Pass. Those who demonstrate a significantly higher level of achievement in their classroom teaching skills may be awarded a Pass (Grade B). Candidates who, in addition to this, demonstrate a significantly higher level of achievement in relation to their lesson planning and awareness of teaching and learning processes may be awarded a Pass (Grade A).

Before the course
Once you have been accepted on the course the school send you a pre-course task. This is designed to get you thinking about the areas covered on the course and could take you around 20 hours to complete - obviously some people might need more time or finish it in less. It will not be marked, but may be referred to during the month, so you need to bring it with you.

The 4-week CELTA course requires a lot of commitment and a lot of work. It is very intensive because there is a lot to cover in a short time and you can reduce the workload and stress factor greatly by doing some pre-course studying. It is important to read the recommended methodology books, do the whole of the pre-course task and take time to work on raising your language awareness.

Books to Buy
The following books are essential purchases as they will be referred to during the course and some reading may be set for homework. You can either buy them before you come to Barcelona or they are available at the school for purchase.

Scrivener, Jim. Learning Teaching: Macmillan Heinemann ELT.
OR
Harmer, Jeremy. The Practice of English Language Teaching: Longman.
Grammar

Swan, Michael. Practical English Usage (latest edition): Oxford University Press.
OR
Parrott, Michael. Grammar for English Language Teachers: Cambridge University Press.

Will I be a good teacher?
If you are sociable, enjoy meeting people and welcome the challenge of working abroad and discovering new languages and cultures, teaching English is probably for you. It can also be tough at times, which is why it is important to be well prepared before you go. It really doesn't matter if you are shy or feel that you will be unable to stand up in front of a group of strangers - you will get over this during CELTA - and if you work hard and prepare your classes well you will be up to the challenge. Remember, too, that your students will probably be more nervous than you so don't worry just take a deep breath and get in there!

Many people choose ELT as a life long career but others such as gap year students or people in the middle of a career change may teach English for just a year or two. As long as you are enthusiatic about your work, interested in your students and keen to develop as a teacher you will find that there is always a job somewhere for you.

---

Accommodation Options

---

Accommodation is included in the package price. It is a room in a comfortable standard self-catering flat.

---

School Details - Barcelona Carlos III

---

The school has been welcoming international students since 1985 and prides itself on providing high quality education and training in a hard working but friendly learning environment . The Teacher Training Centre is just across the road from the language school building and has its own small private garden where trainees can sit and enjoy the sun between classes. Groups are small in order to create a very close relationship between tutors, trainees and students. W e pride ourselves on a providing a friendly but serious learning environment for our CELTA trainees.

One of the highlights of the center is the place where it is situated, one of the most beautiful and attractive districts in the city. If you take a walk in the area around the school you will notice that most people are local, not tourists, and so unlike the centre of Barcelona you really can experience the city's way of life and, why not! practice your Spanish.

Barcelona
Barcelona will go down in history as an essential all-time experience. Different people will be seduced by different things, so take your pick…will it be the almost arrogant individuality of a city with its own language and history, the effortless juxtaposition of Gothic and Renaissance, Byzantine and Romanesque, the dangerously inviting boutiques, or quite simply that old Spanish knack of bringing out lazy, sangria-filled lunches under a hot Mediterranean sun? Quintessentially Spanish yet unique in so many ways, make of Barcelona what you will. But whatever your vice, don't fight it - because you can be sure nobody else is.


The centre has air-conditioning and is fully-equipped with photocopying facilities, computers with free, fast internet access, drinks machines and a "quiet room" with library where trainees can study and prepare teaching practice sessions in peace. Trainees have free access to the resource books in the library which contains the latest books on methodology and books on supplementary materials.

The Teacher Training Centre is situated a 15 minute metro ride from the city centre, near the university and the beautiful residential area of Pedralbes. It is next to the Avenida Diagonal and is in one of the most important business and commercial areas of the city. Most headquarters of the largest multinational companies of the city can be found in this area. Because of the importance of the area public transport is excellent . The School was founded in Barcelona in 1985. It is situated a 15 minute metro ride from the city centre, near the university and the beautiful residential area of Pedralbes. The main school offers general language classes for children and adults in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian and Catalan, as well as other languages on request. The school boasts 18 years of experience in preparing students for the recognized exams in each language, as well as running general language classes. The friendly, informal atmosphere in the school means that students keep coming back.

---

How to Apply

---

---

Prices and Dates

---