TEFL - Cambridge CELTA Blended (12 weeks) Playa del Carmen, Mexico

This school is in the idyllic location of Playa del Carmen, a small town on the Caribbean coast of Mexico.

Playa del Carmen
Sun, sea, sand and more sand... don't look further than Playa if this is your idea of paradise. It's no surprise that over recent years tourists have begun to flock here, but beach life is still nothing but relaxed and the old Latin philosophy of manana lives on. Quinta Avenida is the main street and you can happily lose yourself for several hours in shops selling Mexican crafts, amber jewellery, tequila and designer clothes - before being enticed into one of the bars for happy hour. But when all's said and done your main reason for coming to Playa has to be for the beach - so head down here and take your siesta under the warm Caribbean sun.

Course Description

The CELTA - Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults - course is the best known teacher training course for English language teachers in the world. The CELTA provides initial training leading to a Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults, probably the best choice available for an initial ELT (or TEFL/TESOL) qualification. It is intended for those with little or no previous English Language teaching experience and for teachers with some experience but little previous training.

Success in the Certificate has enabled many candidates to obtain their first teaching position: the course is highly regarded by employers as providing sound initial training and a strong basis from which to develop as a teacher of English.


Course content

Learners and teachers and the teaching and learning context
Language analysis and awareness
Language skills: reading, listening, speaking and writing
Planning and resources
Developing teaching skills and professionalism
Classroom observation
Teaching practice


Teaching practice

Teaching practice is an integral part of the course. This is organised in small groups of 5-6 trainees with volunteer students at two different levels. At the end of each day, an evaluation of the session is led by a course tutor. Trainees are expected to liaise within their groups outside course hours in order to plan teaching practice classes, according to guidelines provided by course tutors.


Course Design

Blended course over 12 weeks:
Courses have a minimum of 120 contact hours, plus a further 80 hours plus for required outside of classtime tasks, including assignments and lesson planning.


The tutors

The course tutors are trained, vetted and approved approved by Cambridge ESOL.


Why THIS training course?

- CELTA is probably the most internationally recognised ELT/TESOL certificate in the world
- Highly qualified, experienced trainers
- Practical approach to methodology
- Extensive supervised teaching practice
- Access to an international network of schools
- Job placement advice
- Moderated by the University of Cambridge ESOL


Recommended reading

Grammar: We recommend that you buy a good teacher's grammar book, such as

Grammar for English Language Teachers, by Martin Parrott (CUP)
Practical English Usage, by Michael Swan (OUP)

Methodology: You are also advised to have access to a methodology book, such as

How to Teach English, by Jeremy Harmer (Longman)
Learning Teaching, by Jim Scrivener (Heinemann).

Online (at a time that suits you, for 4 - 6 hours a week) and Face-to-face 2 weeks.

I loved both the school and the trainers. The school was beautifully landscaped and the staff was always friendly and helpful. The trainers were friendly and very knowledgeable.

Elena Borisoff


The school was a delight. The course tutors were capable, competent and did an excellent job of modelling the techniques they were teaching. Everyone on the staff was pleasant and helpful at all times.

Barbara Stromer


The trainer was professional and so helpful. The course was amazing!

Gina Rino

If you're looking for a job as an English teacher either in the Mexico or abroad, you're on the right track taking the course with this school. They have seen our staff and trainees use their Cambridge CELTA qualification to go in many different directions with their careers, part-time jobs and hobbies, as well as travels.
o First-time teachers have gotten jobs teaching ESL (English as a Second Language) to adults in language schools and international companies in Mexico and other locations in different countries overseas.
o Experienced teachers have also taken the course and used their CELTA qualification for professional development and to expand their repertoire to teaching ESL students within their schools as well as to travel and work abroad.
o Some teachers have also used the CELTA certificate to get volunteer and paid work teaching immigrant students in the the UK and the US and some have taught ESL in refugee camps overseas.

The possibilities for types of employment, types of students and job locations are endless.

Whatever it is you choose to do, taking CELTA at this school prepares you for all the above possibilities and more. Not only does the CELTA give you the practical, hands-on training that you need to be completely prepared and confident to walk into an EFL/ESL classroom anywhere in the world and teach English.

There are several more ways the school helps our teachers find work. It is our aim to make sure that each of our teachers has the ability to find teaching positions where they want, and we are very proud of the places where our teachers go on to work.

With this school the process of getting our teachers the right job starts before the course has even begun. Our trainees write out their CV and bring it with them to the start of the course. Over the last week of the course, our tutors give support to help trainees write their CV to send out to schools. One of the most powerful tools for finding work is the School Database. This is a purpose-built database of information on schools in Mexico and around the world. So whether our trainees wish to teach English in Mexico or China, Barcelona or Isreal, we have listings of all the major (and quite a few minor) schools in the district with contact details including email and postal addresses as well as phone numbers.

With the School Database, our teachers can contact schools directly, bypassing the crowd who can only apply for teaching positions once they have been advertised. The best jobs rarely get advertised on the Internet and are taken by teachers who can apply directly to the principal of a school who does the hiring. Our teachers have access to the right people through the School Database. And access does not stop once a teacher has got their first job; our teachers have access to the School Database as well as job assistance and advice from our tutors for life. Remember, in the ELT profession, which is a versatile international field, you want to make sure your teaching qualification is just as versatile and international! We ensure quality training, experienced staff and long-standing internationally-recognized certification with CELTA. Combined with access to the School Database and our expert assistance in job hunting, you will be well on the way to getting the job you want!

Please note: We do not charge our teachers extra for access to the School Database or to give references. Furthermore, we do not accept payment from schools who wish to employ our graduates. As such, we never accept payment from either our graduates looking for work or the school hiring, and we would be very wary of any teacher training centre which did.

1. Choose the start date which interests you. If you're still unsure, please choose an approximate date for now; you will be able to specify later.
2. Register your details with Cactus TEFL (1 minute) to help us track your application.
3. Download the application form and save it on your computer.
4. Complete it offline in your own time
5. Go back to www.cactustefl.com, sign in and submit your completed form.

You can also submit an application by email. We will explain how to do this on the application form. Please contact us if you have any problems with the application procedure.