celtacomments

BKC-IH Moscow has been offering Cambridge CELTA courses since its approval in 1997 as a Teacher Training Center for the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate. Since then about 500 CELTA trainees have taken the course in Moscow.

We have asked our trainees what they think about the CELTA course and here you can read what they say:

I gained a great deal from the course. I wish that I had taken it years ago.
March 2008

Input sessions:

Well put together sessions containing everything I needed.
October 2008

In the first half of the course, input sessions focused on things we needed for teaching practice; in the second half they dealt with more ‘long-term’ goals. They were thoroughly prepared, well-structured and were great fun.
July 2008

Input sessions were interesting, involving and interactive.
January 2008

Lesson preparation:

Plenty of help provided in the early stages of the course. Later when we were expected to be more independent but help was always available when asked for.
January 2008

We were guided by our tutors and received a lot of practical advice about how to plan our lessons.
August 2008

The tutors helped me to look at the same lesson from different angles and choose the best approach to meet the needs of a particular group of students.
June 2008

A bit arduous at first, but the training made it easier.
March 2008

Teaching Practice:

Great way to implement the learning from the input sessions.
June 2008

Stressful in the organisational stages but very enjoyable when actually conducting the lesson, very rewarding!
October 2008

Terrifying at first but it’s the best way to do it so that you could gradually become more and more comfortable as a teacher
July 2008

That was literally a nightmare of my life. First week, I couldn’t sleep. Second week, I was desperate. Now I am looking forward to trying out all those nice things I’ve learned on the course.
September 2008

Sometimes it was stressful but on the other hand I really enjoyed it.
October 2008

Very useful, real experience, a bit stressful because of assessment, good students- friendly and helpful CELTA.
January 2008

No better way to learn than to actually do it.
March 2008

Feedback sessions:

Very useful and it was nice that trainers focused a lot on the positive as it was easy to only think about bad things in the self-evaluation.
August 2008

Useful, like a mini input session. Good opportunity to analyze your lessons and understand mistakes as well as your strengths.
January 2008

A good balance of strong points and things to work on. Positive+constructive.

Done in a friendly way, gave a lot of ideas and encouraged to work more.
March 2008

Helpful, I liked giving my opinion on other teachers’ lessons.
October 2008

Tutors:

Encouraging, friendly, patient, very competent.
October 2008

Tutors were very helpful; sometimes it was clear that they were busy and had a lot on but always had time to help with plans and answer questions.
March 2008

We could turn to them for help at any time.
July 2008

Tutors were really involved and I always had a feeling that they were happy for my progress.
July 2008

The tutors were really supportive and approachable.
January 2008

Expert and tactful; critical yet positivistic.
August 2008