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Our Trainees
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 I came to Moscow in July 2006. Up until now, I’ve been living in France as a student, trying to make ends meet with odd teaching jobs and an enormous amount of luck. It wasn’t until recently that I realised how I needed to start taking some serious steps to secure my situation by getting more training and experience. I remember talking once with a colleague who told me about her CELTA training in Paris, and how it was a positive experience; and then later with my boss who told me that it was a good investment if teaching was something I considered doing for long term. I’ve never been able to imagine myself in an office with a tie and a serious look on my face, and now that I’m seriously considering going further with my studies and getting a doctorate, I see myself heading further and further into this profession. In chess-like anticipation, I decided to do my CELTA training in July (in fact it was the only time I had available between my exams and the coming school year). Furthermore, I decided to do my training in Moscow because it seemed the logical thing—I still get that funny look from people when I tell them that. I’ve been studying Russian in France for a year and a half, and even if I speak it like crap—that was my motivation. It felt like hitting two birds with one stone. Nothing prepared me for the administrative, cultural, and pedagogical experience that was to suddenly drop out of the sky and hit me like a grand piano.
I was so unprepared for the visa procedures. Living in France for three years, I had become so used to the annual visit to the prefecture’s office to renew my “carte de sejour,” and I had forgotten about the initial steps, and how every detail had to be checked. There are only three Russian consulates in France!!! In addition, they are precisely situated on the three opposing tips of the French hexagon. I carefully planned my trip to Marseille because in terms of train fares, it was the most economical, and I was even going to ask for the “emergency visa” so that I could have it the same day and avoid a second trip to the consulate (visa procedures take about a week otherwise). I planned for everything—except for the fact that the consulate doesn’t accept scanned copies of “Invitation Letters.” Screwed. In typical French administrative fashion, only the originals of all documents are accepted, and if not for the help of the patient administrative staff at BKC, I would not have even left French territory. If this can serve as a lesson to some first-timer, call the consulate that you are planning to visit and verify whether or not they want the originals of all the documents because not all of them take scanned copies.
In the end it worked out, and I made it into Russian territory without any mishaps. I just wasn’t ready for the inadequacy of my Russian. I remember meeting the BKC chauffeur at the airport, and the long silence between us as he drove me to my flat. I remember seeing the adverts on the highway, and trying to pronounce the 30-lettre words as our car drove past. And then going shopping with Nina (one of the administrative staff), and the loneliness that ensued five minutes after she left me so that I could sort out my affairs in the flat. I kept wondering to myself, how I’d make it through the month. Living in France for such a long time made me forget what it was like starting over again, but the culture shock, that was normally supposed to take over, was soon pushed aside by the CELTA course that I would begin that coming Monday.
What a shock! Dealing with the metro on the first day, being handed the 1,001 handouts, undergoing six hours of introductory and pedagogical training, and preparing my first lesson of the month—I’m not quite sure what stressed me out the most. All I know is that this would not have been manageable without the help of my CELTA trainers Michael and Joanna. Their support during the training went above and beyond all of my expectations; and from that first day, I knew that the money I had spent on the program was well spent. Their guidance and especially their support were unfaltering, as they helped us plan our lessons, and as they gave us their feedback. They are the best teachers I’ve ever had because of that. I remember going to the feedback sessions at first feeling discouraged, and then feeling much better about myself after having talked with them. If teaching in front of my CELTA classmates and my CELTA trainers proved to be stressful, I think the feedback sessions made all of the stress worth it. I find it also worth mentioning that during the observed teaching lessons we gave, only one of the trainers actually observed us. What impressed me was how they were both aware of how we (the CELTA trainees) were progressing even if they weren’t there with us in the classroom.
With all of the training, teaching, lesson planning, weekend homework assignments, the stress, the stress and the stress, the month passed by and I found myself in the final week preparing my final lessons and handing in final assignments. Michael and Joanna stopped giving us comments during our lesson-planning stages, and we all started developing a certain amount of autonomy. We even received an input session on how to get jobs in the EFL world! All were signs of the moment when the CELTA fledglings would set out upon the world to teach English to the willing. It all happened too fast, and as soon as I had given my final observed lesson, I found myself getting my bags ready for the return trip to France. I had barely even visited the Kremlin, and the only things I learned in Russian was to order cigarettes and beer. As much as my trip to Russia was a linguistic failure, the skills I had acquired made up for it amply. Let this also be a lesson—CELTA is not for tourists or the culturally curious, but for those ready to work. In the end, I don’t regret having seen so little of Russia as I had wanted because it means that I’ll be back there in the future.
Upon my arrival in France, I told all of my colleagues about my experience in Russia. To my surprise, not all CELTA experiences are the same. My bosses at the Chamber of Commerce told me that the quality of the training depended largely on the trainers, and that not everybody is as lucky as I had been. They told me of TEFL/CELTA courses where the practical teaching experience was with children instead of adults. All I can say is that this wasn’t my case; and that despite all of the other complications, I still tell my parents and friends that the experience was worth it. It is true that organising a trip to such a place can be trying, but the BKC staff is adept, and when you find yourself in a classroom with trainers like Joanna and Michael, you’ll know that you’ve made an excellent decision.
Edward Sanders - CELTA Course, July 2006
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