Tag: celta

CELTA: we did it!

Who’da thought it, the end of August. The trees are already starting to drop their leaves – is summer really over already? Seems like it was only yesterday that I was in my little student flat in Sheffield, wishing the winter would end. That’s one thing I miss when I’m busy: I don’t have time […]

Oh So Nearly There

oh yes, things are good. I passed my final CELTA assignment on first submission (yay!), now just planning my final lesson (featuring Mr. Bean; he’s a real global celebrity), for delivery in about 20 hours from now. We have a wee bit more to do on the Friday, but it’s not going to be too […]

CELTA – Into the home straight

I feel we’re over the 3-week hump now. And so we should be. It’s week four. Despite being even more absolutely shattered than last night (I’ve had to resort to a continuous intake of caffeine / taurine packed Red Bull to stay awake), I’m feeling a whole lot better tonight. This is mainly due to […]

CELTA – Week three blues

It’s 2am on Bank Holiday Monday, and I’ve just finished the last of three assignments we’ve had over the last three weekends. It hasn’t been easy, but it’s been OK. The guidelines are pretty clear, and it’s all based on what we’ve been taught up until now. This assignment consisted of several stages: the first […]

CELTA in a Wordle

(Click for larger image. You have to be a Flickr contact to see the original).

CELTA, and other means of self-improvement

My lesson today didn’t really go as planned. Whilst I think I met my goals as stated on my plan (present models of obligation / no obligation / prohibition and then provide writing practice), I did so in a pretty shoddy manner. Hhm, I may have failed it actually – I’m looking forward to receiving […]

CELTA – it’s like a rocket-propelled knitting competition

Despite only getting to sleep shortly before 3am last night, and despite having not slept more than 5 hours in the previous 44 hours, I still woke up at 6.30am of my own accord. It’s been like this ever since I started CELTA. This is very unusual for me – normally I need a good […]

An Amazing Adventure

Amazing day. A true adventure. Following 20 hours of non-stop activity I am pretty out of it, but I’d like to note down a few things from today that really struck me as pretty damn wonderful. It all started at 6am, I’m up to drive to the kitchen at the community centre where the sushi […]

Another CELTAesque weekend

Yesterday, being a Saturday, I went to uni. The previous day we’d been given the option of either watching a teaching practice video on the Friday, or of going in on the Saturday morning and watching it then. Four of us chose the latter option, as we felt that it would be a good way […]

CELTA: nearly half-way there

A poster I created to help get students in the mood for learning the second conditional: “If I won a million pounds I’d…” (the building featured houses about 5 classrooms that we teach in). Wah. Shatterficated. That’s what I be. We’re now almost half way through CELTA. The pace hasn’t let up at all, really […]

A CELTA weekend, and Family Planning

So this is what a CELTA weekend is like then: study, study and more study (and a very enjoyable 3-hour trip out to the Peak District to see friends – thank you!) It’s been fun though. You know, I think I’m actually starting to get my head around English grammatical terms, after 30 years of […]

CELTA: 25% down, 75% to go

We made it. First week of CELTA complete. 25% down, 75% to go! The Wikiepdia description is turning out to be spot-on: The full-time four-week course is very intensive, and students taking it must be prepared to dedicate all their waking hours to it for the duration. Even the part-time version of the course can […]

Merhaba! Nasılsın?

In this morning’s first class we were treated to the most extraordinary experience. It was absolutely captivating, and made me forget all about the scary half-naked man at the bus stop 30 minutes earlier who had thrown bricks at a carpet-delivery van containing three men, one of whom had briefly emerged with a long iron […]

a brief hello

The way things are shaping up I think there will be very little in terms of blog activity from me this month. Or any other kind of activity, other than working towards gaining my CELTA certificate. It’s incredibly intense. from 9.30am to 6.30pm (7pm yesterday) the 16 of us are either in our classroom being […]

Above the architecture section

Today, like yesterday, and no doubt tomorrow too, was a good day. I feel some important memories were made. It was also a very happy day, as last night my brother’s partner’s daughter gave birth to a very cute little boy – really great news – congratulations to all involved! Congratulations also to dear Michael […]