celta graduate stories – CELTA Helper

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself and any relevant background info My name is Nino. I am from the country of Georgia. I teach English at Tbilisi State University. 2. What motivated you to take the CELTA course? It is a highly demanded qualification everywhere and in my country, too. If you look at the job advertisements, you will notice that majority of employers ask for a CELTA. CELTA is a great tool for teaching, while doing the course you experience teaching a real life. Teaching needs confidence. After learning a lot of methodologies to teach and being examined by tutors, your confidence will grow. 3. How were the CELTA assignments for you? I can't say that I found CELTA assignments very difficult as I had read many books and had been prepared in advance, though I guess the "Language Analysis" and "Skills Related Task" were the most interesting and challenging for me. 4. Was there any part in particular that felt the most challenging for you, and why? Observations. No one likes being observed! I tended to get nervous. I found it difficult to grasp all the new concepts, but little by little I got accustomed to it and always learnt something and became more confident. 5. How did you feel when you finished the course? My memories of doing CELTA are quite positive. I adopted a lot of CELTA techniques, like asking concept-checking questions, reducing TTT, using the right body language. CELTA has given me not only new qualification but it has turned me into quite a new person. 6. What advice would you give to other non-native speakers preparing to take the CELTA course? Choose a good course, brush up on grammar terms, read the recommended books (Editor's note: you can see my recommended CELTA books here!) Give it all you've got and enjoy!