Has anyone done the CELTA course in BA?

[teachervalerie]

Hi,

I just wondered if anyone out there has done a CELTA course in BA. Is there anyone that has done this course and then found work teaching straight afterwards? This is what I plan to do - am I crazy to think I can?!
Any thoughts greatly appreciated.

 

[allcraz]

I did the TEFL, not the CELTA, in 2007 and found work right afterwards. I've never heard of an English teacher down here who couldn't find work - that doesn't mean they had a full schedule, though. You often have to start with several institutes in order to get up to 25 hours a week. I do feel as if there are now more people down here trying to teach English, so if you have the CELTA, that's the best first start you can give yourself. If you have specific questions, you can PM me. Read all you can on the forum. As someone told you before, this topic has been covered tons and you can find lots of information here.

If you are responsible, punctual, somewhat creative, smartly-dressed, know your grammar, and care about your students, you will be successful as an English teacher and will be eventually recommended by word-of-mouth. You'll see my posts if you search. I'm one of the few that has enjoyed teaching English in BA. I don't know how long you're planning on staying, but the biggest mistake you can make is to treat the job as a "passing-through-paying-my-rent" gig. There is money to be had in teaching here, but it takes time and networking.

 

[sivan]

I did an online TEFL course for 1/10 of the price. Obviously the nice thing about doing the TEFL class onsite is meeting other people but if cost is a factor for you than it might be worth considering.
As allcraz said it is definately a lot of work. I think the thing i dislike the most is the travelling so if possible try to stick close to home otherwise you can end up running around the city for 4 hours a day - nevermind the classes.
I also hope that you came with some savings. Things here are NOT cheap and if you are working through an institute the going rate is 35-40 pesos an hour. It takes a while to work up to 25 hours a week and you need to factor in cancellations. Even if you work 100 hours a month that means you are only earning 4000 pesos.

 

[palermogirl]

I did the CELTA course here in BA (last August) and it was a very demanding and rewarding program. I have found work as a tutor which pays much better and it has been very reliable with the exception of this long vacation period. I also found some work at an institute, but really I am doing minimal hours there to have something tangible to show in the even that I want to teach at other schools abroad.

If you want to do the CELTA course, I highly recommend doing it here in BA. Then, unless you are in love and/or fascinated with Buenos Aires or Argentina, go somewhere else where there's demand and better pay.

 

[PhilipDT]

I have multiple friends who took the course and then found work immediately after.

 

[SteveD83]

100% agree with Palermogirl. International House do a good CELTA here - fantastic institute, offering a lot of support, who are more than willing to help you after you finish the course.

Once you've done your CELTA, be aware that most institutes will pay you poorly without offering a huge amount of support. If you're feeling brave then consider going alone and giving your own private classes. You can earn double the money, but be aware that admin, cancellations and a whole host of other whatnot generate a lot of hassle. You need to be extremely organised and discilpined with your time, otherwise it can quickly get on top of you.

Whatever you do: good luck.

 

[BsAsIrish]

This is all very interesting!!! What are the costs like to take and complete this course in BsAs??

Are you at any benefit at having long term plans for staying in BsAs or will these institutes all consider you the same?

 

[Chaz]

I did one of these courses four years ago at EBC, look at their web site.

It was interesting. Only about three of us out of fifteen did any teaching afterwards. This was because the pay and conditions were terrible. Most of the people on the course were rich kids from the US and it wasn't worth their while working.

Basically it's OK for beer money, finding out about the English language and meeting some native Argentines. For any one who has made a living from it, I salute you.

 

[citymike]

100% agree with Palermogirl. International House do a good CELTA here - fantastic institute, offering a lot of support, who are more than willing to help you after you finish the course.

I did the course last June and I mostly agree (not so sure about "fantastic"). I'd certainly recommend the course and the tutors.

If you're feeling brave then consider going alone and giving your own private classes. You can earn double the money, but be aware that admin, cancellations and a whole host of other whatnot generate a lot of hassle. You need to be extremely organised and discilpined with your time, otherwise it can quickly get on top of you.

I have been giving private lessons for the past few months. I haven't had any great hassle but then I only have a few students and the number is increasing gradually allowing me to adapt slowly.

Now, I'd rather like a job at an institution where they would mentor me but from what I read and hear they are few and far between. So, if you are here for some time I would recommend giving private classes. And why not try to do both!

 

[jayjane]

By all means do the course here but go teach somewhere else! I enjoyed the course. I´ve had more luck than most people I know with getting work hours but I´ve dealt with a lot of bs. Private students are the best (ones that you find yourself.) Pay is low with most if not all institutes. A lot of them are very disorganized. I´ve had pay issues with several (not getting paid for what I was supposed to). You basically have no real recourse if you are getting paid en negro. Some institutes expect you to do a lot of planning work. I´ve had several that don´t want to use books at all for some classes. Sounds nice, right? It isn´t! Students will want grammar exercises after a while. Without a book to guide the course you end up creating a lot of material and you don´t get anymore pay for it. Plus they´ll try to keep your original material to use in ¨their coursebooks.¨ There are a few good employers out there but, it can be super hard to get enough hours at one of the good ones to live off. Most people I know that came here with the idea of teaching went back within a few months. I know a group that´s been here for a year but, most are pulling from their savings every month with plans to return shortly.