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Niki Walker
We wish you a very happy New Year and hope that 2013 is going to be good to you too.
We started this new year with an enthusiastic CELTA group and we're half way through the course already. We're excited to have a guest trainer over from Berlin for a bit of added interest. All is going well - even the teaching practice students are coming on time every day despite the changes in the weather. The trainees are teaching people from Korea, China, Taiwan, France, Germany, Italy, Iran, Spain, Columbia, Brazil, India, Afghanistan, Thailand, Russia, Malaysia, Japan and the Philippines (I've probably forgotten some). It's great.
We're looking forward to our next blended/ online course starting on the 4th Feb- a great mix of trainees from all sorts of backgrounds (including some experienced ESL teachers) so far, but there are a couple of places left.
The DELTA Module Two is starting on March 11th, for two weeks. It's just the orientation course and then the DELTA local tutor team will be watching teaching in the candidates' own classes. We're really looking forward to it. Deadline for application is 25th!
More soon...
Coming soon... we MTA trainers would like to share some of our lesson plans with you!
The part-time blended CELTA course runs for 10 weeks. Teaching practice on Tuesday and Thursday evenings (5pm-8.30pm) and the rest of the course will be taught online. The tutors will run training sessions online and there is plenty of support available from tutors even though you are not in the classroom. The blended CELTA (incorporating face-to-face and online training) is popular with trainees who are unable to attend all the sessions at our centre, but who wish to complete the CELTA within a relatively short time-frame.
Would you like to teach ESL to children rather than adults? Maybe your first teaching job overseas includes the teaching of children, as well as adults. Some CELTA candidates want to focus on teaching younger learners/ children and our Young Leaners extension course can provide the necessary techniques. This course is not only for our CELTA graduates; overseas teachers/ training teachers and local teachers/training teachers are welcome.
Sessions for 2013 are on Wednesdays from 5.30pm-8.30pm:
February 27th, March 6th and 13th
June 12th,19th and 26th
August 14th, 21st and 28th
October 16th, 23rd and 30th
$330 + GST or $110 per session
Please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for more information.
At MTA we get a lot of enquiries about whether it's better to do the CELTA at a university. The answer to this question is no. Of course university language centres run good CELTA courses, but not necessarily better then small language schools. The CELTA certificate is provided by Cambridge University in the UK, and Cambridge is the university mentioned on the certificate you receive when you qualify. The centre where the CELTA is undertaken is not mentioned on the certificate, so it technically it shouldn't matter where you do the course, as each course is monitored and standardised by Cambridge University.
When choosing a CELTA course I would recommend the following:
- find a course that is within easy travelling distance from your home
- find a course with tutors who have a lot of international experience
- see how you feel about the tutors and the course during the interview; don't be afraid to ask questions about anything! Nothing is too silly- we've heard it all!
- find a course where you know you will get the attention, support and understanding you need
Well, that's my basic checklist. Obviously we at MTA believe our course to be more competitive than others because we, the directors, are the tutors on the course. In other words, we really care about the quality of our courses and about your happiness 
We have been so busy recently, running CELTA courses at MTA that I haven't been able to update the blog- sorry. Our latest news is that we are running a 20 hour TESOL course on 31st March/1st April. It will cover the basics of grammar and ESL methodology. We believe that the course will be a useful qualification for those who will teach overseas in organisations that do not require CELTA. Also, if you already have a teaching qualification this would be a good addition. Some of the people on the course just want to find out if ESL teaching is for them and others are treating it as a 'pre-CELTA' programme.
We have been in discussion with International House and The British Council about the possibility of running the distance DELTA in the second part of this year. The great thing about the DELTA now is that you can do it by studying modules, so it's more flexible. Modules One and Three will be done online with IH London, whereas Module Two (which is teaching) would be done here at MTA. There would be an orientation course lasting two weeks around Easter 2013 and then your teaching could be observed when you like, in your own workplace with your own class. We've already had teachers asking us when they can start, so we are hoping it all goes ahead. We have heard that the DELTA is becoming recognised and even required (in some centres) in Australia for management positions. Fantastic, then, that for Module Three you can specialise in ESL Management. There's also the possibility of specialising in EAP or Young Learners for Module Three. I'll keep you posted.
The last thing is our TECSOL course, starting in August 2012. The Young Learners market is booming and we keep getting requests for 'teaching kids' inputs on our CELTAs. Now that the CELTYL is no longer available we have filled the gap with our TECSOL (Teaching English to Children who Speak Other Languages) course. The course will go for 5 weeks, with observation of an experienced teacher every morning in week one. This course will take place in the city centre school in the mornings only (9 am - 1 pm).
There is actually one more thing: Barbara is also presenting a section of her thesis on 'Developing Thinking in English for Academic Purposes classes' at La Trobe University on 12th April. Barbara has developed a new approach to EAP that we hope to include in our EAP workshops later in the year. We welcome teachers from university language centres to these workshops, as well as teachers who are invloved in EAP at other institutes. Details on our website soon!
TESOL* training for those who would like to develop their knowledge of grammar, ESL teaching and ESL methodology. Please contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for more information.
* TESOL is an umbrella term meaning 'Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages'.
Next Weekend TESOL course for 2013: 7th and 8th of December, $440.
Why do the course?
Are you looking for a career change to ESL teaching but you are not sure if it's for you? This course provides a taste of what is required to be an ESL teacher.
Would you like advice on which country to teach in and which TESOL course to do next? Our tutors have taught all over the world and can recommend schools or organisations internationally or in Australia. You may want to graduate from our Weekend TESOL course and join a CELTA course with us later on in the year. Brush up on your grammar while you are here!
What does the course include?
Saturday 10.00am-4pm
Introduction and getting to know you
A Foreign Language Lesson: experience what it’s like to be a beginner student
An introduction to grammar 1: parts of speech
An introduction to grammar 2: tenses
Classroom management
A model lesson: a demonstration of ESL techniques and how to apply them in the classroom
Practising elicitation
Evaluating practice activities
Lesson planning/ preparation for teaching
Pair Teaching Practice
Feedback on teaching
Sunday 10am - 4pm
Engaging students and sustaining engagement
An introduction to pronunciation 1: raising awareness
An introduction to pronunciation 2: teaching and correcting pronunciation
Receptive skills lessons: developing reading and listening skills
Teaching vocabulary
An introduction to grammar 3: functions
Correcting students’ errors sensitively
Preparation for final teaching practice
Teaching Practice
Feedback
Professional development and employment in TESOL
This is my first blog after a long break since having a baby. I thought there should be an update of MTA news. The first thing is that we are running a pre-CELTA grammar course (or just a grammar course really) and that we are piloting an online element with it. This means that we are getting nearer to running purely online courses in the next few months, as well as our face-to-face courses. We are also preparing to run the online CELTA, which will hopefully be in operation on our February course next year. The course will be mostly face-to-face, but there are some elements that we could run online.
Our other big news is that we are in the process of planning a DELTA for the second part of 2012. Again this would be a blended model of teaching practice and some input face-to-face, with other elements online. We are bringing in an expert DELTA tutor and colleague of many years to run the course with us. Nothing is official yet, but we've already had so many enquiries about it- word gets around Melbourne fast.
We've started interviewing for our next CELTA (November 14th). We're running it in the city centre again and hope to get some of the same teaching practice students back that we had before- they were so enthusiastic and very popular with the last group of trainees.
More later.....
