There seems to be an insatiable demand to learn English around the world, and Barcelona is no exception. If you speak English fluently (you do not have to be a native speaker), and want virtually guaranteed work just about anywhere around the world, then consider investing a month of your life in doing a TEFL course.

As you have probably heard, 4-week TEFL / CELTA courses are very intensive. There is a lot to cover in a short time and participants have to demonstrate specific skills during practice teaching classes in order to receive certification. It will be a tough four weeks, but very well worthwhile, and if you’re planning to stay in Barcelona to work, well, even more so. Barcelona like so many other cities are crying out for qualified English teachers. The TEFL course will be your passport to traveling the world.

If you take a 4-week CELTA course (rather than a part-time one spread over 3 or 4 months), you will find that the course is very intensive: you have classes all day and then spend most of your evenings/weekends doing lesson-planning and other assignments.

ADVICE

1. Do some pre-course study.
Most native English speakers know little about English grammar as they were never taught it in school. You are going to have to teach this stuff...no surprises there, so get a head start and rather than picking up a pure grammar book, pick up some of the most used textbooks and look at the lay out. Rather than plough through all the levels, start with an "intermediate" level. New English File by Oxford is one of the most popular textbooks for general English in Spain (it's British English). Have a look at the table of contents, and get a feel for what you will need to know...and, start familiarising yourself with the terms, explanations, examples. Believe you me...you are going to know all of this pretty well by the time you're done. You can reduce this load significantly by doing some pre-course studying.

Work on improving your language awareness, and particularly your understanding and knowledge of English grammar. Knowing how to speak English, doesn’t mean you know how to teach it!!! There are many hapless English teachers out there...don't be one of them!!!

2. Be organized and disciplined with. paperwork.
You will take a lot of notes and will be given a lot of summary, advice and feedback sheets by your trainers. It's easy to get overwhelmed by all the papers that you accumulate. Take care to file all these papers so that you can access them easily.

3. Be particularly disciplined with lesson planning.
You will have to plan and teach a series of lessons during your course as part of the course curriculum. . Sit down and start planning your lesson on paper, a maximum of 3-4 hours to plan a lesson -- less if you're planning a lesson of only 20-30 minutes.
Note:. Read your assignment with care before you start planning. Then when you've finished your plan, read the assignment again to make sure that your planned lesson meets the requirements of the assignment.

4. Research the language items you are going to trial teach.
Some of your lessons will involve the clarification and practice of vocabulary or grammar items: words, phrases, verb tenses, etc. With these lessons, it is essential that you research the items before you start planning your lesson.

Just about the worst thing that you can do in a classroom is to teach students an incorrect rule, spelling, etc. I’ve seen it done many times. English students may not know English, but they probably know their grammar better than you do, as, unlike in many English-speaking countries, grammar is drilled into other nationalities from an early age. ) They may not know English, but they know their grammar, albeit in their own language. So even if you think you totally understand a word, expression or structure, look it up in a dictionary or grammar book.

5. Don't try to reinvent the wheel.
The CELTA / TEFL is a basic training course and you don't need to produce startlingly creative lessons. So don't waste hours trying to think up new activities or materials: Plan simple but effective lessons using/adapting published material and based on example/procedure sheets given to you by the trainers. If you spend too much time on planning, you won't have enough energy left to interact with the students when you teach your lesson!

6. Don't stress out if some lessons go wrong.
However hard you work, some of your lessons may go wrong. (If you could produce perfect lessons, why would you be doing the course?) If this happens, remember that mistakes are excellent learning experiences. So don't stress out or become defensive, particularly during the feedback discussions after practice lessons. With help from the trainers and your colleagues, identify what went wrong - and then make a specific effort to avoid making the same mistakes in your next lessons.

7. Get to know the students in your practice classes.
The better you get to know the foreign students in your practice classes, the less intimidating they will seem and the easier it will be for you to anticipate and deal with their language problems during lessons. Remember, t hey are nervous too so chat with the students before the start of practice sessions, during coffee breaks, etc. This is particularly important if you have no TEFLL experience.

8. Learn from lesson observation.
Observe lessons given by your colleagues. You can learn an enormous amount from them, irrespective of whether the lessons are great or horrible. What are they doing well, poorly? How do their techniques differ from yours. How do the students respond?

9. Secure yourself a "guinea pig" student
As part of your TEFL course, you are going to have to analyse the English ability (speech, grammar, pronunciation etc) of a non-native English speaker and write out a course plan for them. It's not always easy to find someone in a country in which you have just arrived to do this project with you...so start sourcing a potential "guinea pig student" (I found that lower levels were easier to do) to help you with your final assignment.

10. Be -- and punctual.
Be punctual throughout the course. Your behavior and punctuality during the course will affect the grade that you receive and the reference that the TEFL centre writes for you afterwards….

TEFL SCHOOLS IN BARCELONA
List coming soon

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