Celta time!

Vdaras

If you are thinking about doing the Celta, then I recommend International house Chiang Mai. You live in the hotel where the Celta is being taught. You also get your meals provided for you 5 days a week. It is outside the main city, therefore, you can focus on the course.

The lessons were from 10.30am - 8pm. The last two hours being teaching practice or observation. The rest of our time was spent on the computers doing assignments and lesson plans. This was the daily practice for most of the course.

The hotel we stayed in was Vdaras. It was beautiful. Sadly, I didn't get to enjoy it as I was so busy. My room was 3 times bigger than my apartment in Seoul. I had a beautiful four poster bed. The only thing it was missing was a bath (It's been over a year since I have had a bath *sobs*).

Study! Study! Study!

There was twelve of us on the course, and I luckily was with a cool group of people except one. There was a variety of ages and nationalities but everyone got along well (except that one person). Who was this one person? I can safely say she was the most bitter and nasty person, I have ever had the unpleasure of meeting. She complained about everything from the start. The tutors, the hotel, the whole Celta system.... She would mutter under her foul breath. The type of muttering that they pretend no-one can hear but everyone can...like a teenager. You may think I am being harsh on this woman. But if you ever had the displeasure of meeting her then you would understand. I was stuck in a group with her for the whole course.

With students at the leaving party!

She seem to target her complaints to me and another girl. We took it on the chin until the third week. I was sitting on the computer alone doing my lesson plans when she came in. You must understand this is a very stressful course and by this point everyone was stress. But, unlike her we were not taking it out on other people. Anyways, back to the story. There I was minding my own business. She was already pissing me off as she was taking her of the tutor time before our lesson. Therefore, me and the other guy in the group never got a chance to talk to our tutor. And she comes in complaining about me and the other girl. I told her to stop being so aggressive and she had got her facts wrong. She walked off mumbling like a teenager. So that was it. I called her out on it. I told her we can all hear her when she mumbles and we are all stressed, but unlike her we didn't take our stress out on everyone. We never spoke again after that and I considered myself very lucky. But seriously! Our tutors were the loveliest people, but I could see them getting angry at some points with her. Oh well! One in every group.

With Alex and Natalie! Don't know what I would have
done without these two to keep me sane.

We had a few nights out as a group. The first weekend was my biggest regret. I had the worst hangover the next day and it delayed me doing all my work.

We had 8 lessons to teach in all. Our students were adults. It was a complete change from teaching kids in Korea. The students did what we said and enjoyed the task. We took it in turns to teach. Whoever was third (and last) teaching was the unlucky one. You had to sit through two lessons getting nervous for your turn. We actually never knew if we did well or not. One lesson that I thought went so terrible that I burst into tears to my friend straight after actually turned out to be an above standard. And another that I thought was my best, was just a standard lesson.

Fruit everyday!

I am glad I did this course. I gained a lot of teaching knowledge that I am now incorporating in my lessons in Korea. I also met a bunch of great people, I got to see Thailand and most importantly... I got to eat a lot of tasty Thai food.

My final grade was pass B! Yay! I just neeed to focus on my timing.

If your thinking about doing the Celta course then I recommend reading the set course book before as it has a lot of the information in there that will help you with your lessons and assignments.