Celta in Solihull... Halfway done....

I have been taking this CELTA course now for almost 2 months now and we are just about halfway done. We have a short break for the half-term next week and it is definitely a well placed rest.

Normally I teach on Thursdays but as chance would have it a classmate rang me on Sunday as I was preparing my lesson for Thursday and asked if I could switch with them for this week. I was very happy to do so as that means that now I do not have to really to do any lesson preparation for about 2 weeks.

There are some assignments I need to work on though. I am finding those more difficult than the rest of the class for some strange reason.

But overall I am positive the class has made me a better teacher. Particularly because of the Saturday theory classes we have that involve some great teaching concepts and methodologies to utilize inside the classroom.

I have found out that I am excellent at teaching vocabulary but need to vastly improve my ability to present grammar and form.

As for the class in general then I would recommend it and if you have the ability to take it at Solihull College then I would recommend that as well. The CELTA instructors have a lot of experience and definitely know what they are talking about. They are quite helpful and very available and approachable for guidance outside and inside the class. Feedback seems to be on par with what I would expect but the ideas they give you as to what you could have done to improve a lesson is insightful.


The Tudor Grange house where we teach at Solihull College is amazing. It is like some sort of mansion you would see in a Jane Austin film adaptation or an old haunted mansion form the Scooby Doo cartoons. There are old fireplaces and beautiful carvings of different objects in the wooden frames. I will try to take some photos of the inside on Thursday to post.