CELTA advice from Caroline Bonelle

Caroline is a CELTA tutor with IH Palermo in Italy


How long were you an EFL teacher, and how long have you been a teacher trainer?

I’ve been training since 2003 and am still very much a classroom teacher of EFL. I've always wanted to teach EFL and still love it.

What are your hopes/aspirations for your trainees?

I love the challenge of transmitting a passion for teaching to my trainees.  I always hope that they find the same wonderful mix of satisfaction and constant challenge that a career in teaching can provide.

When you were an EFL teacher what did you like most, and how do you bring that into the classroom for your trainees?

For my students, as with trainees, a huge bonus is seeing someone develop and mature in the learning process and start to believe in their ability to continue as an independent learner.  Highlighting people’s awareness of their own potential in both language learning and teaching is incredibly rewarding.

What advice would you give your trainees for successfully completing the course?

Exploit time pre-course to get as organised and prepared as possible and try to stay a step ahead of yourself from the outset.  And don’t just look to tutors for help; the most successful courses are the ones with a positive, stimulating and cooperative group feeling amongst trainees.

What advice would you give your trainees for an interesting and rewarding career?

Empathy is everything in successful teaching and until our students are comfortable and relaxed and motivated and interested in our classrooms, learning will not happen.