International House Buenos Aires is one of the most popular and well-established CELTA course providers in South America.  We have been providing both full and part-time CELTA courses throughout the year for over a decade and were the first and only centre to run CELTA courses in Argentina.

What most sets us apart from other CELTA course providers in both South America and beyond is our vastly experienced team of in-house tutors, who ensure that every course is tailored to the needs of the individual candidates on each course.

The CELTA course provides speakers of English with initial training in teaching English as a foreign or second language (TEFL, EFL,TESOL and ELT) and leads to the internationally recognized qualification Cambridge English Level 5 Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (CELTA).

It is an introductory course for candidates who have little or no previous English language teaching experience or for candidates with some experience who are looking for a further professional development and an international qualification.

The courses are validated and the syllabus and assessment criteria set by Cambridge English.

The full time CELTA courses take place over 4 weeks, Monday to Friday, 9.30-4.30 pm.  The part-time course lasts 36 weeks.

The minimum number of contact hours is 120, but you should calculate at least another 120 hours outside of the core timetable for background reading, lesson planning and assignment writing.  On the blended part-time course there are 72 contact hours on 24 Friday evenings, and the rest of the input is through online tasks and forums across the 36 weeks of the course.

During the course, candidates develop familiarity with the principles of effective teaching and acquire a range of practical skills for teaching English to adult learners.

The course is designed around a preparation, teaching and feedback cycle, and includes:

• 6 hours of teaching practice across 8 lessons
• 6 hours of observation of experienced teachers in the classroom
• completion of 4 practically focused written assignments
• input sessions dealing with current methodology, language analysis and their application in the classroom

Please be aware that the full-time CELTA course is highly intensive. Candidates should not have any outside work or study commitments during the course.

The CELTA course programme is designed to enable candidates to:

• Develop an awareness of language and a knowledge of the description of English and apply these in their professional practice
• Develop an initial understanding of the contexts within which adults learn English, their motivations and the roles of the teacher and the learner
• Develop familiarity with the principles and practice of effective teaching to adult learners of English
• Develop basic skills for teaching adults in the language classroom
• Develop familiarity with appropriate resources and materials for use with adult learners of English for teaching, testing and reference purposes
• Identify opportunities for their own future development as professionals in the field

The course features are:

• Extensive teaching practice every day (or every Friday Part-time) (six hours in total)
• Practical experience teaching students at different language levels
• Detailed feedback and discussion sessions with a course tutor
• Observation of qualified teachers  (six hours in total)
• Guided observation of videoed lessons
• Seminars and demonstrations to improve language awareness
• Classroom management and lesson planning

Syllabus Overview

The syllabus consists of five units of learning that deal with specific topic areas in the teaching of ESOL.

• Unit 1 Learners and teachers, and the teaching and learning context
• Unit 2 Language analysis and awareness
• Unit 3 Language skills: reading, listening, speaking and writing
• Unit 4 Planning and resources
• Unit 5 Developing teaching skills and professionalism

Units 1, 4 and 5 focus on the preparation and delivery of ESOL teaching programmes. Units 2 and 3 focus on the content of ESOL teaching programmes as well as the pedagogic knowledge required for teaching language and language skills.

Assessment & Grading

You will be assessed throughout the course, with no final examination. Rest assured, trainees are always kept informed of their progress during the course and an external assessor, appointed by Cambridge English, moderates each course.

There are two components of assessment:

1. Teaching practice

You will teach for a total of 6 hours, working with classes at two levels of ability. Assessment is based on your overall performance at the end of the 6 hours.

2. Written assignments

You will complete four written assignments: one focusing on adult learning; one on the language system of English; one on language skills; and one on classroom teaching.

To be awarded the certificate you must pass both components and show that you can:

• assess learner needs, and plan and teach lessons which take account of learners’ backgrounds, learning preferences and current needs
• demonstrate language knowledge and awareness and appropriate teaching strategies
• demonstrate knowledge about language skills and how they may be acquired
• plan and prepare lessons designed to develop learners’ overall language competence
• demonstrate an appropriate range of teaching skills at two levels and show professional awareness and responsibility

There are three grades — Pass, Pass ‘B’ and Pass ‘A’.  The majority of candidates receive a PASS grade.

A Pass is awarded to candidates whose performance overall in the teaching practice and in the written assignments meets the specified criteria. They will continue to need guidance to help them to develop and broaden their range of skills as teachers in post.

A Pass (Grade B) is awarded to candidates whose performance in the written assignments meets the specified criteria and who have demonstrated in their teaching practice a level of achievement significantly higher than that required to meet pass-level criteria in relation to:

• classroom teaching skills

They will continue to need some guidance to help them to develop and broaden their range of skills as teachers in post.

A Pass (Grade A) is awarded to candidates whose performance in the written assignments meets the specified criteria and who have demonstrated in their teaching practice a level of ability and achievement and a level of awareness significantly higher than that required to meet pass-level criteria in relation to:

• planning for effective teaching
• classroom teaching skills

They will benefit from further guidance in post but will be able to work independently.

Candidates who fail to meet criteria in any or al assessed components will receive a Fail.

Candidates are ineligible for the award in cases where dishonesty or plagiarism is brought to the attention of the Cambridge English Teaching Awards.

Further Information

Candidates are strongly recommended to read the CELTA syllabus and assessment criteria, available as a PDF download from the Cambridge ESOL website:

www.cambridgeenglish.org/teaching-english/teaching-qualifications/celta/about-the-celta-course/

Full-time intensive CELTA

Face2face courses run Mondays to Fridays, 09.00 – 16.30

Fully online courses run live Mondays to Fridays 09.00 – 13.00 (teaching practice), plus 2/3 hours asynchronous methodological input through Moodle and 3/4 hours of lesson planning each day.  You will be in front of a computer screen doing CELTA related tasks for around 12 hours a day.

2020 Full-time dates

All courses in 2020 and at the beginning of 2021 will run completely online due to COVID-19 (including online teaching practice using Zoom)

All courses are now five weeks to allow for sufficient time to complete all online methodology units and get accustomed to teaching through Zoom ahead of commencing teaching practice

• Monday 14th September to Friday 16th October
• Monday 19th October to Friday 2oth November

2021 Full-time dates

• Monday 4th January to Friday 5th February

More to follow soon

Part-time blended CELTA

The part-time blended CELTA lasts 36 weeks. Candidates complete the methodological input online and the teaching practice and some input sessions face to face on Friday evenings.

Teaching practice Fridays 18:00 – 21:00 (not including long weekends and winter holidays).  There are a total of 24 face2face Friday evenings.  

Input online (approximately 3 hours a week for 36 weeks)

2021 Part-time blended dates

Friday March 5th – Friday November 5th

During the COVID-19 crisis, we are reducing our course fees by 15%.

The new fees are therefore as follows:

Course fee: USD1090 plus Cambridge enrolment fee USD380* – Total USD1470

For the rest of 2020 we are offering a special discount to Argentine DNI holders who have been resident in Argentina for the last 12 months of 20% on the total fee (so you pay USD1176) in order to reflect the current local context.

*Any increase levied by Cambridge English on their CELTA enrolment fee during the year will be added

Firstly, in order to be considered for Cambridge English CELTA you need to meet the following requirements:

• Applicants should be aged 20 or over

• Applicants must have an awareness of language and a competence in English, both written and spoken, that enables them to undertake the course and prepare for teaching a range of classes – ideally at C2 level on the Common European Framework.

• Applicants must have a standard of education that would allow entrance to higher education in their own country.

• Applicants must have the potential to develop the necessary skills to become effective teachers and to complete the written assignments and the assessment of teaching practice successfully

Secondly, you need to complete the application form and email it to us at belgrano@ih-buenosaires.com.

We will process your application within 24-48 hours and if your initial application is successful then you will be invited for interview.  In some cases we may request additional information before your application can be considered further.  Overseas applicants will be interviewed through Zoom.

Successful candidates will receive a formal acceptance letter within 48 hours, together with details for payment.

Once you have paid the deposit we will send you the Pre-Course Task, the aim of which is to introduce you to some of the areas covered on the CELTA and to provide you with the opportunity to prepare for the course. The pre-course task should be completed before the course begins but it is not part of the formal assessment.  Answers are provided for you to self-correct.

Click here to download the application form

Full details of how to pay will be provided once you have been accepted on to a course.  However, you should be aware of the following information:

• to  reserve your place on the course you will need to make a deposit
• full fees must be paid four weeks before the course starts.
• candidates who pay in full ten weeks before the start of the course receive an ‘early bird’ discount of 10% of the course fee (only for intensive courses).
• payment may be made locally by cheque from an Argentine account, bank deposit or transfer; or by international wire transfer.

There is a wealth of accommodation available in Buenos Aires and we provide prospective candidates with detailed information about various options, including bed & breakfast/hostels; home stays; shared apartments; and flats, many of which have been recommended to us by previous candidates, through our specially designated accommodation blog.  We will happily provide access information once your application has been received and can arrange home stay accommodation upon request, subject/according to availability.

Because of the intensive nature of the course, we recommend that candidates find accommodation as close to the institute as possible.

If you wish to look for accommodation further away then you should ensure that it has good transport links.  In addition, a quiet place to study and work in the evenings and weekends is essential and internet connection is invaluable.

Future Learn, in conjunction with Cambridge Assessment English, regularly runs online courses with the aim of introducing potential CELTA candidates to the world of English language teaching and helping them explore the opportunities to teach English abroad or at home.

For more information, click here.

While the impact of coronavirus, quarantine laws and travel restrictions mean that face-to-face or on-site teacher training courses are not advisable or not possible at present, we are still here for you. During the present situation, with the help of Cambridge Assessment English and IH World, all our remaining CELTA courses will be run entirely online.

 Online CELTA course features

• All methodological input will be imparted through the Cambridge English Online Learning Platform in the same way our Part-Time courses are run.  This includes the administration of the four written assignments and the progress tutorials.
• The teaching practice will take place in Zoom classrooms.  The criteria used for assessment of teaching is exactly the same as that used on face2face courses. You will be assessed on your teaching skills, not your technical skills.  Having said that, the online mode does give you the added benefit of developing your online teaching and technical skills in addition to everything learnt on a face2face course.
• The online input sessions are completely asynchronous. i.e. you can work though them at your own pace each day, supported by our online tutors
• The teaching practice takes place every day from 09:00 to 11:35 with feedback from 12:00 to 13:00 (Argentina is GMT – 3 (BST – 4 between March and October))
• The courses run across five weeks to allow for a little less intensive acquisition of the methodological input, as well as time to observe and teach classes online unassisted at the beginning of the course, in order to get accustomed to teaching through Zoom, before the assessed teaching practice begins.

• The final certificates received from both International House and Cambridge English will be exactly the same as for a face2face course; there is no differentiation made between the different modes of course delivery.

Part -time blended CELTA 2021

The part-time blended CELTA lasts 36 weeks. Candidates complete the methodological input online while the teaching practice, feedback, and some input sessions are held face to face in the school on Friday evenings from 18:00 – 21:00 (not including long weekends and winter holidays).  There are a total of 24 face2face Friday evenings.  The Online Input  is approximately 3 hours a week for 36 weeks)

The Cambridge policy on lost certificates is:

CERTIFICATES LOST BY THE CANDIDATE

• Any certificate lost by a candidate will not be replaced. In these circumstances candidates must apply for a Certifying Statement [see below]. 
• Candidates can apply for a certifying statement themselves. This is only worth doing if needed for a job application etc.

CERTIFYING STATEMENTS

Applying for a certifying statement

A certifying statement is a document which is accepted by universities and other institutions as proof of the examination result. Certifying statements can be requested by the candidate or by the candidate’s centre of entry. Certifying statements requested by third parties must have written permission from the candidate. These can be sent, either directly to the candidate or to any public institution.

Cambridge English accept payment by invoice (centres only) or credit card (Visa or Mastercard). They do not accept American Express or Diners Club. Their online forms will ask for all mandatory fields to be completed and will automatically calculate the appropriate fee required. When the form has been submitted, the applicant will receive a confirmation that their application form has been received including a unique reference number.

Payments by credit cards

To apply for a certifying statement and pay by credit card, please complete this online application form.

Useful guidelines for applying for a certifying statement – payment by credit card 

All info taken from https://certstat.cambridgeenglish.org

Mario Aveni:

“A game-changer for your whole teaching career!” Mario Aveni CELTA June 2020. In this video Mario gives an in-depth look at the CELTA from the candidate’s point of view!”

Pilar Capaul: