Sorting the ephemeras I collected during my first backpacking trip in December last year. I’m still not a firm believer of ‘everything happens for a reason’ but as luck would have it, I won a ticket to Paris at a CozyCot Holy Grail Private Party. (Thank you, CozyCot.)

A single return ticket to Paris via KLM, which may I add, is the best airline I’ve travelled with yet. Almost a year on, I have now exhausted my savings after visiting a couple more countries in Asia since Europe and got a CELTA last month. Let me attempt to record what I experienced last winter before I leave to teach in China and start a new chapter.

You’d say it’s home sweet home for me right now but I’d rather be somewhere else in the world living without the comforts of a 24/7 mother, caring and concerned father and sister, and friends who miss me. Not sure if selfish is the appropriate adjective for me but there’s so much I want to see and experience in this world. Wish I’d embarked on this journey a few years earlier.

I found people visiting my blog searching for How to get a CELTA B? instead of What to bring for CELTA? and decided to write this down: I got 3 Above Standard (AS) and 5 To Standard (TS) grades for my teaching practice (TP) with 1 re-submit for my assignment, my friend scored 6 AS and 2 TS without any re-submits; we both got a Pass B. In our hearts, he is a Pass A. Perhaps your best bet is to read the CELTA Syllabus before the course. Digest everything you learn during the course, refer to the guide before every TP, then execute them. Sounds easy? There’s a reason why they emphasize that it is a very intensive and challenging course.

Meanwhile, I’m busy trading in my gadgets and toy collections for extra cash. Note to self: get Certificate of No Criminal Conviction (CNCC), apply for visa, and get a couple more original transcripts before I embark on the next adventure of my life – look for a job in another country.

Updates:
(1) “Photocopy of document from relevant consulate/immigration authority/government bodies to show proof that the certificate is required by such authority” is required to get a CNCC.
(2) Very long queue at China Embassy, be early.

It’s official. How awesome is that?

Doing the TEYL course right now.

Cuisenaire rods are FUN!

Masterpieces by Ion, Tom, Eric and myself. Ion can draw so well. Did I mention that I love crayons?

Elvampirilla

Mr. Pickles

Norris

Barface

So smashed on a Tuesday, need to hit the shower and go to bed now.

Dear Michi,

All is well over here, please let Pa and Mummy know and tell them not to worry.

Golden Sweat has been very accommodating with my nonsense and makes sure I get to school on time every day. He is very smart and helps me a lot, especially on grammar and phonetics. When I get too stressed with school, he encourages me. He also packs food for me when I am rushing for my assignments and makes Milo for me every morning.

I bought a new Paul Frank bikini on Saturday and have been swimming every day since. (Splurge, I know.) The pool water is cleaner after the rain, or maybe I can’t see too well at night.

The Pool - Day & Night

My classmates are awesome. I think it’s the Western culture. They’re very friendly and generous with compliments and encouragement. I’d love to say the same to them, and I truly mean what I say, but somehow I just find it hard to express myself.

I taught a new pre-intermediate class and got an “above standard” for my lesson today! It was probably my lesson plan that scored. I had a good warmer leading in to my context for teaching comparatives and superlatives and I used my students as examples. My little “invention” of a bigger or smaller game where they form sentences like “A cat is bigger than a rat,” or “My eraser is smaller than a rat,” went quite well even though I was running a little late into the lesson. The pre-intermediate students took a little longer than I’d anticipated for a worksheet they had to complete. I miss my students from the intermediate class!

Origami dice

Kenji visited us over the weekend and they helped me with these origami dice. I got the instructions off this YouTube video. School’s been absolutely exhausting and I have 3 lessons and an assignment due this week! Kenji and Golden Sweat went to Ayuthaya on Saturday but I didn’t join them. Just gotta tide over this week and the next two weeks will be more relaxed!

Working hard and healthy!

Love,
Jie

Like I expected, I can’t remember what happened last weekend or what went on for teaching day 3 if I didn’t write ‘em down straightaway. There’s a cocktail of English and American accents and CELTA lingo in my head now with imaginary phonemes appearing on everything I say or write.

I got an “above standard” grade today for my lesson! Wasn’t expecting it thoughI know that I did do better today than all my previous lessons. I guess my improvisation using a student in my class to elicit and teach the first conditional scored me some points. However, my instructions for the activities still came out in a mess as before.

I took John’s advise yesterday about doing the lesson plan and language analysis before preparing the lesson materials and it really did work. He mentioned the lesson is only gonna be as good as our analysis of the target language and wise words indeed. If I hadn’t done that, I wouldn’t have been able to do my impromptu grammar clarification before my lesson proper that I didn’t plan for.

Jinhan got his 3rd “above standard” today! I’m thrilled for him! Hope he’ll get a Pass with A at the end of CELTA. I’m aiming for a Pass with B.

Oh, and my classmate, Tom (Thomas), gave me a mixed tape of songs with Gloria or Glory in them (except for one song – I will survive by Gloria Gaynor, which technically doesn’t count)! That was sooo sweeet and it really made my day!

I’ve only been getting an average of 6 hours’ sleep every night and am suffering for a bit of a migraine since yesterday. Need to persevere! Assignment 2 due tomorrow! Damn, this blog is starting to get really wordy. Gonna go 拍照，拍照 with Kenji this weekend!

Just finished my assignment 1, stealing some time to blog a little. I experimented with using the Overhead Projector (OHP) for my lesson last Thursday. Too much drilling about “chesting” led me to forgetting to use the overhead transparency that I prepared (to give instructions) and had some students fill up the wrong column on their worksheet. Poor time management and complacency led me to being less than prepared for lesson 2. Made the mistake of not enough ICQs and CCQs, again. Thankfully, I managed to get another “to Standard”. Personally, I felt that I did not improve much though my tutor and classmates said otherwise. It’s very important to hear their feedback, positive or negative, and I’m very grateful to Aaron for his constructive comments about my lesson. I was very surprised when he mentioned “holding things for comfort” and noticed I was holding my whiteboard markers throughout the lesson!

CELTA Dress Code
It is fine to dress smart casual on non teaching days. We have eight teaching days so that’s the amount of formal wear you need to bring (suits and ties not required for guys). I was surprised to find out that ladies are not supposed to expose their shoulders in Thai culture, so keep your sleeveless tops at home or for the weekends. Bring a jacket too because the classrooms can get really cold at times.

Clubbing in BKK
My Singaporean friend, Alan, dropped by with his customer and I managed to grab a couple of drinks with them on Saturday. We went bar hopping and clubbing till late and here’s a tip: carry your passport with you. Some places do not welcome Thais and they may check your identity if you are or look Asian like me (they may mistake you for a Thai). After much persuasion, we managed to get “exceptional approval” to enter Zaleng (a club in Bangkok) even though we were in shorts and slippers. A bottle of Johnnie Walker red label goes for only 900baht! It’s weird but they serve popcorn for 60baht to go along with your drinks. They usually serve peanuts in Singapore.

Update: After chatting with my classmate, Greg, I found out that they serve popcorn in some parts of the States too!

The CELTA course has been keeping me very occupied.

Got a “Standard” pass for my teaching today. It’s not “Above Standard” but I’m happy because I know I still have plenty of room for improvement. Things like pairing/grouping students or “chesting instructions” seemed easy to execute while observing classes, but they turned out really awkward and unnatural when I actually did them.

Despite planning my lesson, scripting my instructions, ICQs and CCQs (Instruction Checking Questions and Concept Checking Questions), anxiety got the better of me and I didn’t carry out some of the stuff I intended to do. I am glad the class wasn’t a complete failure even though I did my gist task and introduced one vocabulary after my detailed reading task (because I completely left them out).

My tutor, John, was surprisingly very encouraging and positive; quite different from all the nightmare stories I read online about CELTA trainers. My group mates, Aaron, Brian and Laura were also very supportive, especially Laura. Oh, and of course my roomie, Jinhan, too.

Even though it’s been barely a week, I feel that I have learned and benefited greatly from my trainers. Like what you’ll Google from ex-CELTA trainees, this course is truly helpful for anybody who wants to teach English as a career. The pedagogy is excellent for teaching any language in fact, and I noticed some similarities to the PBL (Problem Based Learning) pedagogy I practised while teaching Republic Polytechnic.

Workload is gradually building up and I can see now, why they say the CELTA course is very intensive.

Some tips on what to bring

• Big A4 ring folder with dividers and clear pockets
• Stationery (pens, pencils, eraser; hole punchers, staplers, glue and scissors are available in the school)
• A notebook or writing pad
• Color pencils (to add color to the black and white printouts used for your lessons)
• Jacket (as warm and humid as Bangkok is, classrooms can get pretty cold at times)

Everything is conveniently and cheaply available at the supermarket in Big C where ECC is located if you don’t want to bring your own.

I reaaally should be preparing for Friday’s lesson or sleeping right now instead of blogging but I’m afraid I’d forget all these by the time weekend comes. Besides, my weekend’s probably burnt too with a 750 – 1,000 words assignment due on Monday. Heck, I’m gonna treat myself to a beer and get a cheap bikini so I can chill by the pool after Friday’s class!

Why Thailand?

The answer is simple, time and money.

Thailand is one of the cheapest countries to take CELTA, considering it costs about US$3,800 at the British Council in Singapore and only US$1,660 at ECC Thailand (after early bird discount, if you apply 45 days before the course commences). Do some simple calculation and you will realise that it is cheaper to do it in Thailand even after adding your (budget airline) tickets, accommodation and living expenses. We’re talking about budget guesthouses to mid-range apartments and simple meals of course.

CELTA at the British Council in Singapore is offered on a part-time basis, or so they claim. It is two days per week, from 9am to 5pm over a 10-week period. That hardly sounds part-time to me since I’ve got to be extremely fortunate to have a very understanding employer who’d allow me to take two days off every week, or quit my day job. Over at ECC Thailand, you will complete the full-time course in four weeks.

Did I mention that they also throw in a locally (Thailand) recognised TEYL at no charge?

Application

After a lengthy application form and a 45-minute phone interview, I have been accepted for the CELTA course! Here are a couple of tips for filling up the application form:

1. Do your research, Google is your best friend.
2. Borrow relevant books to read them before, during and after applying.
3. Double check for grammatical and spelling mistakes.
4. Answer the question. Not all of them require you to define or give textbook answers.
5. Keep your extended writing task short and sweet (but stick to the 300-word minimum)

Regarding the phone interview, you won’t need to fret too much if you’ve done your homework and completed the application form on your own.

Visa

ECC Thailand does not provide an official admission letter and they will advice you to apply for the 90-days Tourist Visa instead of the Non-Immigrant Visa-ED. Contact your country’s Thai Embassy for more information.