CELTA or TEFL: Which One Should I Choose?

Working as an English teacher can be a life-long profession or just something to do for a few years to experience living in a different country. Especially, if you’re not sure whether it’s your life calling, getting a degree feels like a massive commitment. 
Fortunately, there are courses and certificates you can get to work as an English teacher both abroad and in your country. How to know which one is the best one for you? In this blog post, we’ll help you get clarification about whether you should get CELTA or TEFL certified. 

Useful Teaching Terminology

Before we dive into the reasons why you should choose CELTA or TEFL, let’s have a look at some useful industry terminology: 

• TEFL – Teaching English as a Foreign Language. There are many TEFL courses that allow you to teach English. TEFL certificate holders usually teach in foreign countries, where English isn’t an official language and students have a limited exposure to the language. 
• TESL – Teaching English as a Second Language. Teachers with a TESL certificate are qualified to teach in English-speaking countries. A good example of target students are new immigrants for whom English isn’t their first language. 
• TESOL – Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. People with a TESOL certificate are technically qualified to teach in English-speaking countries and abroad. However, TEFL is often a preferred qualification between the two for teaching internationally.
• CELTA – Certificate in English Teaching for Adults. CELTA is considered the most prestigious certificate for people planning to teach English to learners of English as a second and foreign language. CELTA holders can teach both in English-speaking countries and internationally.

Now, that you have some basic industry terminology and you understand what’s what, it’s time to learn whether you should get a CELTA or TEFL certificate.  

TEFL and CELTA

TEFL and CELTA are the most popular certificates for people planning to teach English abroad. If you’re interested in moving to a foreign country to teach English, you must have seen ads of many TEFL courses by now. 
There are various centres that offer TEFL courses and certification, but not all of them are  accredited. It’s an investment of time and money so if you’re set on getting TEFL certified, be careful to choose the right course. 
TEFL is usually the minimum requirement for teaching English abroad in language schools. Unfortunately, the market is getting oversaturated with young people planning to live abroad and teach English. How to make sure that you’ll manage to get an attractive teaching position? Get a CELTA certification! 

Should I Take a CELTA or TEFL Course?

As we’ve mentioned above, a TEFL certificate is a minimum requirement to make your dream of teaching English abroad come true. Why to aim for the bare minimum when you could stay ahead of the competition, though? Here are some undeniable advantages of getting a CELTA certificate:

• Access to the best teaching jobs all around the world – The most demanding (and the most lucrative) English teaching jobs often require teachers to have a CELTA certificate.
• You learn the theory and practice – Unlike TEFL, CELTA prepares you for real life situations in the classroom thanks to a practical module, where you have to conduct classes with actual students.
• You learn specifically how to teach adults – You gain a targeted set of skills that will help your CV stand out from the pile.
• CELTA courses are standardised by Cambridge – The rigorous standardisation means that your employer will feel at ease when hiring you. It’ll also be easier for you to know what to expect from the course as there are many resources written by the alumni of CELTA courses, who’ve been through the same experience.  
• CELTA is done on-site – CELTA courses are completed either fully or partially on-site. This means that you get access to your teacher and you can ask them as many questions as you want. 

We hope that our article has been useful in helping you decide, whether getting CELTA or TEFL certified is a better idea for you.

 Become a preferred candidate by getting your CELTA qualification with LAL. Find out more here: