I am in the process of taking the CELTA Certification from TLC in Baden next month. Has anyone participated in a CELTA Certification Course (Baden or elsewhere)? Tips for a newbie? The course is 3 months long, 2 days a week and comes with a hefty price tag.

Anyone know what is the prospect for jobs for after CELTA certification is/are for Switzerland? My main goal would be to obtain a job after the CELTA course with the prospect of working worldwide in the future. To put the time and money into something like this with little prospect of "local" employment would be a challenge.

Also, anyone have any used course books that may be available for purchase?

Thank you for any advice, very much appreciated.

Perhaps you'll meet this person on your course!
CELTA/TEFL courses

I have found the following books very helpful both during and post CELTA:
Raymond Murphy - English Grammar in Use,
Michael Swan - Practical English Usage (There's another good book, but I can't remember the name or author right now)
Jim Scrivener - Learning Teaching

Don't worry about buying all the books beforehand, as your institution should have copies of the good ones.
Then for your post-CELTA life, you can treat yourself to the ones you found most helpful

CELTA is a great course and hopefully you'll have some great tutors, who'll make a real impression on your teaching life.

Good luck and enjoy.

I did the intensive, month-long CELTA several years ago. The biggest challenge for us was cramming all the prep and assignments into those 4 weeks - with theory in the mornings, that often meant CELTA-ing 14 hours a day. Hopefully you won't suffer the same pressure with the 3 month one!

Overall though, a brilliant learning experience, and my biggest worry - having your fellow students and tutor observing /critiquing - was soon forgotten. I learnt masses, despite having years of observation/teaching experience to begin with (as a Teaching Assistant).

I didn't completely agree with the marking scheme - e.g. rapport was one box to tick, but given equal value to every other box - e.g. presentation of materials. That meant that a guy in our group, with zero connection to any of the students and whose class everyone dreaded, got the second highest grade, having ticked enough boxes in other categories. But.. that's a minor gripe!

The very detailed tutor report at the end is really useful. Just don't lose your certificate. I've heard they are irreplaceable.

Good luck