Discovering the CELTA

The next day, I started researching and discovered that St Giles, a training centre near my house, offered the CELTA (Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults). I’d never even heard of it before, but the more I read, the more it sounded perfect for me.

I decided to take a leap of faith. I took a month off work (unpaid!), and signed up for the full-time intensive CELTA course – four weeks, twenty days, and a complete deep dive into the world of English language teaching. The CELTA can also be done part-time, one day a week over six months, but I wanted to immerse myself completely in the intensive course.

The first day was gentle enough: introductions, timetables, and an overview of what to expect. But by Day 3, I found myself standing in front of a real class, delivering my first short lesson to actual students. Talk about being thrown in at the deep end!

Funnily enough, I used to blush in meetings when lots of people paid attention to me – yet there was I, standing in front of a class, teaching, actually doing it. I felt immeasurably proud of myself (along with anxious and sweaty!).

The CELTA Experience: Intense but Transformative

Those twenty days were some of the most intense of my life. Mornings were filled with theory – learning about teaching methods, lesson planning, and language analysis – and afternoons were for putting it all into practice. We taught, observed, and gave each other feedback (sometimes brutally honest, always helpful).

At night, I’d work on lesson plans or essays about teaching methodology. I even deactivated social media for the month to stay focused – that’s how seriously I took it!

By the end, I’d made close friends with my fellow trainees. We’d been through something challenging and life-changing together. At the end of the month, I was awarded an “A” grade and knew it had all been worth it. I knew that certificate would take me places.

Gaining Experience in London

As my fellow CELTA trainees jetted off to exotic lands – Taiwan, South Korea, Thailand – I stayed in London. I didn’t feel ready to go overseas yet. Sure, I had the qualification but I didn’t feel I had enough experience. So I stayed and I worked.

I taught adults, teenagers, children as young as nine and ten. I taught individuals, small groups and large. I leafed through coursebook after coursebook, familiarising myself with the material. I looked at hundreds of websites and saved thousands of worksheets and links. I created my own material. I had never felt so creative and imaginative. I was observed frequently and learned from the feedback. After almost two years in London, I felt ready.

Choosing My First Teaching Destination

When I finally felt ready to teach abroad, I started looking at jobs in Asia – like so many new CELTA-qualified teachers do. But the options were overwhelming. I was searching for jobs in countries I’d never visited, in cities I couldn’t pronounce. What if I ended up somewhere boring or unsafe? Would I be stuck teaching somewhere that didn’t make it happy, waiting for the end of my contract?

One night, after yet another round of 4am Skype interviews, I admitted to my husband Ian that I wasn’t ready for Asia just yet. What was I ready for?

The answer came easily. Italy. It was always Italy.

Following My Dream to Italy

My love affair with Italy began years earlier, when I first visited Rome at sixteen. Later trips to Naples, Cassino, and Rome again only deepened my fascination with the language, the food, and that warm Italian way of life. I always told myself, “One day, I’m going to live here.”.

In 2012 I met my now-husband, who is half-Italian and it gave me more hope about living in Rome. Fast-forward to 2015 – I spotted a job advert for a Business English Trainer in Rome. I didn’t have tons of Business English experience, but I had an “A” grade CELTA, plenty of enthusiasm, and a winning smile.

Twenty days later, I was on a plane to Rome and that’s where my teaching adventure truly began.

---

Thinking About Doing the CELTA?

If you’ve ever dreamed of teaching English abroad or becoming an online English teacher, the CELTA is one of the best ways to get started. It’s intensive, practical, and globally recognized – and it completely changed my life.

Whether you want to teach in a classroom in Italy, on a beach in Thailand, or from your laptop as a digital nomad, that one-month course can open up a world of opportunities. Check out my other posts about working abroad here.

Ciao for now,
Izzie – The Curious Sparrow