Reviews of Teaching House

4.6 Rating •
267 reviews
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Description

Cambridge Assessment English approved the opening of Teaching House in 2007. With the aim to expand quality English-language teacher training in the United States, Teaching House has opened over 15 center locations and trained over 3,000 new teachers. Teaching House is now the largest provider of Cambridge CELTA courses in the world.

Ensuring the high standards of education that are set by Cambridge English, all Teaching House CELTA courses have a maximum of only 6 trainees working with each trainer. To fulfill this trainer/trainee ratio, the Teaching House staff include over 20 Cambridge English-approved teacher trainers as well as a strong support team based at our headquarters in New York.

In addition to the standard four-week CELTA course format, Teaching House has developed two new formats:

  • a 10-week part-time course run on two evenings a week and on Saturdays;
  • a part-time blended course over 14 weeks allowing people to work online during the week and do teaching practice on Saturdays.

We also offer in the USA a two week compressed teaching practice option with online content, for those who are only able to take two weeks for their teaching practice component.

Become CELTA certified – Apply TODAY!

Courses

Course Types

Combined TEFL Courses
On-site TEFL Courses
Online TEFL Courses

Course Lengths

Standard (120-140 hours)
Long Courses (150+ hours)

Certifications

Cambridge CELTA
Cambridge DELTA
TEFL / TESL / TESOL

Additional Features

Online Practicum
Part-Time Study

Locations

Canada

Toronto ON

England

London
Oxford

USA

Boston MA
Miami FL
New York NY

Teaching House has received 267 student reviews and has an overall rating of 4.57 out of 5 stars based on the following criteria.

Overall Rating
Course Content
Practice Teaching
Quality of Feedback
Lesson Plan Guidance
Instructor Competency
Job Assistance
Facilities/Resources

267 reviews of Teaching House

Review 60 of 267 Teaching House

Written by Anthony on December 11, 2012 3:06 am
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I thought the course was extremely informative and well worth the time of anyone looking to enter the field of English language teaching. The Teaching House NYC facility was well-maintained, stocked with resources, and was a nice place to take/give a course.

Review 59 of 267 Teaching House

Written by Chris Billos on December 10, 2012 5:55 pm
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I took my CELTA in New York City in December of 2011. Has it already been a year? It was the most intense month of my life; equal parts love and hate.

I had excellent instructors who pushed me to the limit while managing not to break me. I cannot imagine how I ever taught without all that I learned during that month.

The students were amazing as well, as were the other CELTA students. Couldn’t have done it without them.

Review 58 of 267 Teaching House

Written by John on December 9, 2012 2:49 pm
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Not only am I extremely happy that I invested my time and money into this course, but it was an experience that I will never forget. I was given excellent guidance, feedback and support from great trainers like Sharon Balani, Colleen Kalchik, and Julie Bray. I highly recommend anyone who is interested in ESL to take this course, you will get everything that the course promises and so much more. Thank you Teaching House.

Review 57 of 267 Teaching House

Written by K.M. on December 9, 2012 1:17 pm
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Just finished the course in Chicago! I believe it was a wonderful experience for all the trainers, trainees, and students! First thing you need to do before you sign up for the CELTA is realize that it is a commitment. You should clear your schedule as much as possible to dedicate to this course. TH Chicago is a very popular location for TH so if you want to register, do so 3-5 months in advance so you don’t get wait-listed. Hopefully, they will open their own center soon so they will be able to offer intensive and part-time classes regularly.

Before you begin classes, check your ego at the door. You will receive criticism from experienced ESL trainers. Keyword: EXPERIENCED. They know what they’re talking about. Take their input, do as they say, and you will succeed. This isn’t to say you won’t have the chance to be creative. Experiment with different activities but stick to the outline they give you in your binder. They give you the framework of what your lesson needs to be about but its your job to modify the activities to make them engaging for the students. You can be creative and change things up in your own class especially the beginning. Always be there early. Trainers have to be sure you’re a responsible teacher (even if the students are usually late).

Tip: Always think of ways to get the students speaking as much as possible. They’ll give you guidance on that which you should wholeheartedly apply. This is the major habit experienced teachers will have to break. Those with 1-2 years of teaching experience will probably be at an advantage over everyone else.

Another thing that the trainers look for is independence. They want you to figure things out and will assist but will NOT think for you. They might ask you questions that would guide you to the correct answer so don’t be put off by it. If you’re still stumped, your fellow trainees should be willing to help (working together with fellow trainees is a good idea as everyone has their own strengths).

As said earlier, the course is intensive so until you know how well you can manage your time, clear your schedule. You will be busy all day and have to work on the lessons at night. I personally didn’t find it as hard as some make it out to be but everyone is different.

Our trainers were wonderful! They all added to the course with their unique personalities and experiences. Colleen K. gave input was amazingly clear and accurate. Her experience teaching in Prague was an added bonus.

My second trainer was Sharon B. who was also clear and accurate in her feedback but also forced us to be increasingly independent. She challenges you to think about what you’re doing in the classroom and why. She typically asks you a question that should guide you towards finding the answer yourself. This is an amazing technique that forces you to prove you’re independent. After this month, you won’t have these trainers holding your hand telling you what to do so she will cut-the-cord ASAP in preparation because not only are the trainers also busy during this course, the directors at your future schools will be as well.

From what I heard, all the trainers do this during the second stage of the course (you switch trainers). We are expected to have a good idea of what we’re doing by our 4th lesson (don’t be intimidated, its absolutely achievable even with no teaching experience!). Unfortunately, my group never had the chance to teach with Julie but she did teach some of our input sessions. Shes all smiles and her lessons were informative and a wonderful way to end the day in a good mood. Don’t take the feedback as a personal attack. The trainers are there go guide you and will help you help yourself. If you want someone lecturing and explaining what to do every step of the way, this course is not you. They will rarely explain, only clarify so you can learn on your own and be certain you can handle the task of managing a class independently. This is not to say they won’t help you. They will certainly help you but you have to be willing to give it your all 24/7 for a month.

This is only a one month course so by the end of it, you will not be fully experienced but you will have the tools necessary to confidently teach a class. The input sessions (classes on how to teach) are done in the same way that you are expected to teach (so pay attention!). The benefits of this are two-fold. 1) It gives you a model on how your lessons should transition and 2) shows that the CELTA teaching method is applicable in a wide array of subjects.

Is it always the best method? No. However, this course is used for training and making you aware of different aspects and nuances of education in only a month. You will have the experience of thoroughly analyzing a lesson plan and putting it into practice. With the through preparation TH gives you, you will confidently adapt according to your students needs.

Final tips: Take things day-by-day. If you think about what you have to do over the next week in this course, you will stress yourself out for nothing. Its completely doable as long as you follow your trainers advice and collaborate and be congenial with your fellow trainees. I highly recommend TH if you are a disciplined, responsible, and considerate towards others. Though this class could be stressful (especially week 2 & 3), it was full of laughs, fun, and good times!

Review 56 of 267 Teaching House

Written by Kevin on December 4, 2012 3:14 pm
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Teaching House and the CELTA Certification profoundly changed my perspectives about Language Learning. I entered Teaching House hoping to earn an ESL certification just to make some extra money while I pursued my Ph.D. in Classics; but I graduated Teaching House with some of the most supportive friends (many of whom I still keep in contact with almost 2 years later) and a completely new career! After earning a CELTA certification, I actually decided to leave my Ph.D. program and pursue graduate work in TESOL at Columbia University where I am currently finishing my second graduate degree. However, I could not have achieved these goals without the rigorous demands of the Teaching House program and Sharon Balani’s assistance both during and after my CELTA program was completed. As an ESL professional in the NYC Public School system, I take with me many of the strategies and methods I internalized at Teaching House, often discovering that much of what I learned complements my graduate career in ways I never imagined. I recommend this program for those who are truly serious about ESL/EFL and hope to have a career in one of the most exciting professions.

Review 55 of 267 Teaching House

Written by Emily Miller on December 3, 2012 10:51 am
88%
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I took my CELTA course in November of 2011 at International House, New York. This was before you could take a CELTA in Washington, DC, so I was adjusting to a new city as well. My concentration in Public and Community Health at the University of Maryland provided me with a basic background in education, but I had no formal teaching experience prior to this course.

The course was as intensive, if not more, as we had been warned. Each day presented countless opportunities to absorb communicative teaching techniques, as we were instructed utilizing them and then expected to incorporate them into our own lessons. I had expected a slightly higher quality of resources for lesson planning, but the school I am currently working in (a half-private school in Spain serving wealthy families) has none at all! Thus, it might be best to acclimate taking full advantage of the Internet as early as possible. There were times that I felt a bit overwhelmed as there was a somewhat high standard of self sufficiency; however, this is a tremendous skill to develop as an educator and furthermore the tutors were always readily available to me.

Lizzy Adams and Sophie Bryce, my two CELTA tutors, brought a dynamic energy to the classroom that encouraged me to create the same positive and engaging learning environment in my own lessons. They made the course fun and interesting and were true insprirations in how I would want to be seen as an educator.

I am now working as an auxiliar in Spain at a primary school and therefore a CELTAYL may have had a bit more application, but I believe I was sufficiently prepared with a foundation on which to build ESL teaching principles upon. The overall experience was truly eye-opening and I highly recommend it to anyone considering teaching English as a second language.

Review 54 of 267 Teaching House

Written by Patrizia on December 1, 2012 9:36 pm
83%
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I took the CELTA course with Lizzy and Sophie in November 2011 and had such a good time with both of them! They were so supportive, encouraging, professional and demanding at the same time. They were the perfect role models to me as they seemed so devoted, passionate and knowledgable about the ESL field and teaching in general. Even though the course was very demanding they kept us in good spirits with their high level of energy and enthusiasm.

After receiving my CELTA certificate I definitively felt much more prepared to venture into the teaching field. Since I wanted to stay in NYC for a while more after finishing the course I started applying to different language schools in the city and got right away a couple of job offers. So having a CELTA definitively opened up a lot of new possibilities for me.

Thanks again Lizzy and Sophie – I will never forget your professional guidance, warmth and positive energy!

Review 53 of 267 Teaching House

Written by Suzanne K on December 1, 2012 3:05 pm
88%
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This course exceeded my expectations in every way. Previous to enrolling in the CELTA I had considered a different course with less rigorous credentials, but I’m glad I decided to do the CELTA. The intensity of this course is immense, but with completion came the confidence that I had the skills required to actually teach on my own.

My trainers Lizzy and Ben were fantastic–super knowledgeable, they were tremendously effective with their advice and criticism of my teaching, but at the same time they were fair and really invested in helping us grow as teachers. There’s a real sense of camaraderie at Teaching House which helped sustain us students over an often grueling four weeks.

The course input sessions were well-presented and informative, but practice teaching was the most beneficial part of the CELTA program. Here you actually get to teach real ESL students–no peer demos are involved. The bulk of the training for my first ESL job was peer demoing, which made me realize how useful teaching actual English learners was. The only way to learn how to teach is to actually do it, and then get feedback from experienced teachers, and Teaching House provides both.

As Ben said, you can get a TEFL diploma from a “Mickey Mouse” school, but in the ESL world it’s the CELTA qualification that actually means something. Teaching House’s course was professionally presented, on par with a course at a good university. As corny as it sounds, the four weeks helped me grow as a professional and as a person, and there’s no higher recommendation in my mind.

Review 52 of 267 Teaching House

Written by George Chan on December 1, 2012 5:39 am
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I took the intensive course in NYC, and it was an excellent course. I felt like I learned a lot in a month although the schedule did get hectic at times but the programs did give me great real life teaching experience which is always invaluable and feedback on points for improvement from both my fellow trainees and the instructors Lizzy and Brian. The course gave me a really great comprehensive overview on how to be an ESL teacher.

Review 51 of 267 Teaching House

Written by Dana on December 1, 2012 12:10 am
98%
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Looking back on my CELTA course experience, I have to say that it was a wonderful experience. Starting the course, I was very insecure and unsure. The teachers at the New York location really had their lessons well planned and were able to make one feel as though they were getting personalized guidance. Yes, it was intense. Yes, there was a bit of stress when they teach you something new in the morning and you are expected to apply it to your lesson that afternoon, but the results in my teaching skills were drastically improved.

Thank you all for the confidence and support. Lizzy and Sophie were great teachers.

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