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CELTA Pre-Course Task Answer Key

Adult learners often bring:

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CELTA Pre-Course Task Answer Key

So this month I’ll be doing my CELTA course, in the hopes that it will compliment my professional experience. As a part of the lead up to the course, I was required to complete the pre-course task, which I have copied below. I hope it’s useful for checking your own answers!

I’ll also be posting updates on the course and my progress!

CELTA Precourse Task

After the CELTA course, I intend to continue teaching in a medium sized academy and preparation centre where I live in Spain. The vast majority of my classes will be aimed at adults and at passing the Cambridge suite of examinations.

I decided to teach adults because I find it easier to relate to their language learning journey. Having learned a foreign language as an adult myself, I feel like I can lend my experiences of difficulties and common mistakes to their own journey.

Characteristics of adult learners,

. A specific language goal

. Preconceptions about English or language learning in general, often negative experiences of learning at school

. Life experiences

. Literacy and similar skills usually lacking in younger learners

. Experience of self-motivation

. Perceptions about the role of the teacher/learner

. Experience with other learning environments and exam systems

. Developed social skills

. Confidence with some parts of the language / Lack thereof with others

Before the class begins, I would hope to be aware of at least some of the following information;

. Reasons for learning English

. Any disabilities or problems

. Rough language level

. Employment / Studies

If they are a new student, I usually get the information from a short level test. However, if already studying with us, I usually ascertain the information from the previous class teacher.

In my personal experience, students studying English because of external pressure are the most difficult to motivate. Some teenagers are obliged to do the course by their parents, and as such can be uncooperative and tricky to inspire. Others, such as adults trying to gain access to employment, can also be difficult. Especially if they feel that English shouldn’t be a requisite skill for their field. Also, if they have no particular interest in the culture.

They all seem quite important to me, but I would say that a lot of students might value the following above the others;

. Kindness / Respect / Honesty

. Knowledge of the subject they teach, and an ability to impart the information effectively

. Builds rapport

. Has a sense of humour

While at school myself, I would have associated the following ideas with grammar;

Unnecessary, boring, difficult to understand, and messy.

However, having now studied it as more of a hobby and with a view to applying the rules and principles, my opinion has changed.

Now, I see grammar as methodical, instrumental for learning a new language, fascinating, and occasionally fun. Nevertheless I still see English grammar as quite challenging, especially from the perspective of learners.

2. I went to the movies last night

3. He often comes late

5. Can I have a black coffee please?

6. 12 items or fewer

It’s essential for teachers to have a good knowledge of grammar so that learners can;

. Feel comfortable asking for help with something they don’t understand

. Relate grammatical structures to their own language

.Start to connect and link the language elements with others, creating a personal reference and making doubts easier to identify.

Also, with good grammatical knowledge, a teacher feels comfortable explaining something in several different ways to different learners. Given that some learners understand things in different ways.

1. Subject Pronoun

2. Indefinite Article

3. Conjunction

4. Adverb of Degree

5. Adjective

6. Modal Verb

7. Determiner

8. Preposition

1. Lexical 2. Lexical 3. Auxiliary 4. Auxiliary 5. Auxiliary 6. Lexical

1. Lexical 2. Auxiliary 3. Auxiliary 4. Lexical 5. Lexical 6. Lexical 7. Auxiliary 8. Lexical

1. Advice 2. Permission 3. Certainty / Logical deduction 4. Ability 5. Possibility

1. Past tense form

2. -ing form

3. Third person, present simple form

4. Base form

5. Past participle form

1. Past progressive

2. Modal perfect

3. Present perfect

4. Past progressive passive

5. Past simple

6. Future progressive

1. Present progressive

2. Past simple

3. Present simple / 3 rd person

4. Past perfect

5. Present passive

6. Future perfect simple

7. (a) Past simple (b) Past progressive

8. Present perfect progressive

1. Past 2. Future 3. Action started in the past and which continues in the present

4. Present 5. Past, present, and future (Ongoing state)

The verb ‘to be’ is used to create the present progressive, and the lexical form is with the -ing ending.

Dialogue One

Used here to express a planned action / event in the future

Dialogue Two

Used here to indicate habit

Dialogue Three

Used here to indicate a past action, but placing emphasis on it, or to make the narrative more dramatic

All of these are stative verbs / verbs of state. Which means that they cannot be used in a continuous form, only simple.

Dictionaries can give us the following information;

. Pronunciation help in the form of phonemes

. Derivatives

. Etymology of the word

. If the word is formal or informal

. Part of speech classification

. Syllable count

. Grammatical information; if a noun is countable or uncountable, or if a verb is transitive or intransitive etc….

. An example of the word in a sentence

1. We use ‘high’ for building and structures. Tallest

2. ‘Enervated’ is a little formal and out of context here. Tired / Exhausted

3. ‘Pretentious’ usually has a negative meaning. Intelligent / Considered / Clever

4. ‘Slap’ is too violent an action to be considered ‘loving’. Stroke

5. ‘Footing’ is an incorrect translation from Spanish. Jogging

Verb – Noun

Make the bed

Do the dishes

Verb – Preposition

Adjective – Noun

Vicious circle

Adverb – Adjective

Strikingly handsome

Absolutely fabulous

Highly emotional

1. There 2. South 3. Language 4. Peaceful 5. Young 6. Call 7. Search

8. Equation 9. Sugar

1. Guarant ee 2. Ca valry 3. Mechani sat ion 4. Lan guage 5. Ret rea t

6. S pec ulative 7. Succ ess 8. Ba lance 9. I den tify 10. Ar tic ulate

Phot ograph

Pho tog raphy

Pho tog rapher

Pho tographic

The stress in this word family is not uniform, resulting in students mispronouncing one of the two pairs.

The verbs here put the stress on the second syllable, while the noun stresses the first. This happens with two syllable verbs and nouns.

1. Moth er 2. For get 3. Ann ounce 4. To night 5. No tab le 6. Ment io n 7. Pa trol

8. Indi cat ive

. Text messages

. Online news reports

. Food packet

. This task

Some of these items require only a cursory glance, while this task and some news reports demand more attention and concentration.

I have also been reading subtitles on a Spanish television series, which needs concentration and a certain level of multi – tasking.

1. Reading to infer – Perhaps to see whether or not the text is relevant to the essay. If so, which parts are relevant.

2. Scan reading – quickly skim the directory in order to find the specific information

3. Intensive reading – As it’s a topic of real interest, we might read this carefully and methodically

4. Skim/Gist reading – To see whether or not the job would be suitable for us or not. Requisite skills, location, and salary are some things that job seekers might scan for.

Reading in this way can be problematic for several reasons.

Overusing the dictionary means that learners don’t develop skills such as skim-reading and gisting. Skills like these are important for when they take exams such as the ones run by Cambridge, which are on a time limit.

Reading in this way can also bore students, as it’s difficult to experience the intention of the writer and or follow the story of a novel. Thus, the learner doesn’t enjoy reading and perhaps feels discouraged from practising.

. They can’t take their time, go back to check meaning, check for meaning in outside references, or pause to take in all of the information.

. They have no reference, such as visual cues or punctuation.

. The audio might be too fast-paced for them.

. They might not be able to recognise words that they already know if it is not in front of them or the pronunciation is different.

. They might have problems with different regional accents.

I have listened to a Spanish television series, participated in a mobile phone conversation and a face to face conversation, and also listened to a recorded voice message.

Mostly, my motivation for listening to these things came from, at least this morning, a need for specific information. The voice message and phone conversation for example, quick exchanges to find out something specific. The television series is for interest and entertainment.

I pay a lot of attention to the television series, trying to infer meaning and guess the outcome of plot lines, remembering what has happened before. I also occasionally need to read the subtitles, which makes listening carefully important, otherwise I might miss something.

The conversations and voice message however, since they were brief, required less attention and I listened while doing other things.

1. Intensive Listening – Given that I would probably be assessed on the information given in the lecture, I think that getting a lot of information is necessary here.

2. Skim/Gist Listening – As long as the knowledge isn’t relevant or important for my job, I would probably listen for the general idea rather than pay attention to the product specifications or any other specific information.

3. Scan Listening – In a train station or an airport, there can be lots of announcements that are irrelevant to me, so I would focus only on the information I need, perhaps deciding within the first few words if I need to keep listening or not.

4. Listening to infer meaning – Since it’s crucial here to understand every facet of the task, and the information probably wouldn’t be repeated, I would listen intently to get the implicit meaning of the instructions.

5. Intensive Listening – If the person is someone who I am genuinely interested in knowing more about, I would probably dedicate all of my attention to the interview to try to gain as much information as possible about their general opinions.

6. Skim/Gist Listening – Listening to the radio is something that I quite often do while cooking or doing other things, and I think that understanding the overall meaning of the programme would be sufficient to get the information I’m interested in.

During my time as a teacher, I have seen this quite a lot. Students learn English for years at school and yet leave with a basic knowledge of grammar and are unable to speak properly. I think there are several reasons for this.

Often in a school environment, they are uninterested in learning a new language. This leads to them being passive about studying and only doing so to pass exams or assessments, which rarely focus on speaking.

Students sometimes don’t realise the importance of practising their knowledge in real situations, with native speakers, or perhaps they have no chance to.

Also, it is commonly thought that learning a language is the same as any other subject. Where, often, intensive studying of rules and examples might be sufficient to be an expert or pass an exam.

Students might focus too much on speaking perfectly rather than fluently. So preoccupied with getting the grammatical structures right that they neglect the flow of the sentence.

Lastly, they might be nervous. Speaking a new language in front of others, especially a native speaker, might be intimidating for the class.

1. In this case, as long as the gesticulation is helpful, I would agree that the learner has communicated effectively.

2. Also with this question, especially with the rising intonation, I think that the person listening would have no problem understanding the speaker.

3. The first part of this sentence is reasonably clear, the second half however is more vague. Again, I think that the meaning would be understood. But the listener might struggle, especially if they don’t speak the speaker’s native language themselves.

4. In this one, the question might not have been fully understood, or the answer might be grammatically incorrect. Either way, I think that this would be the most difficult exchange to fully understand.

1. Transactional

2. Transactional

3. Interactional

4. Interactional

5. Transactional

6. Interactional

Students might become less shy and more confident when they speak in English, which is a useful skill for future job interviews, exams, etc.

They are more engaged and less inhibited when a teacher isn’t constantly correcting them. They are more relaxed and this leads to more lively discussions and a better class atmosphere.

Examiners often give equal credence to fluency and accuracy.

1. It could be that the learner usually hears these words and rarely writes them, these are also difficult words to spell because the necessary sounds can be made several different ways. She threw the ball hard, so it hurt when I caught it.

2. In some languages, vowels are unnecessary and aren’t used. It may be that the speakers native language is influencing them so that they only use the consonants. My brother lives in Sweden.

3. The student is probably thinking of the word ‘However’ as a conjunctive adverb, which requires a comma directly afterwards. But here, we use it to mean; ‘in whatever manner’. However hard I try, it never works.

4. In this case, maybe the student is not accustomed to writing English. The lack of punctuation here might indicate that they use pauses when they speak and don’t know how to create a similar effect when writing their thoughts down. Failure to capitalise the first letter might mean that they have no experience with writing at all. First of all, he invited me to sit down. After that he offered me a coffee, I was very surprised by his politeness.

1. The problems here are a lack of paragraphing, as well as some misused and wrongly spelled words.

2. Again, there is no sentence structure or paragraphing, misused and misspelled words.

I would perhaps bring an example of a similar letter to class and have learners correct the writing themselves. Getting them to explain not only the mistake, but also the rule behind it, helping when necessary.

Also, an activity that I quite like. I ask a learner a question and write their answer word for word on the board, either correctly spelled or occasionally adding in spelling errors. Then I get them to highlight the spelling mistakes and other members of the group to suggest ways to improve the language.

Personal Aim

Interaction Pattern

Lesson Aims/Learning Outcomes

Anticipated Problems and Solutions

1. Published Coursebook F

2. Cassette or CD Player G

3. Newspapers in English B

4. Internet E

5. Overhead Projector I

6. Whiteboard H

7. TV/Radio D

8. Teacher’s Own Materials C

9. Dictionaries A

1. ‘Jot’ is quite informal and colloquial language, there’s no reason why a student would know that as it’s not common. Write / Note (down).

2. This instruction is very long winded and over complicated, more like a very polite request than an instruction. Please answer question 4.

3. This one is very long and there is too much information included, instructions should usually be more succinct. Allow learners to finish one or two tasks because introducing more.

4. While slightly less complicated than some of the previous instructions, this is still a little vague. Instead, the teacher might reference the question specifically and give an example of an answer or reference point.

1. I might explain to the learner that not all communication is about accuracy, and that it’s just as important to practice communicating fluently. If they have any issues with a student they feel has a particularly low level, they can come to me directly to resolve it.

2. I think that in this case, it’s important to tell the entire group why translation is often more harmful than helpful. That it damages their ability to infer meaning from context and in real life situations, it is unlikely that somebody will translate a word that they don’t understand.

3. While I fully understand the need to keep students happy, especially within a school or academy that relies on it’s students for income, I do not tolerate any kind of discrimination in my classes. I encourage an open dialogue between learners and urge students to connect on a personal level, so they better understand the motivations and characters of the others. If I feel that this learner’s prejudice is affecting the learning of the other student, I may avoid, wherever possible, putting them together. But only for the benefit of effective teaching and learning.

4. I would always try to keep a healthy balance between communication and other forms of learning. But I would explain that while speaking is good for maintaining their level of language, it is only by learning new things using specific materials that we really improve and develop.

I would most likely position the desks and students to simulate an information desk, with the assistants on one side and the learners on the other. But I might also try some role plays with a similar desk arrangement, but with both standing up. This would also resemble the format on an information desk but would discourage slouching and may get students to take the activity more seriously.

I think handouts might be useful here, with information about pricing and course content so that students have a visual reference. I might also encourage the use of waiting-room style music.

They may have difficulty taking the exercise seriously, if they have been in other, more teacher-centric environments in the past. They may also have trouble with any metalanguage related to computers or information technology. I could combat this with consistently using similar activities throughout the course and doing a brief vocabulary session with them beforehand. As well as being present during the role-play to answer any questions.

Different Meanings

1. Slim is related to attractiveness, while thin is used purely for appearance.

2. A Demonstration would be the easiest here.

3. Using different words. I got up early in the past / I am accustomed to getting up early.

4. A Demonstration. Acting out being nervous and then pretending to cry.

5. Drawing a time line on the board.

Different Pronunciation

6. Breaking up the contraction. Pronouncing it first ‘I will do it’ and then ‘I’ll do it’. Also encourage them to focus on the context.

7. Liken the latter to the colour. And use a gesture of reading to illustrate the former.

8. Use of phonemes written on the board against each word.

9. I would explain that, in cases where the verb and the noun is spelled the same, the noun stresses the first syllable and the verb stresses the second.

10. Again, I would probably use the phonemes to illustrate the difference here.

In the first case, I think that reading out loud forces the learners to focus on fluency, pronunciation and intonation far more than meaning. So an effort should be made to make sure that student understand, perhaps by giving them a moment to re read the text on their own.

In the second, the teacher may have approached the activity in the wrong way, but it shouldn’t be abandoned so hastily. If students only give monosyllabic answers, ask questions that require more information or give them an idea or example of what they should say.

A good reading and speaking activity together might be to split the text into paragraphs, and have each student read one individually. After a few moments, read out questions that require knowledge of a specific part of the text and get students to answer only if the answer was in theirs. Afterwards, I might encourage a class discussion with everybody contributing what they read and a debate about the intention of the writer.

Confidentiality

Teachers need to keep the details and personal information of students confidential. Such as address, phone number, and any pertinent exam results.

Course Planning / Review

Poorly planned lessons reflect badly on a teacher and causes them to lose respect. Similarly, reviewing lessons is important to establish ways to improve and grow as a professional.

Curriculum Development

Careful consideration of curriculum is essential to know where students should be at each stage of the course. Failure to do so makes a teacher look unprepared and unprofessional.

Relationship With Students

It’s important to have a good rapport with students, so that they relate to you and there is a good class atmosphere. However, it is equally as important not to get to close, so to speak. Close personal friendships or even relationships developed after the beginning of the course, may undermine a teacher’s professionalism.

School / College Policies and Rules

Not conforming to a school’s policy about any important issue can lead to insensitivity or rudeness from teachers in class. It can also lead to bad rapport with fellow teachers.

Membership of / Contribution to professional bodies

Being a member of a professional body can be extremely helpful for professional development. Many learners will be more attracted to places with more backing from recognised institutions. Not looking into these may cause students to think that the school don’t take their learning seriously.

ESOL and Teacher Training Research and Development World-Wide

A teacher must constantly update their skills by way of teacher development courses and other things. Without doing so, outdated techniques or similar failings may colour the teacher’s professionalism.

Setting Standards

Without standards, different teachers may have different ways of dealing with problems, and different criteria for exam preparation or classroom planning. This becomes a problem especially if the learners share teachers.

Record Keeping

Properly kept records are essential for a school’s professionalism. If it’s not done, students may have to repeat information, making them feel unappreciated or ignored. It also leaves teacher’s in the dark about progress and any information they should be aware of.

Pastoral Care

Teachers should be able to empathise with and support students. Especially in cases with young students being bullied or having problems at home.

Cultural Awareness

Teacher’s should always be acutely aware of any issues surrounding a learner’s cultural background, and be accordingly respectful.

Punctuality

Late arrival to class shouldn’t be acceptable to students and so should be even more so for teachers. In my opinion, a teacher should always aim to greet their learners as they enter a lesson.

Continuous assessment of learners is important, especially if they are aiming to sit an official examination at the end of the course. Failure to inform students of their weaknesses and strengths may undermine confidence in the teacher’s abilities.

I personally, always try to work as a team with my colleagues. It’s of the utmost importance to communicate with each other about course content, lesson planning, and any problems you might have with a class.

Did you find this useful? Let me know in the comments!

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2 thoughts on “ CELTA Pre-Course Task Answer Key ”

I’ve just received the answers to the pre-course task from the tutor and it’s quite different to this one.

Hello Christopher! So this answer key is based on the pre-course task from a few years ago, they may have changed it! Or are you referring to some of the essay style questions? Which may have a different interpretation. I would love to know more about this!

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Find out how to save time on your CELTA assignments!

CELTA Course Pre-interview Task: Examples with PDF Downloads

The CELTA pre-interview task has quite a reputation among students given that it forms a crucial part of the entry onto any CELTA course.

You will have to complete it wherever you take the CELTA so it’s best to know exactly what you you will need to do in advance to give yourself the best chance of getting accepted onto your CELTA course.

So, what is the CELTA course pre-interview task? It is a series of exercises to complete during the application process. The task focuses on aspects of language awareness. Your answers to this pre-interview task will then be used for a discussion during your CELTA course interview, the next part of the process.

If you meet the minimum entry requirements for the CELTA course, you will then be sent a copy of the pre-interview task to complete, usually in a week before you have the interview. Obviously this comes after you have chosen the best CELTA course for you !

It is nothing to be afraid of because, if you plan to teach English as a second language, there are usually many basic elements covered in these tasks which you will need to know for the course. If you are looking for tips on how to pass the CELTA course pre-interview task, they are in another post.

How many parts are there in the CELTA course pre-interview task?

Usually, there are 3 parts to a CELTA pre-interview task. However, these parts might include several exercises within them.

In the British Council example (link below), this includes: grammar and vocabulary, approaches to teaching and learning and language in context.

Not all pre-lecture tasks will follow this pattern exactly but they will usually cover these topics in some way.

As the British Council’s sample pre-interview task says, the objective is:

“to help you start thinking about language from a foreign learner’s point of view, and to begin to consider approaches to the classroom”.

Remember the above at all times when completing the task. Note the keywords “ start thinking about” and “ begin to consider” – nobody is expecting you to be an expert at this stage in your CELTA journey!

This last point is something to bear in mind throughout your time on the CELTA course as you will need to get used to learning as you go. You will find that you are very often required to learn and apply things rapidly.

This kind of intensity of learning and application can throw some people off so avoid perfectionism and do your best. With that in mind, you will reduce your stress and keep yourself going throughout your CELTA.

Where to find downloadable examples of the CELTA course pre-interview task?

There are actually quite a lot of samples of the CELTA course pre-interview task available online.

Here are some links from trusted sources:

Action English Language Training Centre, which is now part of Centre of English Studies (CES) in Leeds, UK has both a CELTA pre-interview task available to download and answers in a separate file. See below for links: Example CELTA Pre-interview Task Example CELTA Pre-interview Task Answers NB: The above pre-interview task has several questions which do not have answers as they based on personal reflection (i.e. similar to ‘Why are you interested in language teaching?’) so these do not appear in the answer key

British Council : The British Council is a global authority in terms of ESL/EFL so you can definitely trust the quality of their materials. It is a very clearly laid out PDF file which you can download.

International Teaching and Training Centre : This is also another clear example of the CELTA pre-interview task which gives you a good idea of the types of questions available.

ISE Hove : This CELTA centre in the south of England have uploaded an editable PDF version of a CELTA pre-interview task. Follow the link in the name and you can have a go at completing it.

Holmes Institute *: This CELTA centre provides a version of the pre-interview task. From their document, I particularly liked the advice they provide at the top for how to approach the pre-interview task:

“Don’t spend hours on end writing your responses, but do think carefully about your replies. Both how you go about responding and the accuracy of what you produce is significant.”

*This document has since been removed so I have had to remove the link, too!*

Want even more detail on the assignments and much, much more? Check out The CELTA Survival Guide Ebook by CELTA Helper Now!

What was your experience of the celta pre-interview task.

Thinking way back to 2007 (makes me feel old!), I remember being quite nervous about it. This was probably because it wasn’t that difficult, therefore I was thinking too much about it.

Remember, the CELTA pre-interview task is not going to include high-level grammar points or questions about teaching. Instead, it is to designed to make you think about what you will need to do on the course.

Even today, I still confuse some tenses and word forms but it does not matter. The main thing is that I respond to students, prepare well for lessons and help them to learn.

Try to keep this in mind when you are completing the pre-interview task for your CELTA course.

The main point is that you are aware of the learners, have thought about grammar and are willing to learn and work. With this in mind, you can’t go far wrong!

Useful Resources to prepare for the CELTA Pre-interview Task

• Practical English Usage by Michael Swan:   This book features on most CELTA reading lists and comes highly recommended. It is one of the few books I would recommend buying (you won’t need to buy many but this one is worth it!)
• Grammar Bytes : This website is the easiest and clearest for grammar explanations on the internet! It has all the key elements in simple terms and clear writing. Highly recommended!
• British Council : Example of the CELTA course pre-interview task (same link as above)
• Mr Brookes Abroad’s Blog : This article gives a good idea of how the experience of the CELTA pre-interview task is. Mr Brookes, now a TEFL teacher abroad, explains many of the things I felt when I did mine. I recommend reading this article as it really captures the feeling and ideas behind the pre-interview task and the interview itself.

And finally:

If you need extra help with your CELTA course, check out the CELTA Course Student Notebook and Diary by CELTA Helper over on Amazon .

This handy notebook is designed with ready-made templates to make your CELTA course that much easier, giving you space to record all your key notes without you having think about how to organise or record your notes – just fill in the templates for things like observed lessons, planning, reflective diary (especially helpful for the final assignment) and more. I designed it to help CELTA course students get through the course – perhaps it can help you, too.

PS You may also like to get your assignments or application checked by Scribendi – an online proofreading service (affiliate link) I used to work for that provides high-quality work.

More Helpful Content For You:

Stephen Beale

After taking the CELTA back in 2007, I have since gained over 11 years' experience of teaching English in various countries. I have also worked in EAP for several years and like sharing what I've learnt along the way here.

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How to Complete the CELTA Pre-Interview Task Successfully

العربية :يمكنك قراءة هذا المقال باللغة

When you apply for a CELTA course, you’ll have to complete a task called “CELTA Pre-Interview Task”. But what does this really mean? And what should you do to complete this task successfully? That’s what we’ll cover!

Check out what we’ll discuss:

• What is the CELTA Pre-Interview Task?
• CELTA Pre-interview Task Preparation Tips and Answers

CELTA Application & Interview Tips

What is the celta pre-interview task.

The Pre-Interview Task is a series of activities and questions. The aim is to understand your level of language awareness and your ability to simplify complex ideas into easily understandable concepts. It also helps tutors better understand your reason for wanting to become a teacher and to understand your attitude.

There isn’t a standard idea of what a Pre-Interview Task would be; other centres want you to identify grammatical structures. The underlying reason for every Pre-Interview Task is to ascertain what you already know about language learning and teaching.

You don’t need to worry, It’s only used so that the tutor understand whether you’re ready for the course or not.

How Many Parts Are There in the CELTA Course Pre-Interview Task?

Most Pre-Interview Tasks comprise of three parts. However, those parts might include some shorter exercises. For example, International House Cairo includes questions that help us to understand your level of English awareness, your knowledge of the course and gives you an opportunity to ask questions. It also involves an interview and the interviewer is always a CELTA Tutor at IH Cairo.

You need to bear in mind that nobody is expecting you to be an expert at such an early stage in your CELTA journey. So don’t stress yourself out and expect perfection; you’ll definitely be learning as you go.

Become an Accredited English Teacher with the CELTA.

Take the CELTA course with us. The CELTA is highly regarded by employers around the world as it is the most highly respected of its kind in the world.

CELTA Pre-Interview Task Preparation Tips and Answers

As we mentioned earlier, this course focuses on your attitude towards becoming a certified English teacher and not so much on your previous experience. That’s why a very common approach to the questions you’ll be asked is your motivation behind wanting to become a teacher. “Why did you apply for this course?” or “What made you want to start teaching?”.

There’s no right or wrong when answering these questions. However, a common approach to them could be saying that you wanted to change your career or that you’d like to travel and experience life in different cultures. You can also highlight a learning experience you’ve had in the past and why you think this specific experience was important in your life.

You might also be asked about any previous experience. This question is broader than it seems; it basically highlights whether you have experience of standing in front of a group of people before or not.

You’ll also be asked about your awareness of language terminology. This might require a bit of research on your part which is completely fine. Doing prior research will show that you’re able to actively research content for the course.

Lastly, it would be great for you if you could show them your time management skills and your ability to meet deadlines.

Generally speaking, you can expect to find questions about English grammar like:

• Verb tenses (past, present, etc.)
• Types of grammatical functions (instructions, threats, requests, etc.)
• Identifying language mistakes.

You’ll also be asked questions about what qualities you think a good teacher would have, what you are expecting from the first lesson, etc.

Following the interview, the tutor will send you an email with the result of your application. Those accepted will be sent an invoice to book their spot on the course.

The Bottom Line:

Success on the CELTA Pre-Interview Task requires you to follow the tips above and allow yourself some time to prepare. You have to show your confidence and your passion for teaching English, in addition to doing the required research before applying for it.

Apply for the upcoming CELTA course now!

This certificate is the most sought after by employers offering English language teaching jobs abroad or in prestigious organizations.

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