English Language Teacher Training Preparation Programme

Starting an English language teacher training course? What should you prepare first?

Initial English language teaching qualifications such as CELTA and Trinity CertTESOL are designed for people beginning their teacher training, so you are not expected to arrive already knowing how to teach English. But there are some areas where a little preparation can make the first weeks considerably easier.

  • 1. Refresh your grammar knowledge

    You don’t need to become a grammar expert before a CELTA or other TEFL training course. However, you will need to start thinking about English from a teacher’s perspective.

    That means being able to look at a sentence and ask questions such as: What tense is this? Why has the speaker chosen it? What does it communicate here? What problems might a learner have understanding or using it?

    For many new teachers — including native English speakers — this is unfamiliar territory. Refreshing the basics of tense and aspect, word classes, sentence structure and common grammatical terminology can give you a useful head start.

    Explore the Grammar and Language Awareness Module

  • 2. Become familiar with language awareness

    Teaching English isn’t only about knowing whether something is grammatically correct. You’ll begin learning how to analyse language for teaching.

    For example, when preparing to teach a new piece of language, you may need to think about:

    meaning → form → pronunciation → likely learner difficulties

    You don’t need to master this before your course begins. Understanding what language analysis involves, however, can make English teaching terminology feel much less intimidating when you encounter it.

    Explore the Grammar and Language Awareness Module

  • 3. Start noticing pronunciation

    You don’t need to memorise the entire phonemic chart.

    It is useful, though, to begin noticing things such as word stress, sentence stress, connected speech and individual sounds.

    Try listening differently to ordinary conversations. Where does the speaker place emphasis? Which sounds disappear or change when people speak quickly? What happens to the meaning when the stress changes?

    That habit of noticing language is excellent preparation for teacher training.

  • 4. Understand that English language teaching is about learners, not performing as a teacher

    New teachers sometimes imagine teaching as standing at the front of a room and explaining things well.

    The CELTA, Trinity CertTESOL or other initial TEFL qualification in English teaching will introduce you to a much more learner-centred way of thinking.

    What does this look like? Well, instead of asking:

    How can I explain this?

    you begin asking:

    What do my learners need to do in order to understand, practise and eventually use this themselves?

    That change of perspective is one of the most important parts of becoming a teacher.

    Explore the Learner-Centredness Module

  • 5. Begin thinking about what actually happens in a classroom

    Classroom management isn’t simply about maintaining discipline. In an adult English classroom, it includes how you give instructions, organise interaction, monitor learners, manage teacher talking time, build rapport and decide when to lead and when to step back.

    You don’t need to know how to do all of this before CELTA. But beginning to notice the relationship between what the teacher does and what learners are able to do can give you a useful starting point.

    Explore the Classroom Management Module

  • 6. Familiarise yourself with lesson planning

    You aren’t expected to know how to write a CELTA lesson plan before you begin.

    But it helps to start thinking about lessons as having purpose and sequence.

    What should learners be able to do by the end of a lesson? What stages might help them get there? How much time should each stage take? What will the learners be doing — rather than simply what will the teacher be doing?

    CELTA will teach you how to develop these ideas.

    Explore the Lesson Planning Module

  • 7. Prepare for the workload as well as the content

    CELTA can be intensive. Alongside input sessions, candidates normally have teaching practice, lesson preparation, feedback and written assignments to manage.

    One of the most useful things you can do beforehand is therefore very ordinary: create some space.

    If possible, avoid filling the period around your course with unnecessary additional commitments. Get yourself organised, gather the materials you’ve been asked to read, and accept that you are going there to learn, not to demonstrate that you already know everything.

You don’t need to arrive at CELTA as a teacher. That’s why you’re taking the course.

Good preparation is about making the unfamiliar slightly more familiar — so that when your trainers introduce new concepts, you have somewhere to put them.

Want some structure for your preparation? Check out the course details below.

Reviews

5 star rating

Incredibly helpful course with wonderful quirks!

Tate Chaloner

Greatly enjoyed this informative short course, highly recommend to anyone who is starting their study of language or wants a refresher. Highlights include: amazing ideas for dog names that I will definitely not steal and gorgeous illustrations. -...

Read More

Greatly enjoyed this informative short course, highly recommend to anyone who is starting their study of language or wants a refresher. Highlights include: amazing ideas for dog names that I will definitely not steal and gorgeous illustrations. - Australia

Read Less
5 star rating

I feel more confident about completing the CELTA certification

Alana Smith

Pre-CELTA Course Made Me More Confident I found the course extremely useful, and I feel more confident about completing the CELTA certification. I have been doing some preparation for understanding English grammar on my own. but completing this p...

Read More

Pre-CELTA Course Made Me More Confident I found the course extremely useful, and I feel more confident about completing the CELTA certification. I have been doing some preparation for understanding English grammar on my own. but completing this pre-CELTA course that helped me focus on teaching. It helped me understand the mindset I need towards teaching. It really helped me. Visual, Interactive, Audio and Written Content I really enjoyed the various ways the information was presented to me. It was visual, written, interactive, aural and I could see a classroom. Being able to see a classroom in action was very useful. The quiz to determine primarily what kind of learner I am was very interesting too! I think it’s important for me to think about the way I learn and my past learning experiences to work towards understanding how to teach better. I also found the hand-drawn images during the course really fun and especially the little sound effects and the cheering by the little drawn people! Providing a certificate of completion at the end of the pre-CELTA course was a good idea, because I feel a little more accomplished. I feel ready to tackle the next challenge that is CELTA. Alana

Read Less
5 star rating

Excellent introductory Course

Robert Hinton

Having previously completed some TEFL courses, I had previously learnt about learner-centeredness. This course showed me entirely new aspects of this including planning.

Having previously completed some TEFL courses, I had previously learnt about learner-centeredness. This course showed me entirely new aspects of this including planning.

Read Less
5 star rating

Great Material

Malcolm Bedard

I will take many things away from this portion of the course. All of the material and activities were helpful in bringing my understanding to the next level. I cannot wait to dig into the rest of the modules

I will take many things away from this portion of the course. All of the material and activities were helpful in bringing my understanding to the next level. I cannot wait to dig into the rest of the modules

Read Less
5 star rating

Learner Centredness

John Long

I have been a teacher of music for over 20 years. However, it is always good for me to review my own teaching styles and those of other teachers, particularly if they are teaching a different subject. I think the use of interviews, short videos of...

Read More

I have been a teacher of music for over 20 years. However, it is always good for me to review my own teaching styles and those of other teachers, particularly if they are teaching a different subject. I think the use of interviews, short videos of class inactions really made me focus on updating my teaching methods and made me reflect on how I can improve. I found this introduction to learner centredness to be very useful.

Read Less
5 star rating

ELT Campus did a great job the module covered exactly what is meant by learner centredness.

Deeba MUJAHID

ELT Campus did a great job of showing exactly what to do in a class. The blend of information, video clips and knowledge building was consistent throughout the course. This course worked well for me as I learnt quickly through each lesson. The foc...

Read More

ELT Campus did a great job of showing exactly what to do in a class. The blend of information, video clips and knowledge building was consistent throughout the course. This course worked well for me as I learnt quickly through each lesson. The focus of the knowledge was perfectly styled. One of the major things I loved was Emma's introduction was warm and inviting. I feel more prepared for the CELTA course, I believe this has been a great introduction to new teaching concepts and theories. Overall, I cannot find any fault in this course not even the choice of background music! I ended the online course feeling motivated and confident to teach a class. My biggest takeaways were learning about differentiation and learner centredness as well as different ways to manage class activities.

Read Less

English Language Teacher Training Preparation Programme

Five modules to prepare you for CELTA, Trinity CertTESOL and other initial English language teaching qualifications.

What the Experts are Saying

“The ELT Campus TEFL Preparation Course is definitely worth its modest price and the time one needs to invest in completing the course. Anyone planning to do a CELTA will greatly benefit from the basic orientation and understanding that the TEFL Prep Course provides. The videos offer a glimpse into what a 'real' ELT classroom is like, invaluable for those with no experience in particular.””

Steve Oakes, Co-Author of Speakout English Language Coursebook Series by Pearson and Teacher Trainer

“As an experienced CELTA and YL-extension teacher trainer I’m so pleased to finally have an opportunity to refer potential candidates to a TESOL/TEFL Preparation Course. Many trainees coming onto CELTA do not realise the intensity of the course which often negatively affects their overall performance. Now ELTCampus offers a solid preparation course that familiarises candidates with many of the concepts we go into and put into practice during the CELTA course. For some less confident candidates this course, which covers key concepts, essential terminology and provides an insight into communicative language teaching in practice, can make the difference between a pass or fail and it can even be the difference between a pass and a strong pass.”

Anna Hasper, Teacher Trainer, Course Materials Writer

“The course would be helpful for all applicants of CELTA-like TEFL courses including the Irish CELT because in my experience the greatest obstacle to confident, coherent lesson planning and successful course completion has been the difficulty in acquiring and maintaining a grasp of the central principles of modern language teaching.”

Tony Penston, Teacher Trainer and Author of "A Concise Grammar for English Language Teachers" and "Essential Phonetics for English Language Teachers"

“I wish there had been an orientation course available before I did the CELTA course! I was already a qualified teacher. I am a native speaker of English. I thought this should be the easiest topic to teach to date. It was the most difficult! I had no idea about terms like "graded language", "language skills", "TTT", or "choral drilling" etc etc. Three fellow CELTA students pulled out in the first week! If you are thinking of doing any type of TEFL course , even if you already have a teaching qualification, I would strongly recommend taking the "TEFL Preparation Course" with the very dedicated teaching team at ELTCAMPUS to give you an insight into all the new terminology and teaching skills you will have to learn. They can also help you to save time, money and the biggie....Stress!”

Marianne Jordan, Pronunciation Consultant and Content Writer for Pronunciation.Club

“The TEFL Preparation Course for CELTA by ELTCampus was shortlisted for the Innovation in Teacher Resources Award, 2016.”

ELTons 2016, Industry Award Nomination

The English Language Teacher Educators Behind the Programme

Jamie King

Course Writer, Accredited CELTA/Delta Teacher Trainer and Assessor

Jamie King is a Consultant Teacher Education Specialist, Accredited Teacher Trainer and Assessor, Course and Materials Designer.

He is an accredited University of Cambridge ESOL CELTA and Delta Tutor and Assessor and has extensive international experience teaching and training in 13 countries over the past 15 years (UAE, UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Iran, Thailand, Vietnam, South Korea, Ethiopia, South Africa and the Ukraine). He has also worked as a Departmental Director, including: departmental management, product development/course design, product management, quality control, business development and staff development.

He has taught a full range of learners in a variety of teaching contexts, including: Adult Learners, Young Learners, General English, English for Academic Purposes, Exam Classes, mono and multilingual classes and has also worked as a Cambridge ESOL Examiner.

Jamie was a finalist in the ELTons 2014, along with Emma Pratt, for Innovation in Teaching Resources.

Qualifications

  • MA Applied Linguistics/TESOL — Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
  • BA Modern Languages, Anthropology — Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
  • University of Cambridge CELTA

Accreditations

  • Cambridge English CELTA/Delta Tutor
  • Cambridge English CELTA/Delta Assessor

Emma Pratt for Koekoeā Studio

Senior Tutor, Course Writer and Online Workshop Presenter

Emma Pratt is a PhD candidate at Massey University, New Zealand, and an experienced teacher educator with over 20 years’ experience working in international education contexts across the UK, Spain, and New Zealand. Her current teaching focuses on preparing learners for UK English examinations, while her earlier work includes teaching and assessing academic writing for IELTS and Cambridge English. She is particularly interested in helping educators understand how teaching can be aligned with established frameworks without losing their individuality. Alongside this, her broader pedagogical interests explore relational and reflective approaches to learning, including how classroom environments, attention, and wellbeing shape the learning experience. She brings a collaborative, practical approach to workshops, grounded in shared experience and open dialogue.

Emma runs Koekoeā Studio, a creative studio that includes workshops including The Drawing Room in Cambridge, UK, that focuses on reflective drawing, as well as teacher training. She also continues to teach ESOL and academic preparation courses.

Emma has been designing online learning courses since 2013 and was, with Jamie King, a finalist in the ELTons 2014 for Innovation in Teaching

FAQ For this Course

  • When can I start?

    This course is self-directed. Start anytime! A tutor will be alongside to answer any questions.

  • Is there a certificate when I finish?

    When you have completed the course, a certificate for sharing on your portfolio or resume will be become available to you upon request.

  • What is the language level of this course?

    You are welcome to take this course even if you aren't planning to do the CELTA, Trinity Cert TESOL or equivalent. The language level is C1+.

  • Will this course get me accepted onto a teacher training course such as the CELTA?

    This course aims to enrich and improve your training experience and the quality of what you do on the training course through helping you be very well prepared. It is not however, a cheat sheet. This isn't our style. We believe in learning and the journey you are about to take as a teacher. This online preparation course covers the basic concepts, but cannot guarantee a place for you on a course such as the CELTA or Trinity Cert TESOL. These courses have strict requirements. You'll be assessed on your initial pre-interview tasks that you complete when you apply. Then you'll have an interview. The tutors are checking not only your English language level - both spoken and written - but also things like your level of language awareness, aptitude to be a good teacher and readiness to be taught.

Got a Question? Contact the tutor.

Tutor: Emma Pratt

Contact