About the teacher training centre
IH Riviera Maya is in a purpose built location, with a central courtyard with its very own juice bar! Inside you are in a quiet oasis, sheltered from the hustle and bustle outside.
The neighbourhood is very safe, and the weather is warm and sunny all year long. We are in one of the best neighbourhoods in the town of Playa del Carmen near downtown, shopping malls and good restaurants and we are only 3 blocks away from the beach! This is a typical caribbean resort with beautiful white sandy beaches and tempting clear warm waters.
All the staff at the school do what they can to welcome all students and trainees, and make their stay as enjoyable as possible.
What is the CELTA?
The CELTA is a TEFL qualification which prepares you to teach English as a foreign language. You don’t need any existing English language teaching experience or training. It’s usually a 4 or 5 week full time course (but you can also take it part time).
Standing up in front of a class for the first time is a daunting prospect, so you need to make sure you have the skills you need to teach effectively. The CELTA prepares you for the classroom in these ways:
- Taught sessions on methodology, lesson planning, language analysis and language skills. (In total, you’ll have 120 hours of input.)
- The opportunity to observe experienced teachers in a real-life language classroom situations – so you can see the different skills and techniques they use.
- Teaching yourself – with helpful and detailed feedback from your tutors. This practical experience is invaluable when you start your first job.
You’ll have to complete some written assignments as well, but when it’s all successfully completed you’ll be ready for your first job and first students!
Read more about the CELTA here
What is the CELTA Online?
In response to unprecedented conditions with coronavirus, it's now possible to take a 100% CELTA online with our sister school IH Mexico City.
The Cambridge CELTA Course Online (or CELTA Online) is a flexible way to take CELTA. It leads to the same CELTA qualification and is assessed and moderated according to the same criteria.
Like the face-to-face CELTA course, CELTA Online has a significant practical component. You will complete 6 hours of assessed teaching practice in groups in an online classroom, from the comfort of your home!
Find more details at IH Mexico City
Face to Face CELTA at IH Riviera Maya
At IH Riviera Maya, we offer an excellent CELTA programme, a great course experience, and a certificate recognised all over the world. Among some of our key course features we offer our candidates:
- Experienced tutors and staff – we have two CELTA assessors on staff, one of whom is also a Delta tutor and assessor.
- Passing rate – we have not had a single Fail candidate in the last 8 years! And we are consistently improving our course to facilitate the learning and training process and experience.
- Excellent timetable and course experience – our input sessions and workshops on the course are specifically targeted at the assignments candidates will have to do on the course, thus allowing them to work on Teaching Practice, lesson plans, and even written assignments during input time and thus maximise their work.
- The CELTA online learning option includes face-to-face teaching as well as online CELTA training. The online CELTA element of the course is assessed and moderated according to the same criteria as the full face-to-face course, and the course leads to full CELTA qualification.
- If taking CELTA online, TP will start in the fourth stage on the course so that you have received enough input online and thus you are in a much better position to plan classes. TP will take place at IH Riviera Maya face-to-face. This is followed by TP feedback and supervised lesson planning. In addition, there is an orientation morning at the school on day one of the face-to-face components prior to the start of TP.
- An excellent accommodation option at the school residence or private apartments.
- Experienced teachers have also taken the course and used their CELTA qualification for professional development and to expand their repertoire to teaching ESL students within their schools as well as to travel and work abroad.
Classrooms are spacious for candidates to enjoy the input sessions and have good teaching practice. There are computers, wi-fi connection, stationery stuff and photocopiers available for students to use as requested. There is no charge for photocopying, CELTA candidate gets their own ‘gift bag’ at the start of the course with their own stationery. We also have an electronic library of resources to study from the comfort of their homes and a special room only for candidates to work on their materials, assignments, and lesson plans, even at the weekend if they wish.
What will fellow students be like?
We have a mix of candidates from different parts of the world. Our candidates mostly come, however, from the US, the UK, Canada, Mexico, Australia, and other parts of Latin America. Most candidates are between 20 and 50 years old, from different paths and walks of life, either starting in the profession, or developing their practice.
Some of our candidates have comeback and taken Delta with us, and have then moved on to managerial, senior teaching positions, or become part of our teacher training department as CELTA and Delta trainers. Some of our candidates have also then moved on to complete MAs in the USA or the UK.
Tutors at this training centre
Linda Musatye Osuna García
I loved finding out my students' real needs so I can plan my lessons according to them, matching my objectives with theirs, making sure my lessons were useful to their own lives and contexts. I love observing student first and listening to their own backgrounds so I can find specific examples, materials, techniques or ways of helping them according to their individual needs.
Rosie Elsman-Contreras
The advice that I would give to all my CELTA trainees is to be organized and have sound time management skills. As the course progresses the demands are higher and if the time allotted to write lesson plans, write assignments and read is tight, it will take a toll on energy levels. Focus on the progress you are experimenting, and be receptive and open to feedback, our main goal as tutors is to guide you to be successful.
Carmen Torres Marquez
When teaching in the classroom I enjoy delivering language presentations and setting up activities. I demonstrate how I deliver the grammar presentations and how I provide instructions to carry an activity.
Andrew John Watson
I worked in radio and print journalism as a cub reporter in the UK for one year before taking Trinity Cert. TESOL in November 1993, and also as a business reporter and editor in Mexico in freelance and staff positions. In the end, I found education more satisfying than journalism, although my enthusiasm for writing persisted and informed my decision to focus on writing for teachers as a MAEd specialisation.
My hopes and aspirations for my trainees are that they leave the course with an inventory of skills and knowledge to successful navigate the first months of their job but without complacency: they’ll know about the need to upgrade teaching skills on an ongoing basis.
Eliberto Salinas Vargas
I loved it when I could help my students become autonomous learners, and ever since I started my training career, I have tried to give my trainees insight into the importance of promoting critical thinking in their lessons.
Ricardo Fajardo
The key to successfully completing the teacher training course is just to work hard! Like any other profession, teaching has a number of techniques to be learnt and then mastered. You need to be ready to receive feedback and take it on board to benefit from the course even more.
Nora Otto
I want to provide my trainees with the best teaching practice world-wide tools that will allow them to work in any place of their choice as they embark on this fascinating career.
Orlando Delgado Mata
He is currently involved in developing the new MA TESOL programme for IH Mexico, and is also an external assessor and consultant for the Ministry of Education in Mexico. He holds an MA TESOL (Teacher Education) from the University of Manchester and is now working towards his MBA from the University of Warwick. His main areas of interest are Teacher Education & Development, Online Training, and Psychology of Language Learning.