Leticia is a Canadian national with Brazilian and Italian citizenship, a true “citizen of the world”. She took part in our full-time face-to-face CELTA course in Florence during the month of June.
Leticia has an academic and professional background in music and theatre. With a love for languages, speaking English, Portuguese as well as some French and Italian, and following the recommendation of her mother (a CELTA graduate herself) she decided to join us to pursue her own “CELTA journey”. We talked with her about her experience taking the CELTA in Florence…
Why did you choose Florence as the location for taking your CELTA course?
I chose to do my CELTA course in Florence because I had already been to Northern Italy and loved it, so I wanted to visit more of the central region. I had never travelled alone before, so I thought Florence, being known as one of the best cities for tourists, seemed like a great idea to start off my travels!
How was Florence as a city?
Florence, during the month of June, when I took the course, was very hot! As someone who comes from a tropical country and has lived in the American desert, I didn’t expect I would think it was this hot! I brought a couple of light sweaters, but they were never used! Even during night time, it never got below 20 degrees. But besides the weather, the city is very beautiful, with many interesting buildings, museums, and people to see. I would recommend planning an extra week in Florence because during CELTA, you won’t have time to see everything that Florence has to offer!
How was the location of the school in Florence and its premises?
The location of the school was excellent. It was right in the centre of the city, so everything you needed could be found nearby. There were a lot of restaurants, libraries, and study spaces near where we went after classes.
Walking to school early every morning was very nice since I got to cross the beautiful bridges and see the Duomo. I would recommend taking a different route everyday so that you can see a lot more of the city and find some stuff that only the locals know about. I took a different bridge every week and tried to go through the smaller streets so that I could see the nooks and crannies of the city.
N.B. with the CELTA course via Florence,
you also get the ELTcampus online Grammar refresher and Language Awareness course and an online “Teach ready for training” mini video course
completely free!
How was the classroom experience of the CELTA in general? Did you enjoy it?
The classroom experience was very lovely. I learned so many things about teaching and the English language, my teaching skills definitely improved! All my classmates were very kind and supportive, inside and outside of the classroom, helping to make my CELTA experience an even better one!
Were the CELTA tutors supportive and experienced? What did you think about them?
No matter how intense things got, the tutors and admin were always there to support us and make sure we had everything we needed, whether that be CELTA related or not. Our class was very fortunate to have 2 very supportive, experienced, and kind tutors. Both of them would do whatever they could to make sure we learned and improved the best that we could.
What are your plans for the future now that you are CELTA qualified?
Now that I am CELTA qualified, I plan to teach English to all kinds of students while I work on my degree to teach in public schools. I also plan to intertwine my qualifications in musical theatre to teach in a way that encourages both English learning and music and theatre.
Would you recommend taking the CELTA course? Why? Would you recommend taking the course in Florence through us?
1000% I would recommend taking the CELTA! The CELTA is a unique opportunity that opens many doors, why would I not recommend it!? I took the CELTA because my mother had taken it many years ago and highly recommended it, and I’m very glad she did!
I would recommend taking the CELTA through this school because everyone who works at the school is incredibly kind and supportive, and that’s an amazing environment to be in when doing a course as intensive as this!
If you could sum up your CELTA Florence experience in 3 words, what would they be?
Fulfilling, intense, rewarding
Is there anything else you would like to add?
If you haven’t signed up for this course yet, what are you waiting for?