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How to Prepare for Grammar on CELTA

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Many people starting CELTA feel anxious about grammar. That’s very common, and it doesn’t mean you’re underprepared or unsuitable for the course. Before CELTA, you’re not expected to know everything about English grammar or be able to analyse language perfectly. What is expected is a willingness to engage with grammar, terminology, and language analysis during the course itself. CELTA is designed to help you learn how to analyse and explain language, not to assume that you already can.


That’s why having a few reliable grammar resources can be helpful. Some people like to do some preparation beforehand to build confidence. Others mainly use these resources during the course, when grammar questions come up in lesson planning or written assignments.


The resources below are ones we often recommend to CELTA trainees. You don’t need to use all of them. Think of them as tools you can dip into when something doesn’t quite make sense yet.


1. ELT-Training Grammar for Language Teachers

This is a dedicated online grammar course aimed at CELTA trainees and new teachers. It’s designed to help you understand grammar terminology and how to explain tricky areas of English to learners created by Jo Gakonga, an experienced CELTA tutor and assessor. It includes hours of short video tutorials, short quizzes and downloadable resources, with coverage of all the grammar areas new teachers are likely to come across. It is a paid course, but it's well worth it!



2. Perfect English Grammar

Perfect English Grammar is a long-established online grammar reference and exercise site with clear explanations and lots of practice activities. You can join for free for lots of free downloadable explanations of grammar points and exercises and there's a paid tier for access to even more.



3. English Page

English Page is the classic online grammar resource. It looks a little clunky and old-fashioned, but it includes lots of useful clear breakdowns on tenses, conditionals, modals and all the other common grammar topics and it's all laid out very simply. It's completely free as well!



4. BBC Learning English 6 Minute Grammar

BBC Learning English has developed some amazing resources for language students and teachers. This includes some simple grammar guides that include podcasts outlining grammar points in six-minute chunks. These explanations are clear, simple and might suit you better if written information is trickier for you to process.




5. English With Lucy (YouTube)

This is a YouTube channel run by an experienced English teacher focused on a variety of areas including grammar. Lucy gives simple grammar explanations in an approachable and digestible way.



If you'd rather have a grammar book, why not try one of these suggestions?


Dr Connor O'Donoghue hails from Ireland and he started teaching English as a foreign language in Poland in 2003 and he became a CELTA trainer in 2008. He has taught and trained in Ireland, the UK, France, Italy, Slovenia, Macedonia, Poland, Russia, Kazakhstan and Vietnam. Connor also holds a Masters and a PhD in Education from Trinity College in Dublin. He has previously managed large teacher training centres in Vietnam and in London before founding DC Teacher Training.



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