Guus van der Made was born in the Netherlands and up till 2000 he worked as an actor and TV producer. In 2000, him and his wife decided to go to Asia for a couple of years and traveled through a wide variety of countries. He did his CELTA in 2004, taught in Thailand, Georgia and the Czech Republic and has been a CELTA tutor since 2010. After living in Asia for many years, Guus now works at IH Frankfurt. He lives in a tiny village in the Auetal near Hannover, where his wife works at an international school.
What position do you hold at International House Frankfurt? What has your career path been like so far?
I’m the head of teacher training at IH Frankfurt. I’m responsible for organizing and running our CELTA courses. I started teaching in 2004. I was trained up at a CELTA centre in Thailand and worked in Thailand for about 3 years. I also taught in Georgia and the Czech Republic, and I used to work in England in the summer. As I worked in different countries and with different age groups, I’ve taught all levels and all sorts of English, from general English to teenagers at summer camps in England to Business English to entrepreneurs in Bangkok and TOEFL courses to students in Georgia.
In 2009, I did my Delta in Prague and in 2010 I was trained up as CELTA tutor in Thailand again because I was still in contact with the director of the school in Bangkok. I lived in Bangkok during the riots there in 2010. Not exactly the best time of my life, and I jumped at the chance to work on the island of Phuket. I ran CELTAs there for 2 years and then started working freelance. Last year I ran CELTAs in Vietnam, Iran and Frankfurt, and was appointed as head of teacher training here in January 2013.
What separates International House Frankfurt from other TEFL/CELTA Course providers?
First and foremost, the staff. Everyone here at IH Frankfurt is willing to go the extra mile to make a CELTA course successful. Moreover, the CELTA takes place in the regular language school of Academia Suárez/IH Frankfurt and this means that our trainees get to see the day to day reality of teaching right from the start. I think this is important because it’s the daily contact with the students that makes teaching fun and interesting, and there are too many centres where trainees are only amongst themselves.
Another big advantage is the city of Frankfurt. Due to the presence of the ECB, Frankfurt is a very international city with a wide variety of nationalities and this shows in the composition of our teaching practice groups. Our CELTA candidates work with practice students from all over Europe.
How can taking the CELTA Course with International House Frankfurt help the career of an ESL teacher abroad?
Due to the fact that Frankfurt is such a multi-cultural city, our candidates have worked with a variety of nationalities. For candidates who want to go to other countries than Germany, this alone already makes it easier to work abroad. And for the candidates who want to stay in Germany, Frankfurt is THE place to be. There’s really a lot of work here and after completing a CELTA at a centre with the reputation of International House, it’s always possible to find work.
Do you offer any job placement services after course completion?
Yes, we do. First of all, if possible we’ll always try to find a position for the best CELTA candidates. It’s not always possible, of course, but we do our best. We also give a lot of information about the situation on the German market. With the current economic problems, the situation changes regularly and we know exactly what is going on. And finally, we make use of the immense network of the International House World Organization, which has around 150 schools in over 50 countries around the world.
Famous last words?
When you’ve done your CELTA, you’ve got a certificate that will open doors everywhere in the world for the rest of your life.
