Taking the TEFL Plunge
Utterly, Utterly bored bone dry at work. So what can I do for a little bit of excitement? Move country? OK. So how do I do that exactly? Get a job. OK. Doing what you do now? Hmm No, thanks.
I had a friend who had tried TEFL in the Czech Republic but actually didn’t like it that much. Despite the poor critique I decided that for a change (maybe short term, maybe not) I’d do a quick and dirty course in TEFL teaching. How hard can it be to just speak in my own language all day? I’ve managed it pretty well so far.
Signed up for a weekend course. Nervous? Not really, but still wasn’t sure if I’d made the right decision. Turned out I had. Maybe this was going to be my thing. The training was fun, but not without a few shocks. I never realised how complicated our language was and just how much effort it takes for a foreigner to learn it. “Grade your language please” the teacher told me. 5 minutes later “Ahem, Grade your language” Why? Ahhhhh yes, because 8 year old Greek kids won’t understand anything that’s not an animal, fruit or colour. Got it.
8 year old kids? Kids you say? My heart dropped like a hungover vindaloo. You mean the small ones? Can’t I just teach the big ones? The ones who are already good? Nope.
Imposter Syndrome? – Check. I’m not a teacher I kept telling myself. I can speak English, but teach it? Hmmm. No. But after a bit of practice and realising that everyone was just as useless as I was, I relaxed and really enjoyed it. Great career choice.
The road had begun. Easy? Not really. Untrod? Oh Yeah, but it was definitely going to be different. English is widely spoken (badly) and trying to hone a piece of grammar on a bunch on foreign teens was not on my “to do” list last year. Anyway, the first experience of teaching was positive. Looks fun, but boy the language isn’t simple. No wonder Dubya had difficulties……………………
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