Certified Foreign English Teacher

posted 15th April 2011    Written by: Katharine    CATEGORY: All Posts, Katharine, Season 4, Travel/Adventure, What I've Learned

Guess who has two thumbs and just graduated from her TEFL course?!

THIS GIRL.

Yep, that’s right, I just completed one of my goals.  I am now certified to teach English as a foreign language and it feels effing awesome.

For anyone who is interested in teaching English as a foreign language, I highly recommend getting certified.  Sure, the four weeks of class will no doubt be the most intense four weeks of your life, but the reward will certainly be worth it.  The certification is not required in every country, but most of them are now only hiring TESOL/TEFL certified teachers.  Also, schools in Asia pay significantly higher salaries to certified teachers than non-certified ones.

So, what did I actually learn these last four weeks?

I learned that teaching English will ruin my life (in a good way).  By the second week of class, I was analyzing every sentence I read (whether in an email or in an article) for correct grammar structure.  Now that I know what second conditional, reported speech, and past perfect continuous are, I analyze every sentence to figure out what tense it’s in.

Another [annoying] thing I do now is read an article online and find a way to incorporate it into a lesson plan.

I learned that there are certain words that should never be back-chained. So, back-chaining is when you break down a word by syllable, and you drill it to the students backwards.  For example, the word languages can be broken up into three syllables: lan-gua-ges.  So when you back-chain that word to students, you start with the last syllable and proceed until the entire word is drilled as a whole.  When you back-chain languages guess what the third syllable sounds like?

Go ahead, sound it out yourself.  I’ll wait…

Um, yeah.

One of my classmates back-chained the word ageism and he stood in front of a handful of Czech students saying “gism, gism, gism, gism” repeatedly.  I can’t make this stuff up if I tried to!

I learned that gestures mean everything in teaching.  Sometimes I feel like I’m Italian when I teach.  Cause you know, Italians gesture constantly when they talk.  Gesturing while teaching English to foreign students is crucial because sometimes it’s the only way they will understand what you want them to do (like when one of your students is from Azerbaijan and doesn’t speak any English and you have to spend 15 minutes of your lesson gesturing at them). Even when I talk with my classmates, I find that we often use gestures at each other.

I learned that the best English teachers are the ones who are most prepared. It took me about six hours to write my very first lesson plan because I had no idea what kind of activities to give my students, and what kind of warmers and fillers I wanted them to do.  I think at one point, I just stared at my lesson for an hour, dazed and confused.  The key to executing a lesson is to plan it well and be prepared.  Grammar is by far the most difficult thing to teach foreigners, and if they don’t understand the form and function of the grammar by the end of your lesson, then you failed at teaching it to them.

I learned that silence can be deafening in a classroom.  I watched one of my peers teach his 45-minute lesson to three Pre-Intermediate students (who barely talked) and when he directed them to work on an activity, the silence in the room could pierce your ear drum.  Sometimes, you just need something to kill that silence.

I learned that countries drawn on a whiteboard can look like phallic symbols. Case in point:

(sorry for the glare.  A classmate drew a picture of the UK on the whiteboard, and it looked like a penis.)

I learned that moving to Prague and getting certified has changed my life. I know I’ve only been living in Prague for one month, but my life has already changed in so many ways.  Moving to a new country builds character.  Fighting through a language barrier shows strength.  Teaching English as a foreign language takes creativity and patience.

I came here with no expectations.  I graduated from this course with 23 new friendships, a new perspective on the world, and a new love for teaching.

Now, it’s time to celebrate.

Na zdravi!

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Comments (4)

4 Responses to “Certified Foreign English Teacher”

  • Juliana Says:
    April 15th, 2011 at 10:08 am

    CONGRATS!!!! WOOOOO!!!!

  • gem Says:
    April 16th, 2011 at 12:00 pm

    I want to do it. You've convinced me. Well done.

  • uptowngirl Says:
    April 16th, 2011 at 2:32 pm

    Congratulations! I have been mulling over a potential TEFL course right down the street from where I live for almost over a year. I've lived abroad for a short while, and travel is in my blood – yet, I find that the idea of giving up a six-figure job at the age of 27 to run away (seemingly) to some exciting country is the "irresponsible" thing to do, especially since I have a chunk of student loan debt yet to pay off. Yet, I still dream. I think the challenge right now for me is to appreciate my circumstances in the present. As I figure that I will be restless after a time, no matter where I end up in the world.

    I admire your courage to drop it all and do what feels right for you at this time in your life. I hope the excitement continues for you, and I look forward to updates!

  • Kate Says:
    April 16th, 2011 at 3:25 pm

    DO IT! I mean, it's going to be super intense and you won't have much time to eat, sleep, or breathe, but once I graduated, I look back and realize this was probably the best and most challenging 4 weeks of my life and I really couldn't have asked for more.

    It's totally worth it, and the certification is a lifetime guarantee and most programs offer lifetime job assistance.

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