Slowly and Clearly

Having just collected my freshly printed degree from the university chancellor’s sweaty palms, I decided it was time to look for a job. I wanted something fun and sociable, far, far away from the dark confines of a desk job involving a crummy computer and people who are motivated solely by the dark side: money. I wanted to be as far away from a computer as possible, preferably travelling and meeting people. That’s when I found out about TEFL and CELTA. I didn’t want to spend another significant amount time in education, so the 1 month course was perfect. 

On the first day, No one spoke to each other. We were all far too nervous. Our new teacher, Ray walks in and tells us to put down our new pens and pads and stand up and play a game as follows: Throw the ball to someone. When you catch the ball, you introduce yourself and say something about yourself, for example: “I’m Alex, I like to play guitar”. We then repeat the game and try and remember everyone else’s names. This is a typical example of the classroom vibe. Everyone is making friends and having fun. If something gets learnt, then that’s just a bonus! 

On the second day, I gave my first lesson. It was 40 minutes long and very badly prepared. One of the most important things you learn on the CELTA course is that you need to allocate plenty of STT (Student Talk Time) and minimize TTT (Teacher Talk Time). This is fantastic, because it means you can let the students chat whilst you sleep off your hangover. As I attended more classes, we were given tons and tons of methodology until we were armed to the teeth with tools, ideas and techniques to help the students learn. I also learnt how to prepare lessons (very important, just follow a simple formula that they drill into your head with an actual drill) and how to speak slower and more clearly, so the students can hear and understand you and are encouraged to do the same.

Everyone was very laid back and easy to get on with, and generally a good laugh. The course isn’t impossible if you do get the assignments in. Even if you do fail them, you get a second chance to “resubmit”. The tutors give you back your essay or test and tell you to change a section of it. The most nerve racking part was teaching on the 2nd day of the course (Everyone does this). It was expensive, but you can make the money back easily once you’re working as a full time teacher.

Watch this space for part 2: The daunting post-CELTA experience.... Voyage to Job land!

Coming soon...