The End of the Beginning
Yesterday was the last day of TEFL training. After wrapping up our last formal class, there was still one final item on the schedule:"The Long Arm of TEFL." There had been whispers and rumors about this final rite of passage for weeks. Some said X, others said Y--all agreed that it was the final hurdle. Having done everything else, one more barrier remained between us and our certificates--and our graduation party. What does The Long Arm entail? Ah, well, that's a secret--all I will say is that rarely have I seen so many people experience such intense momentary anxiety and then get down to doing the work at hand. I was damn proud of all of us. Needless to say, we all survived it, in body if not in soul, and the drink tickets at the graduation party went a long way toward healing the scars.
So, last night, thirty days after I arrived in Prague, I stood on a stage at a brewery (beer again) with twenty-eight other folks posing for a class photo commemorating the graduation of the October 2017 TEFL course at The Language House. Together, we had completed roughly 250 hours of student teaching, created well over 450 activations*, and been the students ourselves for over 63 hours of classroom learning. But now, we were done.
After thirty days in a hybrid camp/summer school/boot camp, we have been released back into the wild. Indeed, several of my classmates have already left Prague, having come to this beautiful city just for the course, always intending to leave when it was completed. For my part, I signed a year lease on a flat with some friends last night, so I'm sticking around a bit. I also have two job interviews next week, and I hope to line up a few more. Making a living as an English teacher in Prague, especially an English teacher with wet ink on your TEFL certificate, involves a lot of hustling. Fortunately, nothing makes me hustle like worrying about how starving in the gutter, so I think the incentive is there.
Completing the course does bring new opportunities, however. I finally might have some time to do some proper sightseeing around Prague--or even hit some other spots in Czechia or Central Europe, time and budget permitting. I'll probably sleep more and stress eat less. That said, it also means the clock is ticking. Rent is due before too long, and while stress eating is bad, eating itself is generally considered a good thing. All those real world concerns I was able to keep somewhat at bay during the course have returned to the fore--turns out life in Prague is, in a shock to no-one, very similar in some ways to life everywhere else.
On the other hand, Christ, what an experience. The younger folks have likely not yet learned how deeply unpleasant immediate post-college life can be: tediously soul-crushing office jobs, sniping coworkers, insufficient wages, and the realization that you are literally just a cog in a machine, able to be replaced with any number of other cogs. Of course, this isn't everyone's experience, but it is a depressingly common on. So to find an opportunity like this--supportive, encouraging trainers; fun, friendly colleagues; and students who clap when you finish your lesson, even when you feel you bombed it--is quite special.
Despite all the uncertainty of what happens next week or next year, right now, I know this was the right choice for me, and I couldn't be happier. If you're curious about taking a TEFL course, please, feel free to reach out in the comments or via email. I wish more people know exactly how many amazing oportunities the world has for them.
As always, a HUGE thank you to my Patreon subscribers, who will become increasingly vital as I enter this next stage. The more patrons I have, the fewer classes I have to teach, and the more time I have to explore, write, and create. So, if you haven'y pledged yet, but you're a regular reader (and I know you're out there), maybe consider pledging. And if there's something I can do to make pledging more attractive for you, don't hesitate to let me know. www.patreon.com/sjcaustenite
*An activation, in the ESA** method, as taught by The Language House, is the last, and most important phase of a lesson. During it, students use the words, phrases and/or grammar they have been taught, along with their existing knowledge base, to act out a real-world scenario--anything from ordering food at a restaurant to wheeling and dealing to try to get a law enacted. Though it comes last, the Activation is at the heart of an ESA lesson and is what a teacher should start with and then plan from there.
**ESA stands for Engage, Study, Activate, an approach to teaching ESL students created by Jeremy Harmer. The idea is simple: first you Engage the student with a theme and new vocabulary/grammar, then you have them Study that material through a series of activities, and then you Activiate it via the scenario. (Yes, a footnote within a footnote. Consider yourself incepted.)
So, last night, thirty days after I arrived in Prague, I stood on a stage at a brewery (beer again) with twenty-eight other folks posing for a class photo commemorating the graduation of the October 2017 TEFL course at The Language House. Together, we had completed roughly 250 hours of student teaching, created well over 450 activations*, and been the students ourselves for over 63 hours of classroom learning. But now, we were done.
After thirty days in a hybrid camp/summer school/boot camp, we have been released back into the wild. Indeed, several of my classmates have already left Prague, having come to this beautiful city just for the course, always intending to leave when it was completed. For my part, I signed a year lease on a flat with some friends last night, so I'm sticking around a bit. I also have two job interviews next week, and I hope to line up a few more. Making a living as an English teacher in Prague, especially an English teacher with wet ink on your TEFL certificate, involves a lot of hustling. Fortunately, nothing makes me hustle like worrying about how starving in the gutter, so I think the incentive is there.
Completing the course does bring new opportunities, however. I finally might have some time to do some proper sightseeing around Prague--or even hit some other spots in Czechia or Central Europe, time and budget permitting. I'll probably sleep more and stress eat less. That said, it also means the clock is ticking. Rent is due before too long, and while stress eating is bad, eating itself is generally considered a good thing. All those real world concerns I was able to keep somewhat at bay during the course have returned to the fore--turns out life in Prague is, in a shock to no-one, very similar in some ways to life everywhere else.
On the other hand, Christ, what an experience. The younger folks have likely not yet learned how deeply unpleasant immediate post-college life can be: tediously soul-crushing office jobs, sniping coworkers, insufficient wages, and the realization that you are literally just a cog in a machine, able to be replaced with any number of other cogs. Of course, this isn't everyone's experience, but it is a depressingly common on. So to find an opportunity like this--supportive, encouraging trainers; fun, friendly colleagues; and students who clap when you finish your lesson, even when you feel you bombed it--is quite special.
Despite all the uncertainty of what happens next week or next year, right now, I know this was the right choice for me, and I couldn't be happier. If you're curious about taking a TEFL course, please, feel free to reach out in the comments or via email. I wish more people know exactly how many amazing oportunities the world has for them.
As always, a HUGE thank you to my Patreon subscribers, who will become increasingly vital as I enter this next stage. The more patrons I have, the fewer classes I have to teach, and the more time I have to explore, write, and create. So, if you haven'y pledged yet, but you're a regular reader (and I know you're out there), maybe consider pledging. And if there's something I can do to make pledging more attractive for you, don't hesitate to let me know. www.patreon.com/sjcaustenite
*An activation, in the ESA** method, as taught by The Language House, is the last, and most important phase of a lesson. During it, students use the words, phrases and/or grammar they have been taught, along with their existing knowledge base, to act out a real-world scenario--anything from ordering food at a restaurant to wheeling and dealing to try to get a law enacted. Though it comes last, the Activation is at the heart of an ESA lesson and is what a teacher should start with and then plan from there.
**ESA stands for Engage, Study, Activate, an approach to teaching ESL students created by Jeremy Harmer. The idea is simple: first you Engage the student with a theme and new vocabulary/grammar, then you have them Study that material through a series of activities, and then you Activiate it via the scenario. (Yes, a footnote within a footnote. Consider yourself incepted.)
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