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August, 2007

*** Interview with Hilal HASTAOGLU ***

Thursday, August 9th, 2007

 Here is an interview Katie (from TEFL Logue) had with me

Interview With Hilal, Recent CELTA Graduate In Istanbul

 

Part 1

Part 2

Posted in graduate, part 1, part 2, interview, tefl logue, istanbul, tefl, celta, Uncategorized | 8 Comments »

*** You are invited to share… ***

Tuesday, August 7th, 2007

• Did you take the CELTA or are you planning to take it?
• Are you a non-native speaker of English or is it your native language?
• Are you a student or a teacher?
• Are you working in Turkey or another country?
• Are you employed by a University? High school? Language school? etc.
• Are you unemployed because of……

It really doesn’t matter because I am inviting you all to write me about your experiences (good or bad) regarding anything that has to do with Learning or Teaching English! 

My previous entry was about Discrimination.

Have you got a new topic for me? 

If so, share your ideas by writing me comments, so we can discuss how the CELTA or similar courses overcome these issues! 

P.S. I would like to thank everyone that has sent me supportive comments throughout this journey. You guys are the source of motivation for me.

Posted in good bad experience, problems in teaching english, solutions, comment, new topic, experience, celta, non native speaker, share, Uncategorized | 4 Comments »

*** Discrimination ***

Tuesday, August 7th, 2007

 

Today I got a very interesting comment from one of my readers. I felt like I had to write something about it so here it goes… 

Dear Hastaoglu,

How good is it for a non-native speaker of English? Despite the fact that we have a good experience and a college degree, I don’t think when it comes to teaching English, this CELTA can save us from getting discriminated on the ground of birth origin. What do you think? In fact, doing CELTA was a long-targeted thing for me and my friend, but we could not see a promising outcome for teaching in other countries. So, we consider it a waste of time and money. We might still get a good job in teaching without it in Nepal. 

Dear ****** 

Having lived in the Middle East for over 15 years as a Turkish & Canadian, I can completely understand what you are talking about. In some places of the world, they wish for you to come straight out of USA or UK to teach English. If you are not from the USA or

UK, then you can’t teach English no matter how good you are in teaching! However, I learned to overcome such discrimination with my secret guide. I will be kind enough to share, hehehe, this with you and everyone else out there that feels they are not getting what they deserve from the education sector of this big industrial world due to discrimination.

Secret Guide Number 1:

If you feel that you will be discriminated, then you will probably end up being discriminated, because every job out there looks for confidence. When you carry negative feelings, they often take away your strength. I look at many people out there and see that they come from very poor countries that have bad reputation. But when they walk with their head up and confident of every step they take, that is when they get respect. Once you have that respect, then the rest is a piece of cake. 

Conclusion: Be Confident! 

Secret Guide Number 2:

Certificates like the CELTA bring prestige to your CV. Don’t forget, quality comes from qualification. These two words are highly related…. so related that they both start with “qua” hehe. So when you have quality on your CV, then it won’t matter whether you are Indian, Chinese, Arab or whatever. 

Conclusion: Quality brings Qualification. Prestige is somewhat important.  

Secret Guide Number 3:

If you are not a native speaker of English, then you WILL need a certificate like the CELTA. Not to add qualification or prestige to who you are, but to add information into your head. What is inside the CELTA, helps you a lot. It gives you ideas, tactics, methods and everything else you need to become a good teacher. Without the CELTA you can still be a good teacher, but you will have to learn by your self; by educating your self with psychology books, teaching method books, culture books, student approach books etc. Let’s not forget that courses like the CELTA offer you this education and then have you practice until you can do it on your own. 

Example: Just like how mother birds help their baby birds fly, the CELTA educates you and then trains you so you can fly on your own when you are out there. Not to forget that the CELTA offers you a flying pit; classrooms with real students! 

Conclusion: Educate your self with courses like the CELTA or by reading many different types of books.

Posted in nationality, non native speaker, non native, native, race, countries, celta, discrimination, qualification, racist, Uncategorized | 8 Comments »

*** A whole new world ***

Sunday, August 5th, 2007

Hi all. I was not able to write for some time. However, I have been reading all your comments and I really appreciate everyone’s support Most of the questions I recieved were about how things are “After the CELTA“. Well, the best answer for this question would be as follows….

If you can’t see the movie, go to http://www.youtube.com/v/YRi20cWMYOM

CELTA can show you the world
Shining, shimmering, splendid
Tell me, “teachers“, now when did
You last let your heart decide?

CELTA can open your eyes
Take you wonder by wonder
Over, sideways and under
On a magic white board

A whole new world
A new fantastic point of view
No boss to tell us No
Or where to go
Or say we’re only teaching

A whole new world
A dazzling place I never knew
But when I’m way up here
It’s crystal clear
That now I’m in a whole new world with my students

Unbelievable teaching styles
Indescribable ideas

Soaring, tumbling, freewheeling
Through endless teaching tactics

A whole new world
Don’t you dare close your eyes
A hundred thousand things to teach

Hold your breath - it gets better
I’m like a “teacher” star
I’ve come so far
I can’t go back to where I used to be

A whole new world
Every turn a new idea
With new lesson plans to pursue
Every moment red-letter
I’ll chase students anywhere
There’s new ideas spare
Let me share this whole new CELTA world with youA whole new teacher’s world
That’s where we’ll be
A thrilling student chase
A wondrous place
For you and me

P.S. Ok maybe I’m exaggerating a bit… but it still is the best thing that can ever happen to people who want to start teaching.

Posted in aladdin, new world, after celta, celta, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »