TEFL course diaries - Hilal Hastaoglu

I travel between Asia and Europe, just so that I can get the CELTA certificate!

Istanbul is the only city in the world reaching across two continents. Atleast 10 million people travel between Asia and Europe everyday. Usually 2 or 3 people travel between Asia and Europe, every other course, for the CELTA certificate! I am one of them.

When I was 5, we had Chinese neighbours. I would sneak out of our house and visit them daily! Whenever I was missing, my mom knew exactly where I was. However, just a few months ago I was teaching English to 2 boys and they had a private Chinese teacher. She didn’t know a word of English and I didn’t know a word of Chinese. I was starting to think that we will have a huge communication problem. Yet, as she spoke, I understood what she was saying! Ahhhh &^%$ was my first reaction!

I felt like Doctor Dolittle, a physician who rediscovers a very special gift he has suppressed ever since he was a young boy – the ability to understand and talk to animals (Dr. Dolittle – Directed by Betty Thomas).

Conclusion: The human mind is like a memory bank which stores almost everything! I guess my experience proves some theories of language learning/teaching wrong. Language is not always about loads of practice; instead it is about forming the right base to give opportunity for improvement.

P.S. I understand Chinese!

 Making errors are part of learning!

Let’s face it; hardly anybody likes others finding their errors/mistakes! However, there are several ways to treat errors/mistakes without having anyone hate you for it!Error: Lack of knowledge – Don’t know the correct version yet – Fossilised

Mistake: Slip of the tongue (ooops!)

A – English as a first language: We know how to correct our mistakes/errors and we can recognize our mistakes for what they are.

B – English as a second language: Not only do they not always recognize their mistakes, but when their attention is drawn to them they often cannot correct them; they may even commit another error in trying to do so. (Reference: S P Corder: Introducing Applied Linguistics pp.256/7)

TREATMENT:

* Concept Questions * Face expressions * Gestures * Re-formulation * Peer correction * Using the white board * Repeat sentence with a blank (beep) for them to fill in with correction etc.

The other day, during our error correction class, our tutor read intonation as in-te-nation. She was asking us whether any of us say it in another way. I told her that I say in-tow-nation! Canadians say it different!

Conclusion: It may not always be an error/mistake; it may be a pronunciation difference.

When teaching pronunciation, we need to be very patient. We should remember that different languages use different methods of speaking. Some use the throat, some use the tongue etc.For example: “th” is difficult to pronounce (that, this, them, both, although etc.) Here is a perfect example from the movie “The Pink Panther” directed by Shawn Levy.

Enjoy….

 If you want to improve your (MAGIC WORD) – - – - – - – - – -, you can play this really fun game called Puzzle Word by BigFizz.com

Here is a game for you to find what the MAGIC WORD is:Instructions:

Look at the list below; try to find the word for each number.1. …….. = animal doctor
2. …….. = we have it for breakfast (made out of eggs)
3. …….. = meow meow meoow
4. …….. = the 4th month of the year
5. …….. = monkeys love this fruit
6. …….. = the opposite of beautiful
7. …….. = a place where books are kept
8. …….. = the 8th month of the year
9. …….. = we can see it after rainy days, it has 7 colours
10. …….. = the opposite of old

When you find all the words, take the first letter of each word and find the MAGIC WORD.

THE MAGIC WORD IS: (10 letters) – - – - – - – - – -

I guess this is what lazy people invented!

These are some that I knew:

asap = As soon as possible
HW = Home Work
LA = Los Angeles (hehehe)
CELTA = Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults

These are the teacher stuff that I got to learn:TP = Teaching Practice
LA = Language Analysis
FL = Foreign Language
LF = Language Focus
FB = Feedback
LP = Lesson Planning
PW = Pair Work
GW = Group Work
WB = White Board
SLP = Supervised Lesson Planning
TTT = Teacher Talking Time
T-Ss = Teachers – Students

Can you think of any other?

 My first day of Teaching was like AAaaaaaAaaAaAaaaaah!!$^3% *&^%9$£5%^;7;* (*&2^%$£$%*(*&^%$£$%^&*&^%

I think that explains it all.

If you got anything to say, go ahead!

Do you know the feeling where your knees shake and your stomach feels like you swallowed a bulldozer? Well, that is exactly how I felt! I got so nervous that I felt like I’m starting school all over again. I went and got my self a pink folder, pink pen, pink eraser and those pencils with the fluffy fur on top (the kind that Reese Witherspoon in the movie Legally Blonde had). Yea, yea… I know what you’re thinking! Believe me; I thought the same of my self. Funny how much a training course can get you so excited!

How did you feel before you started your training course? If you never started one, how do you think you would feel???!!

I entered class and realised that I am 2 minutes late. “Geeeeee, what a great first impression you gave on your first day of your teacher training course!!” I thought to myself. Scanning the room I was trying to figure out who’s the teacher and who’s the teacher wanna be’s. Finally, I hear the magical words that got me to stop bombarding myself with sarcasms and curiosity which were; “Okaaaaay, since we are all here we may begin!”. So what was the first impression you gave or might have given to your tutors in your first training course?? I hope it was better than mine hehehe!

I joined a Pre-Intermediate classroom that had students that were playing around, talking in their native language, not paying attention to the instructor etc. It was like a zoo in there! Right when I was feeling bad for the instructor, a huge miracle occurred! The instructor started activities and changed the seating of the students and turned the classroom into a library! I was shocked at the sudden change of environment the class had turned into! All the questions of how, when, where, what, why popped into my mind. “Now, that is one experienced teacher” was my conclusion!

How would you deal with a classroom like that?