TEFL Success Stories - Part 49

Laura - Czech Republic

I hear it while I'm taking attendance: the muted beep followed by rapid clicking. Technically, class doesn't start for three minutes so I let it slide, but I decide to say something before I start teaching.

"OK, guys," I say, emphasizing the first syllable to get their attention. The chatter drops off, but persists in a murmur too low to identify the source. I decide to ignore it. You have to choose your battles carefully when you work with teenagers. I plow on, slowly, making sure they all understand: "Please, please, please turn off your cell phones before class starts. It drives me crazy when my lesson gets interrupted by a phone." Sheepish grins. Raised eyebrows. I see a few hands dig into bags, and hear a scattering of beeps as my students comply.

I gave them the cell phone lecture on the first day of class – all of my classes got it. But as the semester progresses, mobile phones have been interrupting my lessons with increasing frequency, particularly in this class.

Post-secondary intermediate English (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) is the only class I have to discipline. Part of it is the nature of the course: Post-secondary classes are full of students who completed high school but failed to pass their college entrance exams. Many of them are taking the course as an alternative to working -- in other words, not a highly motivated classroom. Most of the students are nineteen or twenty years old, which is a disciplinary problem in and of itself. And with nineteen, it's my largest class.

Every other course I teach is exam preparation, FCE and CAE. And while I love these classes (motivated and mature students, well-designed curriculum, clear goals), I appreciate the variety and challenges that my P2 classes provide. Really. And if I repeat it enough, it starts to sound true.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Study a TEFL course with TEFL Zorritos in Peru, South America and travel the world, live abroad and enrich people's lives by teaching them English. A TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) Certificate is an internationally accredited and accepted qualification to teach English to people from non-English speaking countries. More questions? Head to our What is TEFL? page

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

No, no, I'm just joking. Kind of. These classes are a lot of fun, and I do appreciate the challenge. It's just that some days I open my mouth and suddenly find that I've turned into that humorless teacher I used to make fun of back in high school. The one who said things like, "Is there something outrageously funny about this lesson? No? Then I'd appreciate it if you'd stop laughing and pay attention to what I'm saying." At twenty-three, I'm a little young to be a member of the adult establishment, and yet here I am: the target of their rebellious impulses and the only disciplinary authority in the room.

Class starts well. They write news articles about UFOs, based on a speaking activity we did yesterday. They like the topic, and as I walk behind them I can see a lot of creative ideas: headlines, photographs with captions, quotes, descriptions. They are completely engrossed, and (rare blessing that it is) ten minutes pass without my hearing a word of Czech.

Every day is a battle against a verbal Czech invasion. "In English!" is my catchphrase, and I find myself repeating it like a broken toy. I mutter, holler, hiss and shout the words a dozen times every lesson, ruefully thinking of my high school and university teachers. How many times was I subject of the same command: "En francais! En espanol!" And did I really think they didn't know what I was doing when I lowered my voice? But today I've been granted a respite. We're halfway through class and I haven't once had to yell, "In English means in English, not quieter in Czech!" Peer evaluations are a little more vocal, but I let it slide, hoping they're giving each other feedback and not commenting on my shirt.

And here, I suppose, is the real issue at hand. The trouble with teaching students who challenge your authority is that you begin to question that authority yourself. And if you are only three years older than your students, one year out of college with minimal teaching experience, your confidence will occasionally wobble. Every good class validates your self-confidence. You are a fabulous teacher, an authoritative disciplinarian, a creative and inspirational human being. Bad classes, of course, justify every doubt you've been harbouring about yourself since high school. You're dull, uninspired, out of the loop. You command neither respect nor admiration. The only thing you inspire from your students is scorn – for your weak classes, your unfashionable clothing and your horribly flawed personality.

Fortunately for me, this is a good day. They liked the alien articles, and there's been minimal rebellion. If they're speaking in Czech, they're too quiet for me to hear. During the second hour we focus on transportation: vocabulary building and a reading activity. Once again, they're completely engrossed. Together we brainstorm modes of transportation, then make a word web for "cars." I break them into groups and assign a different mode of transportation to each one. As a class we review the vocabulary and I prepare them for the reading activity.

They're attentive today, obedient and interested. As I pass out the reading, the narcissist within uncorks a bottle of champagne. And it is at this moment, as I'm smugly congratulating myself on my success, that I hear the cell phone.  It's a distinctive ring, and I instantly identify the culprit. Me. I dash to my desk pursued by giggles and raised eyebrows, which quickly drop when I turn around again. Their lips are twitching. I know they're dying to say it, but none of them have the nerve while I'm in the room: Laura, it drives us crazy when your lessons get interrupted by a phone.

There's a moment where I hover between my two roles: authoritative teacher and ordinary human being. I'm mildly panicked and extremely embarrassed, but I can't deny the irony of the situation. Moral authority in shambles, lesson disrupted, I have to laugh.

"OK guys," I say, and I hold up my hands. "I'm a terrible human being. Let's look at activity two." They laugh then, and -- even better -- they look at activity two.

So the champagne's a little flat today. It's not a perfect lesson, and I'm not a perfect teacher. But we all learned something in class. And as I circle their desks, listening to them discuss the article in pairs ("Remember to use your opinion phrases.") I don't hear a word of Czech. Perhaps I've retained a scrap of authority after all.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

TEFL Zorritos: What could be better?  Study in a beautiful Peruvian beach town at our beach-front outdoor training centre with great accommodations available, including delicious local food.  Fully accredited 120 Hour TEFL course with a practical approach that provides you with 10 advanced certifications at absolutely no extra cost!  And guaranteed job waiting for you when you complete the course.

Class sizes are limited, so don't wait, make your reservation today!

TEFL Success Stories - Part 40

Laura - Czech Republic

On Thursday morning I arrive to find my post-secondary class waiting in front of the building. I eye them suspiciously. Normally they pass their thirty-minute break in the classroom, chatting or playing with the children's games on the back shelf. We are not having class today, they inform me. Instead, we are going on a walk.

Because only half of them are there, because it really is a beautiful day, and mostly because I know that the lesson I've planned is fairly dull, I consent. But there are some ground rules. We are taking a tour of Prague, and they will have to tell me about the sites that we pass. In addition, they must give me directions to each site before we walk there, since Direction Giving was the topic of today's scrapped lesson. So for the next hour, we walk through the tourist district of Prague, stopping occasionally for my students to give brief reports on the history and function of various sites. I would like to continue for the last half-hour, but the sunshine belies the chill of the day, and I have to concede that my class looks miserable. So the class concludes in a small café I know near the city center.

We order tea, and my class takes advantage of the relaxed class structure to ask me questions. I am waiting for the inevitable question, and eventually it comes: Why teach English? Why the Czech Republic? Why Prague? And I still don't know. After two years I feel like I should have an answer to this question, but the truth is that I can't remember what I was thinking when I decided to do this. I don't even remember making the decision, a rather conspicuous gap in an otherwise solid memory.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Study a TEFL course with TEFL Zorritos in Peru, South America and travel the world, live abroad and enrich people's lives by teaching them English. A TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) Certificate is an internationally accredited and accepted qualification to teach English to people from non-English speaking countries. More questions? Head to our What is TEFL? page

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

I spent my senior year of college filling out applications for a respectable future. I applied for fellowships and scholarships and grants, although I don't recall applying for any actual jobs. A lot of the applications were mailed to foreign addresses. Motivated by political frustration and by memories of my high school Spanish teacher, whose exhortations to travel I still hear every time I get my passport stamped, I was certain that I wanted to spend a year out of the United States. But where would I go? And what would I do?

I think the reason I can't remember why I chose to teach English in Prague is that I never really chose it. Teaching English in Prague chose me, by being the first application with a positive return. Before I left the States, I remember worrying that I hadn't put enough thought into it, that I'd wake up one morning in Eastern Europe wondering How did I get here? But that never happened. Prague has felt like home since the day I stepped off the plane. And teaching English as a foreign language, while not an occupation I'd like to pursue forever, has come fairly naturally to me.

There's an episode of The Family Guy where the family must enter the witness relocation program. Upon hearing the news, one of the characters responds: "Oh, is Europe an option? I say, I've always wanted to spend a year in Prague, teaching English. You know, slacking off a bit, but really getting to know myself."

For a lot of Prague's EFL teachers, this is an accurate assessment. A lot of expats find themselves in Prague because they don't know where else to go. I met a boy in a bar who'd come because he was desperate to escape his hometown in West Virginia. I know another who left the States after he knocked his girlfriend up. I know several women who fled abusive relationships. But not everybody arrives here trying to flee their past. A lot of people come here because they don't know where to find their future. Prague is a Limbo haven for the undirected youth of the middle class United States.

But that's not why I'm here. I haven't slacked off in Prague. I spend about 24 hours a week in the classroom. Add that to the amount of time I spend planning lessons (9 separate plans per week) and grading papers (30-50 a week) and writing articles for the local newspaper (2 or 3 every month), and I'm pulling more than 40 hours a week.

When I first arrived I liked to joke that I was postponing adulthood – teaching English in a foreign country while my friends worked nine-to-fives in the States. I haven't made that joke in a while. Somewhere this job got hard. Somewhere it stopped being an alternative to the real world and became my world.

Living abroad is an adventure, and this experience is one that I truly appreciate. There are people who would sell a kidney to be where I am, and I try to remember that whenever my personal problems overwhelm me and threaten to dwarf my appreciation of the benefits of my being here. But I think every expat reaches a point where living abroad stops being an extended travelling vacation and starts being Life Somewhere Else. I'm not postponing adulthood in the Czech Republic; I'm starting it outside of the States.

Occasionally envious friends will remark on how glamorous my life must be, and it always takes me by surprise. They don't appreciate what you sacrifice, sometimes, to live abroad.

Teaching English as a foreign language is not quite the glamour profession you might imagine if you were certifiably insane. There are days when I'm absolutely whipped, emotionally and physically, and eight-thirty rolls around to find me staggering on my feet in front of eight dull-eyed, uninspired faces. I know there's a way to reach them intellectually, but I just don't have the reserves to get there myself.

The job has its perks I'll admit. After a year of teaching, lesson planning is no longer the hurdle it once was, and I love my colleagues and my students. Teaching is social, challenging and unpredictable. It improves your understanding of English grammar and human nature. It changes constantly and offers a number of opportunities to assess achievement. Most days I love it. I live in a city most of my friends have only read about. I've visited seven countries in the past year. I spend my afternoons in cafes reading literature between classes.

Originally scheduled to spend a year in Prague, I've extended my visit twice. I realized that I'd found a reasonably satisfying job that I was reasonably good at. I loved my students, I respected my colleagues and I enjoyed my work. I'd even gotten to know myself a little better. So I'm approaching my two-year anniversary and I still don't know why I came here. But at least I know why I stayed.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

TEFL Zorritos: What could be better?  Study in a beautiful Peruvian beach town at our beach-front outdoor training centre with great accommodations available, including delicious local food.  Fully accredited 120 Hour TEFL course with a practical approach that provides you with 10 advanced certifications at absolutely no extra cost!  And guaranteed job waiting for you when you complete the course.

Class sizes are limited, so don't wait, make your reservation today!

TEFL Success Stories - Part 49

Laura - Czech Republic

I hear it while I'm taking attendance: the muted beep followed by rapid clicking. Technically, class doesn't start for three minutes so I let it slide, but I decide to say something before I start teaching.

"OK, guys," I say, emphasizing the first syllable to get their attention. The chatter drops off, but persists in a murmur too low to identify the source. I decide to ignore it. You have to choose your battles carefully when you work with teenagers. I plow on, slowly, making sure they all understand: "Please, please, please turn off your cell phones before class starts. It drives me crazy when my lesson gets interrupted by a phone." Sheepish grins. Raised eyebrows. I see a few hands dig into bags, and hear a scattering of beeps as my students comply.

I gave them the cell phone lecture on the first day of class – all of my classes got it. But as the semester progresses, mobile phones have been interrupting my lessons with increasing frequency, particularly in this class.

Post-secondary intermediate English (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) is the only class I have to discipline. Part of it is the nature of the course: Post-secondary classes are full of students who completed high school but failed to pass their college entrance exams. Many of them are taking the course as an alternative to working -- in other words, not a highly motivated classroom. Most of the students are nineteen or twenty years old, which is a disciplinary problem in and of itself. And with nineteen, it's my largest class.

Every other course I teach is exam preparation, FCE and CAE. And while I love these classes (motivated and mature students, well-designed curriculum, clear goals), I appreciate the variety and challenges that my P2 classes provide. Really. And if I repeat it enough, it starts to sound true.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Study a TEFL course with TEFL Zorritos in Peru, South America and travel the world, live abroad and enrich people's lives by teaching them English. A TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) Certificate is an internationally accredited and accepted qualification to teach English to people from non-English speaking countries. More questions? Head to our What is TEFL? page

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

No, no, I'm just joking. Kind of. These classes are a lot of fun, and I do appreciate the challenge. It's just that some days I open my mouth and suddenly find that I've turned into that humorless teacher I used to make fun of back in high school. The one who said things like, "Is there something outrageously funny about this lesson? No? Then I'd appreciate it if you'd stop laughing and pay attention to what I'm saying." At twenty-three, I'm a little young to be a member of the adult establishment, and yet here I am: the target of their rebellious impulses and the only disciplinary authority in the room.

Class starts well. They write news articles about UFOs, based on a speaking activity we did yesterday. They like the topic, and as I walk behind them I can see a lot of creative ideas: headlines, photographs with captions, quotes, descriptions. They are completely engrossed, and (rare blessing that it is) ten minutes pass without my hearing a word of Czech.

Every day is a battle against a verbal Czech invasion. "In English!" is my catchphrase, and I find myself repeating it like a broken toy. I mutter, holler, hiss and shout the words a dozen times every lesson, ruefully thinking of my high school and university teachers. How many times was I subject of the same command: "En francais! En espanol!" And did I really think they didn't know what I was doing when I lowered my voice? But today I've been granted a respite. We're halfway through class and I haven't once had to yell, "In English means in English, not quieter in Czech!" Peer evaluations are a little more vocal, but I let it slide, hoping they're giving each other feedback and not commenting on my shirt.

And here, I suppose, is the real issue at hand. The trouble with teaching students who challenge your authority is that you begin to question that authority yourself. And if you are only three years older than your students, one year out of college with minimal teaching experience, your confidence will occasionally wobble. Every good class validates your self-confidence. You are a fabulous teacher, an authoritative disciplinarian, a creative and inspirational human being. Bad classes, of course, justify every doubt you've been harbouring about yourself since high school. You're dull, uninspired, out of the loop. You command neither respect nor admiration. The only thing you inspire from your students is scorn – for your weak classes, your unfashionable clothing and your horribly flawed personality.

Fortunately for me, this is a good day. They liked the alien articles, and there's been minimal rebellion. If they're speaking in Czech, they're too quiet for me to hear. During the second hour we focus on transportation: vocabulary building and a reading activity. Once again, they're completely engrossed. Together we brainstorm modes of transportation, then make a word web for "cars." I break them into groups and assign a different mode of transportation to each one. As a class we review the vocabulary and I prepare them for the reading activity.

They're attentive today, obedient and interested. As I pass out the reading, the narcissist within uncorks a bottle of champagne. And it is at this moment, as I'm smugly congratulating myself on my success, that I hear the cell phone.  It's a distinctive ring, and I instantly identify the culprit. Me. I dash to my desk pursued by giggles and raised eyebrows, which quickly drop when I turn around again. Their lips are twitching. I know they're dying to say it, but none of them have the nerve while I'm in the room: Laura, it drives us crazy when your lessons get interrupted by a phone.

There's a moment where I hover between my two roles: authoritative teacher and ordinary human being. I'm mildly panicked and extremely embarrassed, but I can't deny the irony of the situation. Moral authority in shambles, lesson disrupted, I have to laugh.

"OK guys," I say, and I hold up my hands. "I'm a terrible human being. Let's look at activity two." They laugh then, and -- even better -- they look at activity two.

So the champagne's a little flat today. It's not a perfect lesson, and I'm not a perfect teacher. But we all learned something in class. And as I circle their desks, listening to them discuss the article in pairs ("Remember to use your opinion phrases.") I don't hear a word of Czech. Perhaps I've retained a scrap of authority after all.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

TEFL Zorritos: What could be better?  Study in a beautiful Peruvian beach town at our beach-front outdoor training centre with great accommodations available, including delicious local food.  Fully accredited 120 Hour TEFL course with a practical approach that provides you with 5 advanced certifications at absolutely no extra cost!  And guaranteed job waiting for you when you complete the course.

Class sizes are limited, so don't wait, make your reservation today!

TEFL Success Stories - Part 40

Laura - Czech Republic

On Thursday morning I arrive to find my post-secondary class waiting in front of the building. I eye them suspiciously. Normally they pass their thirty-minute break in the classroom, chatting or playing with the children's games on the back shelf. We are not having class today, they inform me. Instead, we are going on a walk.

Because only half of them are there, because it really is a beautiful day, and mostly because I know that the lesson I've planned is fairly dull, I consent. But there are some ground rules. We are taking a tour of Prague, and they will have to tell me about the sites that we pass. In addition, they must give me directions to each site before we walk there, since Direction Giving was the topic of today's scrapped lesson. So for the next hour, we walk through the tourist district of Prague, stopping occasionally for my students to give brief reports on the history and function of various sites. I would like to continue for the last half-hour, but the sunshine belies the chill of the day, and I have to concede that my class looks miserable. So the class concludes in a small café I know near the city center.

We order tea, and my class takes advantage of the relaxed class structure to ask me questions. I am waiting for the inevitable question, and eventually it comes: Why teach English? Why the Czech Republic? Why Prague? And I still don't know. After two years I feel like I should have an answer to this question, but the truth is that I can't remember what I was thinking when I decided to do this. I don't even remember making the decision, a rather conspicuous gap in an otherwise solid memory.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Study a TEFL course with TEFL Zorritos in Peru, South America and travel the world, live abroad and enrich people's lives by teaching them English. A TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) Certificate is an internationally accredited and accepted qualification to teach English to people from non-English speaking countries. More questions? Head to our What is TEFL? page

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

I spent my senior year of college filling out applications for a respectable future. I applied for fellowships and scholarships and grants, although I don't recall applying for any actual jobs. A lot of the applications were mailed to foreign addresses. Motivated by political frustration and by memories of my high school Spanish teacher, whose exhortations to travel I still hear every time I get my passport stamped, I was certain that I wanted to spend a year out of the United States. But where would I go? And what would I do?

I think the reason I can't remember why I chose to teach English in Prague is that I never really chose it. Teaching English in Prague chose me, by being the first application with a positive return. Before I left the States, I remember worrying that I hadn't put enough thought into it, that I'd wake up one morning in Eastern Europe wondering How did I get here? But that never happened. Prague has felt like home since the day I stepped off the plane. And teaching English as a foreign language, while not an occupation I'd like to pursue forever, has come fairly naturally to me.

There's an episode of The Family Guy where the family must enter the witness relocation program. Upon hearing the news, one of the characters responds: "Oh, is Europe an option? I say, I've always wanted to spend a year in Prague, teaching English. You know, slacking off a bit, but really getting to know myself."

For a lot of Prague's EFL teachers, this is an accurate assessment. A lot of expats find themselves in Prague because they don't know where else to go. I met a boy in a bar who'd come because he was desperate to escape his hometown in West Virginia. I know another who left the States after he knocked his girlfriend up. I know several women who fled abusive relationships. But not everybody arrives here trying to flee their past. A lot of people come here because they don't know where to find their future. Prague is a Limbo haven for the undirected youth of the middle class United States.But that's not why I'm here. I haven't slacked off in Prague. I spend about 24 hours a week in the classroom. Add that to the amount of time I spend planning lessons (9 separate plans per week) and grading papers (30-50 a week) and writing articles for the local newspaper (2 or 3 every month), and I'm pulling more than 40 hours a week.When I first arrived I liked to joke that I was postponing adulthood – teaching English in a foreign country while my friends worked nine-to-fives in the States. I haven't made that joke in a while. Somewhere this job got hard. Somewhere it stopped being an alternative to the real world and became my world.Living abroad is an adventure, and this experience is one that I truly appreciate. There are people who would sell a kidney to be where I am, and I try to remember that whenever my personal problems overwhelm me and threaten to dwarf my appreciation of the benefits of my being here. But I think every expat reaches a point where living abroad stops being an extended travelling vacation and starts being Life Somewhere Else. I'm not postponing adulthood in the Czech Republic; I'm starting it outside of the States.Occasionally envious friends will remark on how glamorous my life must be, and it always takes me by surprise. They don't appreciate what you sacrifice, sometimes, to live abroad.Teaching English as a foreign language is not quite the glamour profession you might imagine if you were certifiably insane. There are days when I'm absolutely whipped, emotionally and physically, and eight-thirty rolls around to find me staggering on my feet in front of eight dull-eyed, uninspired faces. I know there's a way to reach them intellectually, but I just don't have the reserves to get there myself.The job has its perks I'll admit. After a year of teaching, lesson planning is no longer the hurdle it once was, and I love my colleagues and my students. Teaching is social, challenging and unpredictable. It improves your understanding of English grammar and human nature. It changes constantly and offers a number of opportunities to assess achievement. Most days I love it. I live in a city most of my friends have only read about. I've visited seven countries in the past year. I spend my afternoons in cafes reading literature between classes.Originally scheduled to spend a year in Prague, I've extended my visit twice. I realized that I'd found a reasonably satisfying job that I was reasonably good at. I loved my students, I respected my colleagues and I enjoyed my work. I'd even gotten to know myself a little better. So I'm approaching my two-year anniversary and I still don't know why I came here. But at least I know why I stayed.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

TEFL Zorritos: What could be better?  Study in a beautiful Peruvian beach town at our beach-front outdoor training centre with great accommodations available, including delicious local food.  Fully accredited 120 Hour TEFL course with a practical approach that provides you with 5 advanced certifications at absolutely no extra cost!  And guaranteed job waiting for you when you complete the course.

Class sizes are limited, so don't wait, make your reservation today!

TEFL Success Stories - Part 40

Laura - Czech Republic

On Thursday morning I arrive to find my post-secondary class waiting in front of the building. I eye them suspiciously. Normally they pass their thirty-minute break in the classroom, chatting or playing with the children's games on the back shelf. We are not having class today, they inform me. Instead, we are going on a walk.

Because only half of them are there, because it really is a beautiful day, and mostly because I know that the lesson I've planned is fairly dull, I consent. But there are some ground rules. We are taking a tour of Prague, and they will have to tell me about the sites that we pass. In addition, they must give me directions to each site before we walk there, since Direction Giving was the topic of today's scrapped lesson. So for the next hour, we walk through the tourist district of Prague, stopping occasionally for my students to give brief reports on the history and function of various sites. I would like to continue for the last half-hour, but the sunshine belies the chill of the day, and I have to concede that my class looks miserable. So the class concludes in a small café I know near the city center.

We order tea, and my class takes advantage of the relaxed class structure to ask me questions. I am waiting for the inevitable question, and eventually it comes: Why teach English? Why the Czech Republic? Why Prague? And I still don't know. After two years I feel like I should have an answer to this question, but the truth is that I can't remember what I was thinking when I decided to do this. I don't even remember making the decision, a rather conspicuous gap in an otherwise solid memory.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Study a TEFL course with TEFL Zorritos in Peru, South America and travel the world, live abroad and enrich people's lives by teaching them English. A TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) Certificate is an internationally accredited and accepted qualification to teach English to people from non-English speaking countries. More questions? Head to our What is TEFL? page

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

I spent my senior year of college filling out applications for a respectable future. I applied for fellowships and scholarships and grants, although I don't recall applying for any actual jobs. A lot of the applications were mailed to foreign addresses. Motivated by political frustration and by memories of my high school Spanish teacher, whose exhortations to travel I still hear every time I get my passport stamped, I was certain that I wanted to spend a year out of the United States. But where would I go? And what would I do?

I think the reason I can't remember why I chose to teach English in Prague is that I never really chose it. Teaching English in Prague chose me, by being the first application with a positive return. Before I left the States, I remember worrying that I hadn't put enough thought into it, that I'd wake up one morning in Eastern Europe wondering How did I get here? But that never happened. Prague has felt like home since the day I stepped off the plane. And teaching English as a foreign language, while not an occupation I'd like to pursue forever, has come fairly naturally to me.

There's an episode of The Family Guy where the family must enter the witness relocation program. Upon hearing the news, one of the characters responds: "Oh, is Europe an option? I say, I've always wanted to spend a year in Prague, teaching English. You know, slacking off a bit, but really getting to know myself."

For a lot of Prague's EFL teachers, this is an accurate assessment. A lot of expats find themselves in Prague because they don't know where else to go. I met a boy in a bar who'd come because he was desperate to escape his hometown in West Virginia. I know another who left the States after he knocked his girlfriend up. I know several women who fled abusive relationships. But not everybody arrives here trying to flee their past. A lot of people come here because they don't know where to find their future. Prague is a Limbo haven for the undirected youth of the middle class United States.But that's not why I'm here. I haven't slacked off in Prague. I spend about 24 hours a week in the classroom. Add that to the amount of time I spend planning lessons (9 separate plans per week) and grading papers (30-50 a week) and writing articles for the local newspaper (2 or 3 every month), and I'm pulling more than 40 hours a week.When I first arrived I liked to joke that I was postponing adulthood – teaching English in a foreign country while my friends worked nine-to-fives in the States. I haven't made that joke in a while. Somewhere this job got hard. Somewhere it stopped being an alternative to the real world and became my world.Living abroad is an adventure, and this experience is one that I truly appreciate. There are people who would sell a kidney to be where I am, and I try to remember that whenever my personal problems overwhelm me and threaten to dwarf my appreciation of the benefits of my being here. But I think every expat reaches a point where living abroad stops being an extended travelling vacation and starts being Life Somewhere Else. I'm not postponing adulthood in the Czech Republic; I'm starting it outside of the States.Occasionally envious friends will remark on how glamorous my life must be, and it always takes me by surprise. They don't appreciate what you sacrifice, sometimes, to live abroad.Teaching English as a foreign language is not quite the glamour profession you might imagine if you were certifiably insane. There are days when I'm absolutely whipped, emotionally and physically, and eight-thirty rolls around to find me staggering on my feet in front of eight dull-eyed, uninspired faces. I know there's a way to reach them intellectually, but I just don't have the reserves to get there myself.The job has its perks I'll admit. After a year of teaching, lesson planning is no longer the hurdle it once was, and I love my colleagues and my students. Teaching is social, challenging and unpredictable. It improves your understanding of English grammar and human nature. It changes constantly and offers a number of opportunities to assess achievement. Most days I love it. I live in a city most of my friends have only read about. I've visited seven countries in the past year. I spend my afternoons in cafes reading literature between classes.Originally scheduled to spend a year in Prague, I've extended my visit twice. I realized that I'd found a reasonably satisfying job that I was reasonably good at. I loved my students, I respected my colleagues and I enjoyed my work. I'd even gotten to know myself a little better. So I'm approaching my two-year anniversary and I still don't know why I came here. But at least I know why I stayed.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

TEFL Zorritos: What could be better?  Study in a beautiful Peruvian beach town at our beach-front outdoor training centre with great accommodations available, including delicious local food.  Fully accredited 120 Hour TEFL course with a practical approach that provides you with 5 advanced certifications at absolutely no extra cost!  And guaranteed job waiting for you when you complete the course.

Class sizes are limited, so don't wait, make your reservation today!

TEFL Success Stories - Part 40

Laura - Czech Republic

On Thursday morning I arrive to find my post-secondary class waiting in front of the building. I eye them suspiciously. Normally they pass their thirty-minute break in the classroom, chatting or playing with the children's games on the back shelf. We are not having class today, they inform me. Instead, we are going on a walk.

Because only half of them are there, because it really is a beautiful day, and mostly because I know that the lesson I've planned is fairly dull, I consent. But there are some ground rules. We are taking a tour of Prague, and they will have to tell me about the sites that we pass. In addition, they must give me directions to each site before we walk there, since Direction Giving was the topic of today's scrapped lesson. So for the next hour, we walk through the tourist district of Prague, stopping occasionally for my students to give brief reports on the history and function of various sites. I would like to continue for the last half-hour, but the sunshine belies the chill of the day, and I have to concede that my class looks miserable. So the class concludes in a small café I know near the city center.

We order tea, and my class takes advantage of the relaxed class structure to ask me questions. I am waiting for the inevitable question, and eventually it comes: Why teach English? Why the Czech Republic? Why Prague? And I still don't know. After two years I feel like I should have an answer to this question, but the truth is that I can't remember what I was thinking when I decided to do this. I don't even remember making the decision, a rather conspicuous gap in an otherwise solid memory.

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Study a TEFL course with TEFL Zorritos in Peru, South America and travel the world, live abroad and enrich people's lives by teaching them English. A TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) Certificate is an internationally accredited and accepted qualification to teach English to people from non-English speaking countries. More questions? Head to our What is TEFL? page

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I spent my senior year of college filling out applications for a respectable future. I applied for fellowships and scholarships and grants, although I don't recall applying for any actual jobs. A lot of the applications were mailed to foreign addresses. Motivated by political frustration and by memories of my high school Spanish teacher, whose exhortations to travel I still hear every time I get my passport stamped, I was certain that I wanted to spend a year out of the United States. But where would I go? And what would I do?

I think the reason I can't remember why I chose to teach English in Prague is that I never really chose it. Teaching English in Prague chose me, by being the first application with a positive return. Before I left the States, I remember worrying that I hadn't put enough thought into it, that I'd wake up one morning in Eastern Europe wondering How did I get here? But that never happened. Prague has felt like home since the day I stepped off the plane. And teaching English as a foreign language, while not an occupation I'd like to pursue forever, has come fairly naturally to me.

There's an episode of The Family Guy where the family must enter the witness relocation program. Upon hearing the news, one of the characters responds: "Oh, is Europe an option? I say, I've always wanted to spend a year in Prague, teaching English. You know, slacking off a bit, but really getting to know myself."

For a lot of Prague's EFL teachers, this is an accurate assessment. A lot of expats find themselves in Prague because they don't know where else to go. I met a boy in a bar who'd come because he was desperate to escape his hometown in West Virginia. I know another who left the States after he knocked his girlfriend up. I know several women who fled abusive relationships. But not everybody arrives here trying to flee their past. A lot of people come here because they don't know where to find their future. Prague is a Limbo haven for the undirected youth of the middle class United States.But that's not why I'm here. I haven't slacked off in Prague. I spend about 24 hours a week in the classroom. Add that to the amount of time I spend planning lessons (9 separate plans per week) and grading papers (30-50 a week) and writing articles for the local newspaper (2 or 3 every month), and I'm pulling more than 40 hours a week.When I first arrived I liked to joke that I was postponing adulthood – teaching English in a foreign country while my friends worked nine-to-fives in the States. I haven't made that joke in a while. Somewhere this job got hard. Somewhere it stopped being an alternative to the real world and became my world.Living abroad is an adventure, and this experience is one that I truly appreciate. There are people who would sell a kidney to be where I am, and I try to remember that whenever my personal problems overwhelm me and threaten to dwarf my appreciation of the benefits of my being here. But I think every expat reaches a point where living abroad stops being an extended travelling vacation and starts being Life Somewhere Else. I'm not postponing adulthood in the Czech Republic; I'm starting it outside of the States.Occasionally envious friends will remark on how glamorous my life must be, and it always takes me by surprise. They don't appreciate what you sacrifice, sometimes, to live abroad.Teaching English as a foreign language is not quite the glamour profession you might imagine if you were certifiably insane. There are days when I'm absolutely whipped, emotionally and physically, and eight-thirty rolls around to find me staggering on my feet in front of eight dull-eyed, uninspired faces. I know there's a way to reach them intellectually, but I just don't have the reserves to get there myself.The job has its perks I'll admit. After a year of teaching, lesson planning is no longer the hurdle it once was, and I love my colleagues and my students. Teaching is social, challenging and unpredictable. It improves your understanding of English grammar and human nature. It changes constantly and offers a number of opportunities to assess achievement. Most days I love it. I live in a city most of my friends have only read about. I've visited seven countries in the past year. I spend my afternoons in cafes reading literature between classes.Originally scheduled to spend a year in Prague, I've extended my visit twice. I realized that I'd found a reasonably satisfying job that I was reasonably good at. I loved my students, I respected my colleagues and I enjoyed my work. I'd even gotten to know myself a little better. So I'm approaching my two-year anniversary and I still don't know why I came here. But at least I know why I stayed.

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TEFL Success Stories - Part 83

Laura - Czech Republic

Two weeks before the FCE exam, and my students are freaking out. We've just completed a practice examination and their foreheads are already puckered in anticipation of mistakes made. “Let's correct these,” I say, thumbing to the answer page in the back of the book. “Number one, A. Number two, C.” I try to sound cheerful as I call out the answers, but it's hard to ignore the sighs, the clicking tongues, the pinched faces.

“How do I correct this?” I ask myself. With two weeks to go is it more important to increase confidence or accuracy? Do I stress my faith in them, or do I scare them into a kamikaze course of listening preparation? As I proceed through the list, the audible and visible signs of their distress increase and I'm beginning to panic a bit myself. What's my responsibility here? With a limited amount of time for improvement, what's the most important error for me to identify and correct?

“Laura?” Ivana raises her hand, and points to her own book, where she is checking the answers as I read. “I have something different.” Her finger rests on the answer sheet for Test 3, which, I immediately realize, is the answer sheet I should be reading. My own book is opened to the answer sheet for Test 1, which we completed and corrected several weeks ago.

“Whoa, I'm sorry,” I say. “Let's try that again. One, C. Two, D. Three, D.” The sighs and clicks fade as I read through the correct list, replaced by a scratching of pens and the occasional relieved giggle. “OK,” I say when I've finished. “Are their any questions about the correct answers?”

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Study a TEFL course with TEFL Zorritos in Peru, South America and travel the world, live abroad and enrich people's lives by teaching them English. A TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) Certificate is an internationally accredited and accepted qualification to teach English to people from non-English speaking countries. More questions? Head to our What is TEFL? page

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I’m teaching a poem about expatriation which involves some difficult vocabulary. “What’s an ancestor?” I ask before we begin. They know that one, so I move on to the trickier words. “What’s a coffin?” This time they pause, eyes shifting uncertainly. I wait out the silence until Lenka looks up. I raise my eyebrows and she ventures a guess: “It is some kind of muffin?” she asks.

Assignment: Tell us about your partner’s favorite room. Which room is it? What does it look like? What furniture is in it? What do they do there? Why do they like it?

Michal begins slowly. “Eda’s favorite room is bedroom,” he says. “He likes it because it is … it is an anti-pickle room.”

In the fractional second it takes me to recognize the word untypical, my mind conjures an image of a heavy wooden doorframe, from which a terrified family of pickles flees. The walls are covered in angry posters declaring PICKLE GO HOME! It is the most unprofessional moment of my teaching career.

What starts as a private chuckle is soon a very un-private, uncontrollable ribbon of laughter. I take a deep breath, which only increases the volume of my hysteria. I turn to the board and write the word untypical in quavering letters across the surface, the squeaking chalk punctuated by my muffled snorts and hiccups. The laughter is barely suppressed when I turn and face my students through teary eyes. I can feel it swelling, but before it bursts out I make one last noble effort. I square my shoulders and draw a long, slow breath.

“Class dismissed,” I say.

Elena slouches in the back row, arms folded, with the majority of the class.

“How is everybody today?” I ask, and their stony faces blink back at me. I raise my eyebrows and tilt my ear toward them, smiling. “Fabulous?” I suggest. “Mediocre? Outrageously bad?”

“Tired,” somebody says, at last. After six solid hours of teaching, I’m hardly sympathetic. It’s 19.30, I’m positively knackered, and I can’t even leave the school until 21.00 – at which point I’m looking at a forty-minute commute.

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“Normal,” somebody else says.

“Fantastic,” I say. “Please take a look at the board.”

More students roll through the door as the class dawdles through the warmer. I drag them through vocabulary practice, paired speaking exercises, group speaking exercises, error correction, and large group feedback. I have a brief respite during the listening activity, but getting them to discuss their answers in pairs afterwards is a struggle. Mid-exercise, Elena drops her voice and rattles off a stream of Czech to Adam. She catches my eye, and continues, even after I raise my eyebrows.

“In English,” I say. She smiles with her cheeks, pulling her lips over her teeth, but her eyes don’t change expression. Her voice drops lower, and Adam laughs.

With thirty minutes left, I tell them to write the essay we prepared for in our last lesson. Most of them look bored, but pick up their pens and start writing. Elena, Adam and Ana are talking – and even with a beginner’s knowledge of Czech I can figure out what they’re saying.

“If you’re writing, you’re not talking,” I say. They keep talking. Ana laughs. Elena rolls her eyes. One of the other students joins the conversation.

“I’ll repeat myself,” I say, loud this time. “If you’re writing, you’re not talking.” This time, they stop. I skim my pen over the paper in front of me, adding articles and circling misspelled words, looking up every few lines to check on their progress. Most of the class is writing. Elena is staring directly at me. When I meet her gaze she widens her eyes and raises her eyebrows. She smiles with her lips.

I tackle another paragraph, and this time she shifts when I look up and I realize she’s mimicking me. Her arms are crossed at the same height, her legs balanced at the same angle, her eyebrows arched at the same height, her lips pulled back in the same expectant smile, but her eyes burning.

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“Can I write this at home?” Ana asks suddenly.

There are three reasons we are writing in class today. Number one, I want them to practice under exam conditions. Number two, I like being available for grammar and vocabulary help. Number three, when I assign writing for homework, I generally get half of the papers back. Then again, they won't take the exam until June, so they have plenty of time to practice exam-style writing. The class watches me think.

“What do the rest of you think?” I ask, and they stare at the floor. “Elena?”

“This is fine,” she says, grabbing a pen and beginning to write.

In the end we compromise. The class agrees to write the essay, and the two students who refuse come out into the hall and do a speaking activity with me. They think writing in class is a waste of time, they tell me.

“We think it is better to do maybe vocabulary and speaking,” they say, and I notice that we are terribly, temptingly close to a balcony. Speaking? They want to do more speaking? Am I going to have to rip the words one by one out of their lungs? But I swallow my anger and ask them for some ideas, and although I’m maddened by the inconsistency of the request, I appreciate their honesty.

Like every teacher, I hate it when students challenge my authority or complain about my lessons, but I know it's better to teach them the way they want to be taught, and I'd rather have them tell me directly than stew over it and be unhappy. As a teacher I know I need the authority to motivate my students to do onerous tasks, but I also need the flexibility to change my plans when my assignments don't work for them. We all need to be open to improvement. In the end I thank them for their suggestions, we do a quick speaking activity, and I dismiss them and return to the classroom.

Elena is still speaking in Czech and stretching dramatically. When she catches my eye, she pretends to yawn and continues to speak, grinding a fist into her palm. “How do I correct this?” I wonder.

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