TEFL Take Two

Well, I finally did it. I did the research, with a couple of false starts. But, I prevailed. I found an accredited TEFL program in France. Montpellier to be exact. The name of the program through which I will be getting certified is The Language House. This is their website: http://www.teflanguagehouse.com/tefl-france-montpellier/.

I am extremely excited to try teaching english again. I hope that taking this course will help me be more prepared for the classroom. Frankly, in South Korea I didn't know what to expect.

I leave in June for the sunny south of France where I will take a class teaching me about pedagogy as well as give me an opportunity to teach classes while being observed. Perfect. This is just what I need.

On my enrollment the program suggested that I read four books before my arrival. I have only started one of these books and it already seems unnecessary. Most of what the books contain are common sense ideas about language learning. The most helpful sections for me provide me with vocabulary to use when discussing the pedagogy involved. The practical sections that show how the language should be taught seem obvious. When reading the material I find all of the tricks that my foreign language teachers used in the classes that I took in middle school through university. However, I still feel the need to read this material just in case. For example, I have not read any chapters on lesson plans yet. That might come in handy when I need to create a lesson plan for the first time.

Since the course I am taking is closing in I am getting wary of the experience. I am so excited to start on this new adventure, but, still hesitant because of my last failed attempt.

A change of pace will be good regardless. As a retail associate and busboy/ hostess I sometimes feel like I am not living up to my potential. Or at least I am not living up to my expectation for myself. If I worked these jobs on the side of a "big girl" job I would feel much better about them.

So the countdown begins. Here's to hoping that this new adventure provides me with more satisfactory results then the last.