Portugal

Hi   Is anytone out there able to share information on academic years. I am finding it difficult to find out dates or general months.   I'm keen to teach in a few places such as Spain, Portugal, Brazil or China so information throughout the world would be great

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HI I am considering going over to Portugal to teach. Anyone been that can give advice? I 'm thinking about January, will this cause a problem in finding a job as it won't be the beginning of academic year? My boyfriend will come too - how hard is it to find two jobs?   Total newbie to the whole thing, not even got the TEFL qualification yet. But once I have sampled TEFL and help...

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  So I have about 20 days left to complete my 120 - I think it's going to be tough, but it's gotta be done. Had a phone interview yesterday for a ESL job in a private language school in Portugal, anyone got any views / experiences of Portugal, please share with me your knowledge.   Thanks in advance peeps. Becca

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Late last September I moved to the north of Portugal to teach English. Now my contract is coming to an end, and I have nine months' solid experience to add to my three months spent working in Vietnam. Over the course of the past nine months, it's fair to say there have been highs and lows. The latter mainly relate to one particular class who I spectacularly failed to gel with, and things only got...

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It's been SO long since I last posted, so somewhat belatedly, here's my monthly update. March was very much a mixed bag. Horrible class of teens excepted, the month started well enough with a five day 'weekend' for Carnival. My friend and I decided to rent a car and go sightseeing. In five days we saw the highlights of Estremadura, which included a beach, two abbeys, Portugal's most famous caves, a the former HQ of...

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In the course of your TEFL career, you will face certain challenges, but these challenges differ from country to country. So, five months in, what have I learned about working in Portugal? 1. Silence is impossible. The kids NEVER shut up. And when I say 'never', I mean never. The Portuguese do not consider it rude to talk over others. By this I mean both the other students, the teachers, the CD... I even had...

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Following a much-needed Christmas break (which I spent in Paris, London and Lisbon), I'm back; back in Braga and back to work. Three weeks in and I am feeling remarkably 'zen' about everything. I've got my planning down to a rather efficient ten minutes per lesson, my students have come back with new and improved attitudes, and my first tutorial of the new term went well. Coming up I've got two formal observations, which are...

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With just one week to go until the Xmas holidays, I thought now might be as good a time for an update as any. I'm happy to report that I have survived the first term (yay me!), and coupled with my summer in Vietnam, I now have six months' experience. Am I a 'real' teacher yet?! This term, I have gotten better at time management, and I now use my free time on Friday evenings...

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October’s gone, and we’re halfway through November. The weather here is still a glorious 20 degrees, and it’s sunny! Coming from the UK, this is an unexpected but very welcome turn up for the books! As was the plan, my flatmate and I have been sightseeing every weekend. We would have done this even if it was raining but it’s lovely to be able to take pictures with mid-summer blue skies.   So far, we...

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I have just completed my second week of teaching and it’s been something of a baptism of fire. I’m teaching 12-14 year olds and adults, neither of which I have any real experience with. I have been given a coursebook for each class – Smash 3, Inside Out Pre-Intermediate, Cutting Edge Intermediate and Cutting Edge Advanced – and told to design my own courses. And once again, this is something I have no experience in....

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