Good afternoon readers, the time here in Jakarta is 1:15pm and I have just finished planning my lessons. Today is an iLab day for my students so that means for half of the class they will be on the computer doing 'Practice and Play' which is EF's interactive computer learning suite, there are many various games the students play to check their vocab and grammar that they have learnt in the units we have taught them, They get to do this once per unit, each unit being 2 weeks (6 x 80min classes) long.
I have just finished eating a homemade egg mayonaise sandwich, if like me, you are a sandwich fiend Indonesia does not have sandwiches, You can find them in some restaurants that serve mainly western cuisine but they are nothing like back home and you cannot go to the Indomart to buy a ready made sandwich, with the exception if Circle K, who being a western franchise do sell them although they are not tastey at all!
My favourite food at the moment is Soto mie Bogor, here you will find many different types of food that are the same just local recipes such as this, it is all in the name. Soto mie Bogor is like a mix between soup and broth it is water like soup but contains vegetable and meat like broth, In this particular soto it contains tomato, cabbabe, meat (undetermined variety) noodles and rice noodles called bihun/beehun. It is very tasty and is more than enough to keep you full throughout the day and costs just 10,000/$1.
Well the teachers room is very quiet at the minute, most teachers have already planned their lessons and have gone home for a break until classtime, most of the 'bule' (Western) teachers have motorbikes so getting home is very fast indeed, although you can walk in 10-15 minutes.
I on the other hand prefer to stay in the school when I have finished planning as it is usually a faster internet connection than home and if I want to rest I just get a soft ball and use it as a pillow on my desk!
So back to my classes for today, one of the most useful ways to get students to read is called running dictation, this involves you getting some text that they must read (I use the student books reading pages) and putting it somewhere outside the classroom, usually at the end of a corridor. In pairs one of the tme must go and read the text, memorize it and come back to class to tell their partner what they remember, then their partner goes and reads from where they left off and does the same. Students enjoy it as it is a active game and I often use it as a warmer or post warmer.
Well I have over one hour before class I think I will go find a soft ball....
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The 2hr classes are pretty hectic! I have 3 classes per day, Monday, Wednesday and Friday I have 3 x 80 min classes and on Tuesday and Thursday I have 1 x 80 min and 2 x 2hr classes. We are pretty understaffed at the moment, just had 2 teachers leave and the DOS is on leave in South Africa until after Xmas, and now we have one of the local teachers who is really sick!!! So everyone is running around covering classes! I agree, Earlier this year I was at my girlfriends house 12km away and I got a call, can you come cover this class that starts in 30 min? nobody else can do it! ARGHHHHHH.
Oh some Indonesians are the same, especially Real English! If it rains they are too lazy to come to class, It's nice if it is a 2 hr class and my last one of the day, NO Students so I get to go home early! Yipeeeee!!! haha
For sure he will be ok, they tell you when you start, you are not teaching them, just talking with them. Sure you get some that will want to ask questions about grammar but they know the people there are not all teachers and might not know the specifics of the English language, even if they are native speakers! So I say go for it! I am 100% sure you will get a real kick out of it and make some great friends, if I was still in Europe I would be doing at often! Free holiday in 5 star hotel speaking to people, hey I speak to people when I'm on holiday anyway so why not stay in a top hotel and get great food at the same time!
2 hour lessons with a 5 min break? Sounds hectic. How many lessons do you teach on average each day? My days are fairly easy, although there are some days that are so hectic because we are constantly understaffed with too much work to do. I have on average 5 lessons a day, but there are days when I have to do 6. Sounds normal enough, but imagine having NO planning time, or a lesson just gets scheduled at the last minute... I'm the kind of person who likes to be organised, so I hate improvising....However, in saying that, the Italians hate the rain, so if it rains, which it doesn't very often, they cancel their lessons! Hahahaha :D So, my days are quite flexible.
His English is very good actually, otherwise we could never have spoken to each other when we met. However, he wouldn't be able to teach gramma, he's one of those false beginner's - he learnt some English in school but has been teaching himself the rest with translation of his favourite books which were only in English at the time. Since then, he's used English in his job, so he has a pretty good command of it but can't explain some things, of course. Yes, I checked out the Pueblo Inglés website and am very excited to do it sometime next year, and if it's just "conversation classes" rather than hardcore grammar teaching, than he might be ok with it :)
1 hour classes are not so bad, here in Jakarta we have 80 min classes and 2 hr classes split with a 5 min break (2 hr only), What's it like in Italy? i agree, If I had just spent the semester at school, I wouldn't want to spend summer at school too!!! But it is for their own interest! You know 16 yr old boys, if they want something they will find a way to get it!
I love doing treasure hunts for students, especially the really young ones, however I have stopped doing them recently as I got some promotional stuff from marketing, notebooks, pens and the like, and when the students found them some were pleased but a few just said 'is there anything else?', That is just so ungrateful.
Have you heard of Vaughan Town or Pueblo Ingles, I have mentioned it is some of my other posts on the site, but they do a summer club too in Spain. They also do volunteer work all year round for 1 week at a time. 100% free, you just pay for getting to Madrid and pre/post accomodation...The venues are out in the countryside and you stay in a 5 star hotel with 3 course meals etc, all free. You should check it out, If I remember right the summerclub is funded so you would get a small allowance as a bonus. I think it would be right up your alley!
How is your boyfriends English? is he pretty fluent? because if so he could volunteer too, When I did one of the programs there was an oldish couple, an American and her French husband. They just require near native ability.
Well, there were 4 lessons in total, 3 lessons in the morning (one hour each), split up by 11am coffee break, then the lesson after lunch was an hour and a half. The students wre lovely and most of them were well behaved. Motivated? Well, I think about half of the students were motivated, I think they slightly resented their parents sending them to school during the summer, and I can't blame them really. There was a little group of four 16 year old Russian boys, who were very naughty and arrived late to class every monring *drunk* on vodka... in the morning!!?? The headmaster did convisgate the vodka but somehow they kept getting hold of more. They were sent home within the first week which left the rest of the class to enjoy their lessons. On the last evening, I bought a boxful of sweets and spent most of the night preparing a surprise treasure hunt, writing riddles for them to follow and putting everything in place before the first lesson. They loved it :D
Wow! that sounds so much fun, so relaxed too just 2 lessons per day and a day trip out every week! Were the kids motivated or were they just 'We have more money than you and our parents sent us here, don't want to do that, so we won't' I have some students who are like that here.
Hahaha, yes, I too have the occaisional freudian slip ;) Eton was fantastic and what a privilage! It was a summer placement organised between Eton College and Embassy CES, teaching international students aged between 10 - 16 years old. Most of the students were from Russia and the Ukraine, but I did have a few Greek and French students too. The students were from mega wealthy families and they had more "pocket money" than I earn in a year.. It was a good laugh though - I taught English in the mornings and one lesson after lunch for the more advanced learners, then in the late afternoons the staff took the students out for tours of Windsor Castle or shopping. On Wednesdays we took them to Oxford, London or Bath for day trips... the teachers paired up and took charge of 20 students. It was challenging keeping an eye on all of them!! I had an invite this year to go back and teach at Eton again but I'd already arranged work in Italy so I didn't go this time but maybe next year! :)
Whoops! I meant Italy, I probably said China as that is my next probably move and I have it constantly running through my mind! haha. I always start class with discussions even for young classes, asking them what they have been doing and stuff, it gets them talking and thinking in English!
I'm happy for you that you have had lot's of good fortune! Everyone deserves to be happy!!! I would love to see pictures of Eton, what were you doing there?
Pets! (forgot to mention pets in my last comment) .. Now that's an excellent teaching topic and students really love talking about them. I have one student who is obsessed with her dogs and brings photo's of her dogs to every lesson to show to the other students. The Italians also love shopping or football, so I find it's fairly easy to keep them occupied with a discussion or two at the beginning or the end of a lesson. :D
..China? I'm in Italy ;) Actually, I did consider China before I did my CELTA course, then decided to settle on Europe for the time being and just see where that takes me. I decided that making plans was pointless, because whenever I made plans in the past, something would always happen to change them, so I'm just going with the flow. Last year, I met an Italian man who is adorable and we now live together... so, not sure whether I'll be leaving Italy just yet. Very unexpected, but lovely all the same! I couldn't be happier!! However, I still have that little travel bug, hence why I'm looking to do various mini projects around the world, so as to have a stable job in Italy but still travel around a little.
FLorence!! Now that was my first choice in Italy after I'd finished my TEFL training, but as soon as I'd finished my TEFL, I was immediately offered a summer placement job at Eton College. ETON!! I couldn't believe it! What an incredible time - I must upload the pictures asap. And while still at Eton, I was offered 3 more positions: SLovakia, EF in Jakarta and WSI in Bari - I chose Bari, but I still can't believe my jammy run of fortune! :) Since being at my current location, I've been offered 2 more jobs which I didn't even apply for. Amazing. ^^
Yeah, I would love to visit Italy, I have friends who are Italian and they always talk about how I should come! I have also have an obsession with history and probably my favourite period is Ancient Rome. My friend did her CELTA in Florence by the way. I wish our school was more obsessed with us having to wear jumpers! I think it is partly because the school is so big and the electricity is not enough to power all the air cons. I know what you mean about everyone being on Facebook too! However I have done a couple of lessons where my students must create a presentation about their Pet Society pet (topic obviously pets) and include screenshots, twice now it has happened where 2 of my students said they don't have facebook! they are RE students too! I was shocked! haha
So what are your plans after leaving China?
Aha!! I knew it was hot and rainy, hehe :) Italy can be hot too, most of the year round except at the moment, when it's a bit chilly, especially if you live bang on the seafront, as I do.. I get all the storms! I work in the deep south, in Bari. I'm lucky that I don't get too many sweaty students, but I'm also a little unlucky, because the school has a demented obsession with heating and air conditioning: in the winter, it's so hot you can't breath, in the summer, it's so cold you have to wear jumpers!!! There is no balance.
Apart from that, the food is excellent, the coffee is delicious (and this is coming from a complete tea lover), the weather is lovely most of the time, there are palm trees (yay!), and there are lots of lovely ancient buildings and ruins, I actually work across the road from an 11th century Norman Castle!! I love the way Italian cities are a blend of modern and ancient.
I didn't realise it was possible to do the CELTA in Italy! I did mine at a college in the UK. She might be on this site somewhere or perhaps on Facebook. Everyone is on Facebook these days, even my grandmother!! Bless her :)
Working here is really good, the hot weather is great unless the air-con is not working perfectly then its a nightmare teacher a class of hot-sweaty 8 year olds who just want to sleep because they're hot! Apart from that the location is great, far enough from Jakarta to avoid the polloution (still there but not as bad) but close enough to still be able to visit.
Almost accurate, at the moment it is monsoon season so we do have quite a few storms and it is hot but the palm trees, yes and no, we have them but most are put there for architechtural purposes, if you go outside the city then of course they are naturally grown.
That's happened to me once or twice, can't blame them we were probably the same in school, if there is a way to exploit it, kids will find the way!
Where in Italy are you teaching? I have a friend who was doing her CELTA in Italy at the beginning of the year, not spoken to her for ages so maybe she has moved somewhere else.
Wow, EF English First in Jakarta? I was offered a job there last year but opted for Italy instead, haha! So what's it like working there? The food sounds great, though I'm not sure about that undetermined variety of meat.. When I think of Jakarta, I always think of a hot rainy place covered in palm trees. Am I accurate, or am I just thinking back to a random film set in Jakarta?
Running dication is great, though when I first tried that with a class of noisy Russian teenagers, they slyly took photos of the text on the wall with their little camera phones!! You really have to tell them to memorise!! :D
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