Yesterday was the start of the TEFL course. For the uninitiated it is a course designed to teacher English to as a foreign language. At the end of the course in 4 weeks I will hopefully be skilled enough to teach English to Argentians.....
It has been a while since I have been in a formal learning environment. The first two days have been so exciting just taking in all the info and input. The course is structured almost from minute one to equip us to teach. More about that later....
There are six of us "students" in the class, which is a really nice number, perfect for when we have to pair off and do stuff. Amy and Anna are from UK. Amy is the blonde in the picture, she is a ski instructor and is off to Chile after the course. Anna is from Stratford-up0n- Avon, and like some of the other famous people from there, is a very good linguist and today in our first teaching prac. came out tops-born to perform I think. I linked up with both Anna and Amy through Facebook, so it was really great to finally meet them. Beekie (drinking coffee) and Lisa (on her note book ) come from US. Calla, the other American student, has spent time in the north of Argentina in the Juyjuy Province as an exchange student, then there is me. I am the pioneer being the first South African to attend the Buenos Aires TEFL School. I am also the mature student of the group. Although it does have advantages, I must say I don't have the self confidence and self assurance that the younger students have. I did remember how to take notes though, which is a good start. So far we have 2 main Trainers, Roberta, who is from Washington DC and is really good at teaching us various teaching techniques. Keeger, from the Republic of Ireland, he has been teaching us Gaelic.... I hear you ask Gaelic. Why Gaelic??? Well if you have ever heard Gaelic, you will know that it sounds like no other language in the world, and Keeger gives his whole lesson, (using the techniques that Roberta has shown us) in Gaelic. So we as the students have the awareness andexperience what it is like to be a foreign language student. I was amazed at the feelings that it provoked in me, I felt really dumb not being able to understand what was being said,and then not being able to say words and phrases. I was also so frustrated. But the lesson was meant to do this and illustrated that as teachers we have to be mindful and respect our students learning abilities. Keeger also leads a writing workshop, which is just free writing based on various stimuli - yesterday he posted a picture on the board and today we listened to music. I must say that after yesterday's Gaelic class I came home and had 2 glasses of vino (still from my bottle of Chardonnay purchased on Saturday!) Today's classes were good and I am now beginning to enjoy being back at school.
The classes begin at 10 am, and my apartment is a good brisk 20 minute walk away. So I get to do my exercise and arrive with a very healthy glow on my cheeks. My pedometer had died. So I can't measure how many km's I walk a day now.... the pedometer started giving negative steps, I think I exhausted it on the first day or I just keep walking in square circles!! Whatever the story it may just need a new battery. So that will be my next language challenge.
Tonight I managed to take my laundry to the local laundromat and ask for it to be washed, dried and folded. It was a small load , so I got a Valet chico, which I will collect tomorrow evening and it cost $12(peso). The weirdest thing was that the laundry man looked familiar, no one I really knew but he could certainly pass for Gerald Depardieu's double, it really wasn't anything to do with his nose you understand!!
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