Teach English in ZhouxiXiAng - Chongqing

Why complete a TEFL courseA few years ago, I had a great opportunity to live in Bangkok for six months. While living there, a Filipina friend of mine who worked as an English teacher asked me if I could fill in for an American teacher at the school she worked. He had to have surgery on his knee and would be out for two weeks. I was excited about the opportunity and jumped at the chance. The night before my first day, I became really nervous because I did not have any experience teaching, especially in front of a class of non-native speakers. I thought I had made a big mistake saying yes. Once I arrived at the school I realized what a big responsibility this was going to be, even though it was only for two weeks. I had to teach four to five classes a day with students ranging from seven to twelve years old. I was given the teachers handbook and told what sections to cover. I looked through the materials and since I didn?t have a class right away I was able to observe a class. The first week I was really nervous when meeting each new class. The students had a lot of questions for me because I was an American and younger than their original teacher. I really enjoyed my experience as a teacher, although short, I learned a great deal and realized for the first time some of the difficulties of teaching English to someone who only knows a very limited vocabulary, something which I had not given much consideration before. After spending time in thailand, Hong Kong and the Philippines, I really have a greater understanding of how valuable learning English can be to people in other countries. I also realized how important it is to become a qualified teacher. Because of the great responsibility teachers have, one cannot just show up and teach English, even if they are a native english speaker. This does not automatically make you an expert in teaching English. There are many issues involved in teaching English such as knowing the correct structures of grammar, classroom management, lesson planning, classroom discipline, student evaluations, and coming up with creative materials to help stimulate and motivate the students. With my experience, I had no idea how important these things were and how much time and planning is involved with teaching english overseas. I first thought it would be really simple and not much thought would have to go into it, I would just show up. For native english speakers, we just naturally structure our speech because we grew up with it. When we hear a non-native speaker using incorrect grammar, fairly or unfairly, this can greatly impact our impression of them. Most non-native speakers are aware of this and this can limit their progress because they will feel apprehensive about speaking English in front of others. Knowing how to correctly teach grammar and be able to demonstrate the correct structure will really impact and give confidence to your students. Without taking a TEFEL course and learning the correct structures, you will feel caught off guard when students ask you to explain grammar structures and you cannot answer them. This can cause you to lose your job and will make you an insufficient teacher. Without taking a TEFEL course you won?t learn all the valuable lessons on classroom management and not learn how to handle so many of the different and complex situations that will arise while teaching a class to non-native learners. Most of these situations you might not even think of because of lack of experience. By taking a course like this you can become prepared ahead of time so you can correctly handle the situation instead of making situations worse and showing that you are not a qualified professional. Before taking this course I had not given much thought to the importance of lesson planning. I have learned a great deal from this course that will help me to be organized and prepared by putting together lesson plans. You cannot expect to just show up on Monday and start teaching if you do not know what or how you are going to teach. Your teaching will not have a forward progression, building one lesson upon another if you are not organized. lesson planning can help with not only keeping a semester on tract, but also each daily lesson by making sure you cover all the points you want to cover. You will learn all these valuable tips by taking a TEFEL course. Taking a TEFEL course is an invaluable resource that every inspiring teacher should take. Not only does it teach you the essentials of being a great teacher but it also gives you the credentials to find a job. Most schools now require a TEFEL certificate and after taking the course I now know why. The information you will learn by taking a TEFEL course will prepare you for being a great teacher which will have a great impact on your students, and will change their lives and yours forever.