TEFL Training
 

Not sure where this belongs so I'll post this here:

I will graduate with an undergraduate degree in Comp. Sci. in May. I'm considering going to Prague to take a 4 week Teach English as a Foreign Language course. After the course I would stay in Prague for a few months and try to find a teaching job in Prague or anywhere else in the world that seems interesting. Anyone have any experience with this type of thing and want to offer advice/tips/warnings?

The other option that's a little bit more sane is to go to Germany for a 3 month intensive language course.

I have a surprising number of friends who have gone to both Japan and Korea to teach English. (Seven of them, now that I bother to count.)

I know nothing about the Russian programs, but a shit ton about the Japanese ones and slightly less about the Korean ones. All of them stayed for anywhere from a year to "indefinitely" (two are still over there) and they all said it was an absolutely incredible experience.

Re-reading your post though, it doesn't sound like you will actually be in a program that secures you a job though, only a course that will in theory give you the qualifications to teach ESL. That's a little more uncertain--friend number eight, for example, decided to just show up in China with the intention of getting a teaching job, but had to come back because no one wanted to hire him. I get the impression you have to be coming through a licensed program for any school to consider you, but maybe it's different in Russia.

The two programs I'm looking at have job placement assistance. They, of course, can't guarantee you a job.

http://www.nextlevellanguage.com/
http://www.teflworldwideprague.com/

I've called and spoken with both programs and gotten/checked references.

Just an interesting tidbit I ran across
(btw, Prague is in the Czech Republic and they speak Czech. These programs include a crash course on the Czech language.)

Right. Czechoslovakia. Not Russia.

I'm not a retard, I swear. I just play one on the Internet.

One of our British members was teaching English to Foreigners ... haven't seen her in a bit, though.

The community college here in Champaign offers courses on Teaching English as a Foreign Language and I think they hook you up with an internship when you are finished. I'm thinking about doing it... screw being an attorney.

There's a suprising number of american movies filming in prague, how about hooking up with a production company?

Great idea. Especially after I became comfortable with Czech. I'm sure they need people to translate for English only speakers who are trying to get things done with Czech crews and deal with Czech red tape.

I'm 23 and need some real life experiences. I figure I'll do something crazy and stick with it for a year or two, possibly more depending on how much I enjoy it. The least that will come of it is that I will have some great enriching experiences to add to the story of my life.

Give it a go. I'm 62 and still doing the underlined shit. :lol:

These are kind of late in coming but I figure it's about time to post some pictures since I'm about to arrange my next trip.

http://albany.facebook.com/album.php...23&id=16103981
http://albany.facebook.com/album.php...e3&id=16103981

this photo brought to you by the letter 'W'http://photos-191.ak.facebook.com/ip...59191_1005.jpg

prague is where all the group sex happens in the clubs, right?

Yeah, group sex on every corner, lj.

And really, my year didn't turn out as I planned.

I went to Prague for two-weeks and had a good time. Then came back to finish school off and dropped out in early March.

I went back to school in the summer and finished in December. I'm now back living with my parents (in North Virginia, aka Hell On Earth) until I find a job or figure out a travel plan.

The only complication is there's this girl back in Albany and I can't get her out of my head. I'm smitten and she's somewhere between tolerant and interested but too timid to let it be known with a hint big enough for me to catch. And I'm too much of a pussy to press the issue.

Right now I'm thinking about planning an epic bike ride. I'll free/bush camp 99% of the time so bike upgrades and flights will be the majority of the expense.

My favorite route at the moment:
Fly to Perth, Australia and bike to the head of Stuart Highway and then go north to Darwin. Then catch a flight to Kolkata, India and ride through Agra on my way to Delhi. For the last leg of the trip bike Schengen Europe, especially Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands, with an optional Moscow, St. Petersburg, Helsinki leg if I'm not too tired of waiting for visas. Also, weather allowing, I'll bike from south England to Edinburgh and/or Glasgow.

Teaching English is really good fun. I worked in ESOL for a little while (English for Speakers of Other Languages: it's like TEFL but involves teaching in an English speaking country with people who've moved here, rather than going to them and teaching abroad). I loved it.

My ex's brother taught in central Europe for a couple of years and then used that as an in to teaching english in schools over here. Their sister taught TEFL in Vietnam for about 3 years and loved it.

Grant - if you think you'll make it to England give me a shout.

If your route could possibly bring you through Leicester I'll buy you a curry and you can always crash on my sofa (although you won't sleep because my cats will think you are a new toy).

@DanaC:
I'd love to TEFL in Vietnam, warmer than central Europe. The only problem is I'd have to take enough clothes for my entire stay or buy custom made clothes (which I hear is pretty cheap in Thailand). I'm quite tall.

@SundaeGirl:
Thanks for the offer. I might have to take you up on it. I love curry and cats.

Scotland to London is one of the pieces I really don't want to miss, and Leicester looks to be on the way. I just have to work things out so I can get through Sweden and Scotland without freezing to death.

As long as it's not curried cats! :eek:

Dude, that's where I met my wife, in Albany. She worked in a stationary store on Central Ave. I'd go in everyday and buy stupid stuff like a dozen paperclips or three envelopes. Really stupid.

I finally screwed up my courage to ask her out for coffee and she says "I don't drink coffee."
I told her it was a figure of speech and she could have tea if she wanted. She agreed and we went on a few dates, then we didn't see each other again for a couple of years. (bad timing w/ other partners) Finally, we hook up and we've been mis-communicating for ten years.

Go for the Albany connection. The worst that can happen is she'll kick you in the family jewels and call you a faggot in front of her friends.

So that this thread doesn't completely degenerate into a "poor me and my social life" thread. Here's a travel update:

Still modifying possible routes, reading travelogues, scraping money together, planning bike upgrades, and figuring out how to not freeze/dehydrate to death somewhere along the way.

See, I would go for the Albany connection if I had any idea how. I would have to somehow show up in Albany (a 7'ish hour drive) and explain myself without seeming desperate, crazy, or obsessive.

Also, I'm not sure either one of us is in a place that would be a good time for a relationship. I'm restless, and she's got one more semester of undergrad and she's possibly even more confused about what to do after her graduation than I was for mine.

I've contemplated moving back to Albany and looking for a job there, and pursuing her. But I'm not sure I want to waste a lot of time there, so I keep thinking I should just drive up, buy flowers, and lay it on the line.

Here's some back-story (normally I'm not this socially inept, but when romantic feelings become involved watch out):
I met this girl in class last summer, we didn't say two words to each-other (I was convinced she was attached). We ended up having another class together this fall and eventually I figured out that she was single, and that I really wanted to get to know her.

So I asked her to lunch and it went okay; nothing great, nothing horrible (this was early November). I figured out that she worked at a cafe adjacent to a movie theater (with the same owners so you can take your coffee/tea/hc & food into the theater) so I started going there instead of the Huge-a-plex.

Over the next couple of weeks we kept chatting, and I asked her out 2-3 more times. She turned me down every time. She was under the weather so she wasn't doing much but school, work and sleep. It didn't really bug me (I knew she was actually sick, having class together and all) so I had pretty much given up because if she'd wanted to see me a little phlegm wouldn't have deterred me.

Anyway, we started spending more time together (mostly in groups) working on our large final papers for the class. About the same time she asks me out. This confuses the crap out of me, but I agree. We end up going for brunch a day or two before I left for D.C. (it's now early december, it's about a week between when she asked and when went out)

So I get to D.C. and tell myself I'll just forget about it. The thing is anytime we're both online we end up chatting (conversations started by her as often as me). It makes it really hard to ignore/forget her.

Our online conversations tend to be much more touchy feely than our face to face conversations, which is what leads me to think she might be more into me than is apparent to me.

Sounds familiar and similar to our pseudo courtship. At least you guys are communicating online, yes? Would it be way out of line to say "Hey, I'm looking for a roadtrip, feeling restless and thought I'd hop on the amtrak and come up to Albany. Wanna pick me up and go to a movie? (Spectrum, right?) maybe not the best choice if she works there. Then you are totally hooked up if they still do those slide shows before the film. You could put together a bunch of slides with subliminal messages like:
grant is the most awesome guy ever, or
you will be grant's love slave, etc.

I'm sure you'll think of something witty.

Thanks f^3 I always miss the obvious, simple approaches.

Yeah, we're emailing/im'ing a bit and that would probably be right in line.

The Spectrum still does the slide-shows. I do think it would be cool to do something like that, I'm not sure if it's kosher to do something like that at someone's almost work-place.

:worried:

I'll give it some thought and let ya'll know if anything comes of it.

Oh it would be a john hughes moment! if you did it right all the filmies would get the reference and everyone one of them would be on your side rooting for you.

Or you'd crash and burn horribly, ending up next door at My Linh's drowning your sorrows in a flaming mango rum punch.

Keep it light, keep it open. You can't go wrong.

Bingo, there's the key. Tell her that she needs some real life experiences. She should do something crazy and stick with it for a year or two, possibly more depending on how much She enjoys it. The least that will come of it is that she will have some great enriching experiences to add to the story of her life.

Tell her you're going ahead to scout they way for her and you'll take copious notes for her. But, you want to keep in touch so you can pass the information you gather for her, just in case you are captured into slavery by a matriarchal tribe ....or swallowed by a whale.


Tell her this, in person, with flowers. ;)

Keep us posted, dude.

That's way more my style xoB, thanks for the advice.