And so, the adventure begins...

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Last night, I made the decision to spend the majority of this month's pay on an online Teach English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) course. When I was still in Year 11, before I moved to Mildura, I dreamed about doing a TEFL course and going overseas to teach English in Asia or Latin America as a kind of gap year after Year 12. Then I moved to Mildrua and my dreams shrank until all I wanted to do was finish Year 12 (Mildura will do that to your dreams, shrink them down until getting up each day is an effort). After Year 12 I tried my hand at a few different courses, got a bad taste in my mouth from the unforgiving job market, and once again found myself sitting at home, unemployed and with nothing to do. Then, last night, I found my way back to TEFL, but, this time, my dreams are of a much more affordable scale. I will do my 40hr accredited TEFL course (which was on special when I brought it! YAY!) and will then approach the migrant centers in town, asking if they would be interested in letting me do some volunteer work leading to employment. If they say yes to the volunteer work but not to the employment, I will volunteer, but I will try and find work teaching English somewhere else in town. If I can make enough money, this course may be my ticket out of Mildura!

So, I thought I would share my TEFL journey with you all. The course needs to be completed within three months, and there are 13 modules to complete. At the end of each module there is a quiz to see how well you have remembered the information, and you must get at least 80% to pass, and move onto the next module. I have already done module one, which looked at Intrinsic and Extrinsic student motivators, the importance of a Needs Analysis, Learner Types, Senses, and Styles, what makes a good teacher, and eight different Teaching Methods. It took me about two hours to do the module, and take notes in the exercise book I have assigned for this course. I work in blocks of two hours, at least three blocks of two hours a day, with one half hour break in the morning, and a lunch break in the afternoon, exactly as if I was back at school.

Age groups and levels of language proficiency

So far, the course has been quite engaging, and I really enjoyed the first module, and am looking forward to doing the second. In fact, I'm off to do it now.

Catch ya!

~ Australian Kiwi