TEACHING ENGLISH ABROAD: BLOG

Harry Shires took the ITTP Prague Onsite international TEFL/TESOL certification course in November 2006. Harry kept up a blog prior to and throughout the course and has agreed to have it reproduced on this section of the website so as to provide an additional insight into the ITTP Prague Onsite program, and an unbiased ITTP trainee's perspective of the course and of Prague in general. Please note: ITTP chose to discontinue providing student accommodation in Letna from 1st January 2007 and this decision reflected the acquisition of our newly renovated and fully modern furnished ITTP student accommodation apartment options at the superb location of Staromestska, Prague 1.

Prague 2006 Blog Archive

Start at the top, and work your down! This blog chronicles my time at Prague during November 2006 where I studied with ITTP for the TEFL/TESOL certificate, for which I received a grade 1 pass.

October 28 2006 @ 06:12:34 - Today's the Day! (Day 1)

Today is the day that I jet off to Prague for what I hope is a month long adventure! An update will be posted all being well, later on today in the evening once I settle down at the Hotel for the night.

October 31 2006 @ 12:25:45 - Day 1 - Day 3 Summary

The flight into CZ went well - met Neville at the airport, and two others (Ben and Kelvin) on the course shortly afterwards. We stayed in the same hotel so that was pretty cool, and gave us an opportunity to get to know one another.

Some of the things I noticed in the area around this hotel were that people seem to like flying kites here! Maybe the strong winds have something to do with it -- there were LOADS of kite flyers - it was weird. There was a huge golf course in this area too, and there were people playing: day and night. I also saw a lot of people on rollerblades in the streets and even one person on rollerblades with ski things in his hands.

On Day 2, which was Sunday, we got our apartment keys off Neville and moved in. Our landlord is very nice, and his name is pronounced "U G" (Just say the two capital letters - YouGee). The actual apartment is quite compact but very nice and welcoming. We have a bedroom each (three bedrooms), then there is our bathroom and toilet (separate rooms) and a kitchen/living area combined where we have a TV (which works with my dvd player yay!) and satellite.

Sadly, all the channels are in Czech however there are a couple of channels with subtitles. The main channel for me - CNN News has a brilliant signal but you can't hear the sound due to fuzziness. :(

The town where we live - Letna - is like five minutes tram ride into the centre of Prague and it is a very nice area. There are a lot of shops and the prices are very nice (6 CZK for a big bottle of water for example).

Later in the day, we met with the other two people on the course (five in total including me) - Oliver and Nay (girl). They are also very nice, and Oliver actually reminds me of one of my old Stargate site members.

Monday (Day 3) saw the start of the course. We had a quick tour round the inner city area of Prague by Neville before settling down to a course introduction at the training centre. We had a welcome breakfast with Neville, which included champagne (!) and then we had a foreign language lesson in French by one of our trainers, Angela, which was awesome. This was designed to give us an idea of what it felt like from the learner’s point of view.

We also met another trainer called Matt, who is also very cool - both Matt and Angela is American. Matt took us to the south of Prague where we were shown the office buildings of a local telecommunications company where we all have business 1-1 sessions teaching English. My two sessions are on a Tuesday and Wednesday early evening.

November 2 2006 @ 10:47:15 - Day 4 - 5

A quick blog entry on a quick ten minute break.

The past two days have been great however I have been EXTREMELY busy, being on the go from 6 or 7 in the morning through to 7 or 8 at night and there there is studying and planning to be done so I have not had any time to relax but the weekend is coming up and I am on top of things so I am looking forward to some well earned downtime!

I have taught two business lessons so far, and have my first elementary (young learners) lesson this afternoon, so that should be interesting.

The two business lessons have been to two adults, and they have gone very well -- just talking to them and doing some simple exercises so I know how far I can push them next week.

For the first time since I arrived last night, I was sufficiently on top of my workload to kick back and get the DVD player working and watched a couple of episodes of Smallville. :-)

November 3 2006 @ 10:42:35 - Day 6

Yesterday was a very long long long long day!

The time at the training centre was incredibly useful focusing on the 12 different tenses in the English language. It was pretty intense!

In the afternoon, I taught my first big class with eight students. I was a bag of nerves, but the half hour I had with them went really well and I even got two laughs from them which made it a lot more fun! Sweating profusely at the end but my comments from the other trainees and our trainer were really good, and I had also done a lot of preparation so it really paid off.

In the evening, we found an internet cafe near where we live in Letna just 10 minutes away walking and it was a really nice relaxed atmosphere to relax and get some work done. We were there until 10.30 and I was asleep for 11.30.

Today, I woke up, and we have had a lot of snow overnight so it is really really cold. I have got my timetable for next week and it is going to be so much more intense -- lots more teaching practice, and we will even be going into an elementary school to teach 6 year olds and teenagers.

More coming soon!

November 6 2006 @ 11:13:01 - Weekend Update

Well it has been a few days since my last entry! Life has been extremely hectic and I have had very little time to myself which I suppose is a good thing!!!!

FRIDAY was a good day. We had a review of the week and did a lot of preparation for the test on Monday. After this was over, Neville gave us a tour of the historic quarter of Prague and shown us some more cheap places to eat.

I had a KFC for dinner (after all, it was Friday!!) and spent the evening in the internet cafe (Basama). I will need to get a laptop when I come home to bring back with me assuming I get a job as they have a wireless connection and I am having huge withdrawal symptoms! If you come to Prague (mum) then I will take you here as it is an awesome place (not your typical internet cafe...)

SATURDAY I was up early and pretty much spent the day revising at my desk with my little Figaro picture in front of me.

Today, I learnt that it is illegal to drive in Prague DAY or NIGHT with your lights off, so remember that!

For dinner I went to a local Pizzeria and had Apple Juice and Spaghetti Bolognaise and it was wonderful! It completely filled me up and only cost 135 KC (about three pounds).

SUNDAY (Bonfire night - not celebrated here though =( ) Bit of a lazy day -- started off watching Smallville as I was pretty tired and then did some revising in the afternoon and off to the Basama in the evening. Sadly no telephone call from home! :*(

MONDAY - TODAY - we just had our first test of last weeks work, and I am now on a very short lunch break to type this all up. The test itself went well, and I believe my efforts have paid off - though of course, time will tell!!!

This afternoon, I have the first of my PAID lessons (wooohoooo) and I will have a class Monday and Wednesday teaching up to 8 students at a nearby call centre. I am being paid 250 KC (just over 6 pounds) for a one hour session which is pretty good for a trainee wage. I am told after graduation I could earn up to double this.

Looking forward to the telephone call from home tonight! This week is going to be even busier than last week but I am still going strong! :-)

November 8 2006 @ 09:23:51 - Update

wow, it is Wednesday already!

MONDAY - Well, after the test on Monday, the rest of the day was spent talking about jobs at the end of the course, and the steps that we need to take collectively to get this done. By the end of this week, I should have emailed a lot of the schools out here with my details so maybe I will get some work at the end of the course....

The evening consisted of my first paid class -- a group of eight at the telecommunications company. The class went well -- I basically did a number of exercises to determine what level they were at. They gave me a list of topics that interested them, so on Wednesday we will be talking about Euthanasia..............

TUESDAY - Tuesday was an awesome day. I got to teach a class of eighteen 13 year olds for 45 minutes, and despite being a shaky mess at the beginning, I soon got into the swing of the lesson that I had planned and I was quite sad for it to end. The highlight was moving a talkative girl to another side of the room. hehehehe.

The afternoon was spent preparing for the Euthanasia lesson I have to present, and this went on well into the evening at the Basama (internet cafe) and bed was around 11ish.

Also, it was nice to speak to my parents on the phone!!! I've been working flat out and a voice from home is always very nice and stress relieving! :-)

WEDNESDAY - An early start to polish off the Euthanasia class I have to do and the morning was devoted to classes in the school. It is now lunchtime, and I have some lesson planning to do this afternoon for tomorrow's Intermediate class (I will be teaching the different types of energy and the difference between renewable and non-renewable) and some initial preparation for next week's classes, which include a debate on the Death Penalty (I have some very interesting topics!!).

Other than that, things are pretty good at the moment. I am having a great time here in Prague, though I have yet to properly go out and explore the city centre due to lack of time. My schedule is very full so there is little time to do anything else.

November 10 2006 @ 10:48:56 - End of Week Two

Well, it is the end of the second week and I am now halfway through the ITTP course.

WEDNESDAY - So after lunch on Wednesday, there was a quick class, and I went down to the telecommunications company to teach Euthanasia to my group. When I got there I found out that it had been cancelled and I wasn't informed - wah! Sadly, there was a miscommunication, but it didn't really matter as I had another class there straight after, and my single student was in attendance. Spent the rest of the night in the Basama studying.

THURSDAY - In the morning, I had a primary school class consisting of about fifteen to twenty six year olds. I was charged with talking about shapes; different colours and the amount of sides. I was only required to teach for ten minutes and it went very well. It was actually more fun than I thought it would be however saying that I don't think I would have the patience to do full hour long lessons with children so young and easily distracted!

The afternoon consisted of a lot of grammar theory - I got my CV all typed up and then another night in the Basama working hard.

FRIDAY - today - Review day of the work this week and preparation for another 90 minute exam on Monday. We finish a little earlier than normal today, so I plan to catch up with emails after school for an hour and do some research into possible accommodation and also email my new CV out to a list of schools and language centres that I have been given.

There won't be any blog entries over the weekend, so it will probably be Monday or Tuesday when I get to update again.

Very tired - very exhausted! It has been a long week but I am still surviving :-)

Love to every one back home!

November 13 2006 @ 14:46:05 - Week Three Begins!

So into week and here is all the latest --

FRIDAY - In the afternoon we did some test preparation for Monday, and then I stayed on for a bit with Nay to do some lesson planning until 6pm which was good as I now have less to do for the coming week ^_^ Talking to mum on the internet was great and the evening was spent at KFC and then Basama.

SATURDAY - Started the day with some early morning revision followed by a four hour interlude during which I toured inner city Prague: I went down to see the National Theatre which is an absolute monstrosity! It is MASSIVE and has all kinds of cool statues on the tops of the buildings. I then went to one of the nearby bridges and got some pictures each way. At some point I would like to go to the famous Charles Bridge (don't know why it is famous though!), but not sure when I will have the time to do this (maybe when I go to visit the castle?). I went down to Old Town Square where there was a band of very old men playing (very funny!) and I saw the great astronomical clock strike the hour which was very cool as all these faces of people appear. I then went to Wenceslas Square where I found my first English bookshop which was a nice relief because now I know at least I can buy Terry Pratchett books over here. Laptops are an average price here, but I think that I will wait until Christmas before I buy one as I can't read the labels here and I want to know exactly what I am buying. Evening spent in Basama.

SUNDAY - Lots of revision done today. Went down to Oliver's and Nay's house where I got on top of emails and got to see my lovely lovely family on the webcam which was awesome!! Seeing Figaro was nice too! I took a very nice picture of mum and Figaro :-) Didn't do anything else except revise (plus Basama).

MONDAY - today - up early for some last minute revision. The test at the school went well, and I now have my timetable for the final week of the course (next week). In the afternoon, I had my interview with the British School. The interviewer was an oldish English guy and I was waiting for a full ten minutes before an incredibly intense, gruelling interview with very quick fire questions relating to tenses and scenarios and I had very little time to properly think about what was being asked when giving my answers. At the end, I was told I had given good answers (which was an enormous relief) and that I will hear from them soon.

Not sure I will be going with these people even if they do offer me a job - the pay is OKAY but not brilliant. I have another interview later in the week, and I now also have the contact details of someone to call later on today for a possible job so am just going to wait and see how things pan out.

It is likely I will be staying here until December 16th (coming back on that day) but this is not engraved in stone yet.

More later in the week. :)

November 16 2006 @ 08:18:43 - Midweek update

More like a towards-the-end-of-the-week update actually, but never mind!

So, carrying on from MONDAY - in the evening I didn't do anything exciting whatsoever. Monday is the only day of the week that the Basama is closed, so chilled at the apartment and watched the end of Smallville Series 5.

TUESDAY - The morning consisted of teaching practice at the nearby elementary school (6 year olds). Fortunately, I was watching today so I could watch others try and control a bunch of hyperactive kids. Lots of fun! In the afternoon, I had a class of my own, during which I presented "The Solar System" which was a great deal of fun: my trainer was very pleased with my performance - probably because I made her laugh so hard, she spilled her water on herself!!!!! I was at the telecommunications business for a 1-1 class in the evening and then I set off to find where I need to be for an interview on Thursday which involved my first use of the Metro and bus services and after a total of 2.5 hours I had found where I wanted to be and got back home. Went to the Basama and a very late night to bed.

WEDNESDAY - Classes in the morning with the trainers - nothing to report. I now have a possible two further interviews next week, and I am beginning to have problems fitting them in with next weeks timetable so will have to just see how things pan out. Company lessons in the afternoon and dinner at a nearby Pizzeria then the customary visit down to the Basama. Today was also Nay's 21st so we were all out together which was nice.

Best wishes to all of the family back at home in light of the funeral tomorrow. I wish I could be there with you all - I will be thinking of you. A big HELLO from Prague :)

November 17 2006 @ 13:02:40 - End of Week 3

So THURSDAY was a good day. Classes during the day and then I presented a "Monster" themed lesson in the afternoon which was a great deal of fun and I even got the students dressed up in toilet roll like mummies heeheehee. Trainer was very happy with my presentation.

After school, I was off to the interview at the Iris Lingua school. The Director of Studies was a very nice lady and I spent about 5-10 minutes in her company answering some simple questions before going to observe a group of teenagers that I will have to present a demo lesson to next week (before getting a possible job). After this demo lesson, their teacher took me out to dinner.... !!!! A nice three-course meal - I wasn't going to complain!!!

Home late, and bed around 11.30pm.

FRIDAY - End of week three, and the beginning of a long weekend! Today is a national holiday in Prague, however we are still here at school, of course, preparing for the next test on Monday. I got the result back from my second test, and I got a very nice 89.5% :-)

Thinking of you all back home, and of the funeral. Kinda upset I am not there, as it would have been nice to be there with everyone else on this sad day.

This evening, I will be going to visit an apartment that I may stay in from January if it turns out I can get work, so will update on this after the weekend. KFC and a visit to the Basama is also in order. :)

That's it until Monday! Have a great weekend.

November 20 2006 @ 09:01:45 - Weekend Summary

The final weekend of the course!

Saturday morning involved a revision session, then I got a call from the teacher I observed at the Iris Lingua school asking how I was doing and if I wanted to go over the work I have prepared so far for the demo lesson so I went down to Vinohrady (Prague 3) - very, very nice place!! It is centred around a massive church. I met her husband and we all went out for lunch (free meal!) before doing some work. Was there until about 5pm then off to the Basama to do even more work. Pretty boring day. :(

Sunday was a lot more fun! I went into town and bought some A4 paper as I have almost run out and a Terry Pratchett book as I have nearly finished the one I am on, and I do not have the next one, so may as well buy it!!

I found my first proper DVD shop with boxsets however 24 Series 5 isn't released here yet!! :(

Priced some shirts as I need to buy one or two as this white one needs a good wash so will buy tomorrow once I have got my measurements from my diary.

In the evening, I had an interview with a friend of one of my trainers. The lady (Marketa) is very nice, and she is able to offer me a couple of private lessons - one this week, then all being well, two next week. Its only two hours to begin with but it is a start! If I can get the job with the Iris Lingua school after my demo lesson on Thursday, then things will be looking pretty optimistic!

Went down to the posh apartment after that for a roast dinner! yumyum! My first one since I came here, and it was very very nice!!! After that it was pretty much straight home, and to bed, ready for the new week.

November 22 2006 @ 12:20:14 - Midweek Update

All the latest from the Czech Republic!!

MONDAY - Test day! Went pretty well (I think! Will find out on Thursday). After the test, I had an interview with "Channel Crossings" - they are due to get back to me within the next few days about a possible demo lesson. This was a very nice agency and I think if I got a job with them, then I wouldn't need to worry as I would have MORE than enough money to live by. :-)

On the way home, bought a nice black shirt for my two demo lessons later this week.

Basama is closed on Mondays, so it was pretty much back to the apartment and bed with some revision thrown in.

TUESDAY - At the school early for some lesson planning for my two demo lessons (Wednesday and Thursday). We went to the elementary school for the last time to teach teenagers, which was kinda sad! Went to the telecommunications company in the afternoon for my final 1-1 class (Wednesday has cancelled). I spent about two and a half hours at the Basama and left early about 8.30pm - very very tired.

Back at the apartment, I was sorting things out for Wednesday, and we had a power cut! So I was there in the dark for about fifteen minutes using my mobile phone to emit some light! Landlord came down to fix the electrics in some sealed off cabinet thing so that was interesting. I may have to invest in a torch!

WEDNESDAY - Today, my housemates did not come to the school (will have to find out later) - not sure if something is wrong or not so school was pretty quiet with just the three of us there. I am now on my lunch break typing this up and will be teaching a 30 minute Pre-Intermediate class in a little over an hour. The theme is "The Solar System" hehehehehe.

Later on, after school, I will be off to a nearby town called Andel where my demo lesson (paid) is for a couple of hours to do some exploring. There is a GIGANTIC shopping centre here on three or four levels - you could probably fit ten White Rose Shopping Centres in so I am going to look round that a little bit to pass some time. Apparently there is free internet access there, so we will have to see!

On the subject of internet access, I have discovered a few places that deal with laptops, however they are horribly expensive ranging 400 pounds upwards for the minimum that I would accept so not overly keen on buying one despite needing one for the next three weeks so I may have to use some internet cafes and pay :*( Alternatively, I could buy a cheap PSP (Play Station Portable) which can connect to wireless networks as well as being a handheld games console so that would kill two stones in one as far as entertainment and research is concerned! They are VERY cheap so I may do it... decisions decisions.

We are coming to the end of the week, and the timetable here is going to be focused on Friday and the final two hour exam plus an oral examination in the afternoon. After that, my internet access will be severely compromised, and I doubt I will be able to update this blog further. I will of course pay to check emails, but this will be a very quick affair so I can save money! Will try and update one more time before the end of the course. :)

November 24 2006 @ 09:35:24 - End of the Course!!

WEDNESDAY - So Wednesday evening, I met Nay's sister while at the same time talking to my lovely family and seeing them live!! :-) After that, I was off for my first demo lesson (paid - woohoo!). It involved five guys in their late 20s/early 30s and it went well. The Director of Studies would like to offer me some private lessons, and I will hear more about that next week. The remainder of the evening was spent in the Basama.

THURSDAY - The punultimate day! This was spent revising for the final exam which is two and a half hours! wah! We got our Week 3 test results. I got 81% which I was a little disappointed with (although it was by no means the lowest score) as my average is 85% now which I believe MAY just about get me a grade 1 pass if I do well in my final. So fingers crossed!

In the evening, I had my 90 minute demo lesson in the Iris Lingua language school with three teenagers with another Director of Studies watching and their regular teacher who treated me to dinner last week. The staff here warned me in advance that the Director is prone to bluntness and that she will tear me apart - which she did!! But it was all constructive criticism and she was pleased with my overall performance and wants to offer me a job so I will find out over the weekend exactly what she has in mind before any contract signing takes place.

It was quite late when I got back to the apartment, so bed straightaway.

FRIDAY - TODAY - THE FINAL DAY - Woke up early to do some more revision then off to the school an hour before the exam to catch up on emails and so on and update the blog as not sure how frequent I will be able to access the internet from tomorrow!

I may be going to a Jazz concert over the weekend (we will see) and then I have interviews Monday and Tuesday (with the opera on Monday night possibly) then no plans after that however I am assuming I may have some classes by then so fingers crossed!!

Wish me luck in my exam!!!

November 26 2006 @ 18:46:03 - The End!

This is now the final blog entry until January!

Yesterday, I was offered a full time job at the Iris Lingua School and I have accepted. Full time (26 hours a week) and the pay is very nice. So, starting tomorrow, I am going to be a very busy person!

I am happy everything has fallen into place so nicely so I can earn some money before I come home.

I will be paying for net time now, so will not have the time to update the blog -- need to concentrate on lesson planning!