2020 is going to be my 10th year of teaching English full-time and other languages on and off. That’s quite a journey: exhausting at times, rewarding at others. Emotional roller-coaster, unsurmountable CPD ladder, crazy flexibility — but still worth it. There are some things, however, I wish someone had told me before I set off. So, here is a little letter to a ten years younger me who is just starting her way.
Working as a language teacher, you have to be quick on the uptake, especially if hired by a language school. You might be given a new course book, an adult student who's come to learn English for special purposes, or an exam preparation class when you know very little about the exam. Some teachers specialise in a narrower field. When you are a Jack-of-all-trades, you have nothing but learn super fast and get ready to deliver professional classes. Is it good or bad - that's another question.
When I was given my first CAE student, I had just taken the exam myself, and that was a huge benefit. However, I know teachers who have to prepare students for it without actually taking the exam. If you don't have time for examining every CAE book and website in detail and your first CAE class is, like, in a week, have a glance at these resources. They are what I call a CAE survival kit.
When you are only starting your teaching career, you need some good old activities to use. Nothing too complicated, nothing extra. Ideally, little preparation time involved.
Below you will find a list of activities I've been using for almost 10 years with all levels and almost all ages. Surprisingly, they never get old. Nice bonus: no cutting out required.
This book is more of a practical guide as it contains a wide range of speaking activities on different topics and for different classes. Most of the activities are supplemented with photocopiable pages and practical tips. There are 55 activities altogether, divided into 3 sections.
I did CELTA in 2016 at Language Link Rostov, Russia. There has never been a day I regretted. Every single bit of the course was highly professional and enjoyable. The tutors were always ready to give a helping hand. We were packed with tons of useful materials. Trainee folders contained a range of articles, tutorials and samples.
I had known little about the course before I enrolled. After having done the pre-course task and all the interviews, I got an email with some materials and a reading list. Probably, it was all covered, but just two books were revisited every day during the course.