Budapest ELT Workshop
Friends, professionals and the experienced, sharing knowledge, programs and practices

Right up front, a warning for all the TEFL, TESL candidates. All the experience that you gain by teaching English in an environment which is basically all about the English language, is perhaps more or less useless when you're heading to a country with its own culture, speech, customs and methods for teaching.

If you have anything to say, ask, or contribute to this page, please email me at anita@eltlabs.org

Experiences ( of teaching English ) in Cambodia
Tips and Tricks of teaching ( English ( to Hungarians ) ) - Teachers, be prepared

Introduction

Coming to think of it, while you may not need to adjust your teaching program all that much when getting others familiar with English, in let's say, Eastern Europe or Mexico, you'll be lost with just what materials, what methods to use when it comes to Central Asia or Africa. From the situations you'd use as examples to the learning curve that you can expect, associations on different words, phrases and the methods used, it's going to be so different, you'll end up learning more than you teach. Only if you're allowed to of course. For if it's a job to pay your excursion, you better watch out not to get fired because your class simply doesn't learn a thing from you.

Get yourself familiar with the teaching methods of the region, be prepared with material to which people -- from ages young to old -- could relate to, and be prepared for surprises when it comes to regulating your class.

And while it may not be too hard to find common interests in a metropolis such as Tokyo, just imagine what pictures you'd show to your students to spark a conversation of interest in Vietnam or Cambodia...

Here in the Workshop we'll collaborate with some experienced teachers to get you -- and me, us -- ready for these encounters, which will not be limited to teaching. Some tips on real jobs, volunteer work, and travel will come handy when planning your trip to, or within the destination country. However the rest of the "getting familiar with the place" information will be covered throughout all sections. Don't rely on this page only, do visit the other related articles on this site as well.

QUESTION: If you think that the workshop should be converted into a blog instead, please mail me.

Experiences ( of teaching English ) in Cambodia - Hungarian website
by Sara Hajgato - 2007

Tips and Tricks of teaching ( English ( to Hungarians ) ) - Teachers, be prepared
by Anita Deri - July, 2007

There are expectations toward teachers, which -- according to psychologists who have thoroughly studied such cases -- simply cannot be accomplished.

From this point on, you can decide on your own how you should react when and if they come up, but my advice is that if it's not something that you can get used to or change, simply

do not worry about them!

A couple of the obvious pitfalls in the teacher-student relationships is related to regulating a larger class, or keeping the focus on actual learning when teaching smaller groups or one on one. Some advice could ease your anxiety that perhaps it's you who's doing something wrong. While that's most likely only half of the issue, you not realizing the problem. The rest is human nature. To which you can either adapt to, or lock yourself away in a dark room. ( Either one is fine, the latter would make it harder to educate people though. )

Great Expectations

1.: Teachers should not show their current mood and emotions.

Now, this one is actually very wise, however nobody can actually do it. At least no one can suppress their emotions to any extent and for a time period of any length. So do not worry if you have a bad day. Students can also be tired, moody or lazy at times, yet you don't ( or if you do, you definitely shouldn't ) scold them for an occasional drop in enthusiasm. If you feel that you will not be able to keep the lesson, delaying it by an hour, or a day can worth the hassle of communicating the decision. ( This stands for private lessons only, on a job you'd need to call in sick of course ). If you are upset by the students, well that's another issue. See paragraph #3.

2. Teachers always have to be more knowledgeable than the student.

This is also a false expectation since sometimes the students are deeply indulged in a particular topic, and they already know all the special vocabulary for it. My ( so far only ) example is, a person with a thing for hockey. The teacher ( me ) does not know the special words for the equipment, neither the rules. This should not be a problem, as it has nothing to do with what the generic purpose of the lesson is... preparing someone to achieve an all-around understanding of English, with a basic vocabulary, working up their way to the skills where they can lead proper conversations.

Keep your cool, and try to get the student to actually describe, explain the topic without using the special vocabulary, as if they did so while doing it in their native tongue, only in English. No problem. But what can a teacher do in the case where the student feels the other way? You probably know the type of people who get downright offended or would judge anyone just because they're not the Oxford Dictionary on two legs, or because they don't share their enthusiasm for the topic. Which can get troublesome.

If you look into my English Teaching program, on the very first lesson, such special interests of the students are already brought up during the introduction. All you need to do is remember what topics they had an affection for, and read up on their vocabulary and context. Yes, you have to. A good teacher is a good learner, and reading up on the topic will allow you to grab the students' attention at their weakest spot, allowing you to drive them to actually lead a conversation ( with you as the listener ) with passion and the desire to get it right in English.

3. Teachers should not distinguish one student from the other.

Sure thing. Well, to tell you the truth this simply cannot happen. Personal sympathy develops from the moment of the very first impression, and just because you share the interest of English language with a person, that person could be/hold on the exact opposite of your beliefs, taste, or personal preferences. You will like one student more than the other, as you like one person more than the other, you can't do much against it. What you can do is to be equally fair with them.

Keep your cool, stay focused, never forget the purpose of your relationship ( English Language Teacher - English Language Student ), be objective, and even if they irk the living daylight out of you ( once in a while ), give it a ( hidden cynical ) smile, and keep your personal opinion to your diary, friends, mom or spouse. Not to mention it could be you who's wrong. Happened before.

4. A teacher should always keep creative and interesting lessons.

Yes, this is a nice idea, but sometimes it does not work. When you feel that you are bored of teaching with a method that's playful, as it does not seem to help and a simple listening exercise would be just perfect for that lesson, go for it! Variety has to include contrasts, otherwise it's not variety. During listening the students are learning a lot of new words and get used to the fast pronunciation. Every English book has tapes, you can get them in bookshops too. Some even have videos on VHS or DVD. It's not like your mission is to be creative all day long when there are areas which publishers and other great teachers have covered already, and perhaps better than you could. Keep in mind that you too have your strong points, aspects where you do better than "canned" material, but... there are most definitely weak points where your interests just can't provide you with creative and interesting ideas on your own. You can always rely on already available materials, the help of other teachers, you don't have to do it all by yourself. Don't forget that. 4.b. An economical solution: Don't buy the material. Rent it from a library.

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