Category: teaching english abroad

Following my dreams (just need to find out what they are) Chapter 1: Cambridge

Saturday morning, 27th of July.

I’m sitting at an old, antique desk in my room in Cambridge. It’s cloudy and raining but I don’t mind for once. I needed the break from the heat. This country was not built for any temperature higher than 25 degrees.

Can I sleep in Your Brain comes up on my little Bluetooth speaker. I just finished my notes for my first teaching exercise on Monday and finally have some free time to sit down and write about all of this. It’s been too long.

A million and one thoughts in my mind I’m not quite sure where to begin.

Today is my grandpa’s birthday. He turned 83. But this time I can’t call him like I do every year. He is at a nursing home. Now my uncle’s recovering from a major operation, my auntie can’t look after both of them.

“He won’t even recognise you”, my mum messaged when I asked how I can contact him. “His dementia is taking over more day by day”. She sent me a picture I took of him and myself a few years ago. A classic mum habit. I told her off not because I was annoyed this time but because it makes me sad. I remember everything about that picture, his excitement when I asked for a selfie, laughing whilst taking it, asking me where to look and afterwards chatting about me splitting with my ex of 7 years.

“Are you happy? That’s all that matters” pappou Costas said then and smiled.

Tears came streaming down my face thinking of that day. (A few hours later my mum messaged me to give my aunt a call. She was with my grandpa. I called and wished him happy birthday. He recognised me at the beginning but not for the whole duration of the two minute phone call. I could feel his confusion every time he went quiet. At some point he asked me when I’ll go back to Cyprus like he always does and then the next minute he forgot what he was talking about. I promised I go see him as soon as I’m in Cyprus. He said he might leave by then. I choked up. I hope he meant the nursing home. He is slipping away from us…)

I tried hard not to cry last week saying goodbye to my Southampton friends and life, it didn’t feel like goodbye, my brain still struggles to understand what is happening. It feels I’m on a break and I’ll return back to Southampton any minute now.

I don’t think I’ll realise any time soon. One thing is for sure, I will miss so many people, friends I’ve known for years and friends I’ve only just met, because that’s life. It never stops, you meet people and make friends all the time. Thank you to everyone who came to my leaving celebrations (and they were MANY) or made the time to see me before I left.

I will miss every single one of you and all the little special connections I have with each.

Now I’m crying about everything. But I feel good. These are not sad tears. These are cathartic tears, letting everything out and finally hitting the reset button.

Last month feels like a blur. Friends’ birthday celebrations, after work drinks, Graduation week, the stress of dealing with removal companies, getting rid of furniture, cleaning, throwing out things. It was fun, bittersweet, exhausting.

I’ve been living in Cambridge for about three days now and I’m surprised how well I adjusted from living on my own to living with a house full of people (minus a few sleepless nights because of the strong anxiety and heat cocktail mix).

My hostess Mary is wonderfully weird. Though she’s lived in the UK for 28 years, her accent is so strong I struggle to understand her at times but she is adorable. Her cooking is amazing. She won’t let me do my own washing, it’s been years since someone else washed my clothes.

She wears a plastic bag on her head when she makes fish to keep the smell away (I chuckled when I walked into the kitchen for some water and saw her wearing the bag, she then told me to rush so I don’t smell like fish either), she hangs the bed sheets off the staircase to dry faster, unintentionally creating a little fort I found too amusing, and she randomly knocks on my door to ask for help with translation or to give me treats. I haven’t tasted melon that sweet since the last time I was in Cyprus.

My room is small but perfectly formed. Clean with all the essentials. The bathroom is sparkling clean and I only share it with one other. There are two kitchens, both huge, especially the guests one. I’m glad I opted for the host family option (though it’s just Mary, her adult children don’t live here, so thankfully no toddlers are running around screaming off their head), though I worry I’ll soon miss living on my own. It will happen eventually.

On Thursday, when the temperature outside hit 38 degrees, I decided I’d go out to explore Cambridge a little bit, since my course was to start the following day and I may not get the chance to do much wandering when I have homework. ‘I lived in Cyprus for 22 years after all, I can take some heat, if I get to live in a hot country from January, this could be my daily reality’ I told myself.

I’m glad I did (though I can’t remember the last time I sweat that much it felt like peeing myself). Cambridge is gorgeous, there is so much to see and do and a couple of friends already suggested places I’d love to go before I leave the city at the end of August.

Yesterday I had my first day of CELTA teacher training class. It was intense, exhausting but incredibly fun. Going to college, buying stationery, finally using my brain again, felt rejuvenating, even just after a day.

Most of the studying I did throughout my life (and I’ve done a lot, from degrees, to qualifications, diplomas etc), in only few occasions I cared enough to actively participate in the classroom. With this one I wouldn’t shut up. The perks of being a mature student or maybe in my case, finally being confident comfortable enough with myself to not worry too much about what others think.

Fiona, our tutor who ran the session on the day, is amazing (I hope Jonny is as good, though it will be tough to beat Fiona).

My classmates are all very beautifully different and unique, a wonderfully diverse bunch. Some travelled from their home countries, Bangladesh, India, Azerbaijan, Spain just to do this course, others are semi-retired and doing it for fun or to follow their partner to Colombia (ah young love). I’ll write about the course separately when I get the time.

I oddly felt more British even than the British in the group. I guess I’ve lived here for too long. And to think I worried I might find it hard with my accent and everything doing this course.

I worry I’ll struggle in Cyprus. And I worry about so many other things,- Will my stuff make it Cyprus? Will I get my deposit back? Will I manage to keep up with the amount of studying required? Will I make it to Chris’s wedding? What if my uncle or grandpa die and I don’t get to see them again? What if I’m not good enough for anything else and this is a huge mistake? – But I need to stop worrying. There’s nothing I can do about any of this and choosing to leave the comfortable but dull 9 to 5 life means there will be a lot more to worry about.

For now I’ll work hard to get my qualification and enjoy every moment in Cambridge.

Here’s to new beginnings.

Eleni

Teaching English abroad- Step 1: Getting qualified.

Ever since my big news a few weeks ago a couple of you asked me about the course I’m planning to do and how to get into teaching English abroad, so I thought I’d document my experience, every step of the way as I live it, to hopefully help others considering doing something similar. So this post is about…

Step 1: Getting a relevant qualification

You have a few options when it comes to getting a relevant TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) qualification.

a) Do I need one?

If you are a teacher or a native speaker you may be able to land a TEFL job with no qualification whatsoever, but opportunities would be more limited, and that also means (especially if you have no teaching experience) you might end up in a foreign country alone with no clue on how to even begin teaching English.

b) What about online courses?

There is a huge number of TEFL courses out there (and too much information, it can be very confusing). Online, classroom, combined, cheap, expensive e.g.
https://www.theteflacademy.com/course-location/southampton

A short online, relatively cheap course is a good option if you are only looking to refresh your Grammar knowledge, learn more about teaching in general as well as teaching English as a foreign language. Some of them are recognised by various regulatory bodies but some countries only accept one of the two classroom based, internationally recognised or equivalent qualifications, Cambridge CELTA and Trinity CertTESOL. With these two diplomas you will also be qualified to teach English for academic purposes (pre-sessional English courses) at UK universities.

c) CELTA or CertTESOL?

CELTA (Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) is
provided by Cambridge English Language Assessment through authorised Cambridge English Teaching Qualification centres and CertTESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) is awarded by Trinity College London. When it comes to choosing between the two, I’m not sure myself whether one might be slightly better than the other, the content is very similar, but after some research I did, it seems CELTA is better known and that may open more doors for me (and if you decide to apply for funding, the Advanced Learner Loan covers the majority of the tuition fees charged for CELTA at most colleges but only partially for CertTESOL, more on that below).

Both CELTA and CertTESOL are level 5 qualifications, offered full-time, part-time and online but face-to-face assessed teaching as the practical element is what separates them from the rest. The full-time variant is a month long-9am-to-5:30pm-five days a week, intense course whereas the duration varies when it comes to part time options, from 3 months up to a year, depending on the training provider.

I opted for the month long, intense one. It’s a great challenge and you are done in four weeks. Though that will be your life for those four weeks. No time for anything else. You are pre-warned by EVERYONE who has already done it and the course trainer.

When deciding where to apply, make sure you check the training providers offering them are accredited (for CELTA you can check here and for CertTESOL here)

d) Any funding available?

For both CELTA and CertTESOL you can apply for an Advanced Learner Loan(ALL) at specific providers, which will cover your tuition fees up to £811 for CerTESOL, that may not cover the tuition fee and £1417 for CELTA which is what most providers charge for it (list here for CELTA and here for TESOL). Oh by the way, there is a long list of qualifications you can get an ALL for! All details about the loan, repayment terms etc here.

e) What’s the application process like?

Applying was a bit scary for me, since I haven’t applied for any course for a long, long time and my self-confidence levels are running a bit low lately, but it wasn’t half as bad as I thought it’d be.

I applied at Cambridge Regional College, so what I’ll describe is their application process but it’s very similar to most of other providers.

–Pre-Interview task. Part of the application (in addition to the usual personal and education information) is a pre-interview task mainly consisting of grammar, syntax questions and ways you’d teach various English language related items. See examples here. I was allowed to use books and the internet for my answers.

-The interview. I was very nervous on the day, I was terrified I’d be asked a million grammar questions on the spot, but it wasn’t that bad at all. Jonny, the course trainer and interviewer was very sweet and put me at ease straight away.

I was offered a Skype interview, it would have been a nightmare getting to Cambridge at 10am, so I spent a tenner to get a chair for the dining table (I could have sat on the sofa, but in my head it seemed unprofessional), an unhealthy amount of time deciding where to set the table, where to put the chair and so on (of course the overthinking took over).

I woke up early, had breakfast, did my make-up, put a nice semi-formal top on (I kept reminding myself this was not a job interview but it’s hard to get out of that mentality), got a cushion and my blanket to keep my feet warm and made a cuppa. All set!

After introducing ourselves and talking a bit about my background and the reasons I wanted to do the course, we then went over my pre-interview task answers, to make sure my level was English was adequate. There was also a short 15 minute interview exercise, with a couple of questions, similar to the ones on the pre-interview task.

He then told me more about what the course entails, the units we’ll cover, that teaching starts from day two and the fact I won’t have any social life for a month. What I got from what Jonny and some of my friends and colleagues who’ve done the course, as mentioned earlier, is that it will be intense, time and life consuming for four weeks but also rewarding.

‘It was tough, but so worth it!’ every single person who’s done it told me.

The main purpose of the interview is not to check your Grammar or vocabulary skills (the trainer has to check your level of English is satisfactory, but they don’t expect anyone to be an expert and know every single rule or exception). It’s for them to make sure you are applying for the right reasons and you are aware of the intensity of the course and for you to understand what’s about and whether you are prepared to take it on.

The interview concluded with Jonny offering me a place, explaining what the next steps will be and sending me a book recommendation list and a pre-course task, so I can start preparing.

That’s what I’m about to start now. Any questions or advice, comment below!

Eleni

My News!

I’ve been meaning to accompany the video I posted two days ago with a blog, but life got in the way. The last couple of weeks have been surreal…

For those of you who’ve been following my blog for a while, the first half of the vlog is just a few words about me (that you probably already know) but on the other half I reveal my news and briefly explain how all came together.

There are some things that didn’t make it into the vlog as I tried to keep it as short as possible. The original recording was 40 minutes long, so I thought it’d be better to give you some background info here.

As you probably know, I have been for the last three years trying to get out of my desk, number-based, not for me job. I’ve coped relatively well, considering my mental health struggles (anxiety, depression) and a million other things that got in the way (e.g. living with a flatmate for a while in order to repay my loan), the set of coping techniques I came up with worked great for a while (and my post on that was one of the most read ones), but I’ve reached a point that I feel I’m wasting 8 hours of my day in front of the PC that I would utilise much better, the money and comfortable life are not enough, so now the time has come.

I’m finally in a position (or at least as close to as I can ever be) I can quit my job and try different things.

Initially the idea of completely abandoning my efforts for another 9 to 5 job, leaving security and certainty behind was terrifying but the more I thought about it the more it felt like the best time to take the risk.

After I came back from Cyprus in January I was actively and intensely looking for another job, more meaningful, more creative more of everything, but the ones I was interested in I either didn’t have the experience or didn’t pay enough. Then I had an idea for a YouTube channel which will hopefully now come to life in September, if all goes well.

That kept me going and fed my creativity cravings. I was going to work on it whilst in my full-time job but that would have given me zero free time, with the volunteering and other things I do outside work. It got me thinking…

How can I make it out of a full time, 9-5 job completely?

Co-incidentally a couple of friends whilst talking about what else I can do mentioned teaching and how they’d thought I’d make a great teacher and that could put my creativity to great use, but the problem is, every single teacher I know is overworked, underpaid and have no social life. That’s not a compromise I was willing to take.

Then Donna, in a chat we had a couple of weeks later, mentioned TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language). And it all came together. I can teach English aboard, to enable me to travel like I always wanted and give me the freedom to visit Cyprus more often to see my family and start work on my Youtube channel project idea.

I wanted to visit home longer than a few weeks for a years. And now it’s my chance. And a TEFL qualification would be the perfect way to ensure I don’t get stuck in Cyprus, otherwise all this would be for nothing.

So after some research on Teaching English abroad (I’ll write a separate post on that with lots of useful information) I decided to apply for a full-time, month long CELTA course, just after the rental agreement expires for my flat, in a city I’ve never been before, Cambridge. I applied, I had my interview and I got a place. I even got an Advanced Learner Loan to cover the fees for now until I can afford to repay it.

Next step was to book my one way ticket to Cyprus. And I now have a date, 25th of August. I’m spending four months back home, finally catching up with all my friends, SUNSHINE, quality time and Christmas with family, exploring my little island whilst I work part-time and kick off my Youtube project.

Then if all goes as desired, in January I’ll secure my first TEFL job in a country ideally outside Europe, as I’ve never been.

I’m absolutely terrified and excited in equal measure.

Worried my course will get cancelled or something might happen and ruin my plans. Petrified that the little money I’m saving won’t be enough to keep me going, horrified I may get trapped in Cyprus, terrified I will struggle with living with others after three years living on my own, in a country other than the UK, that’s been home for the last 10 years.

But so excited I will finally at least attempt to chase my dreams. Try different things, travel, use my creativity every single day.

Needless to say my anxiety levels are reaching dangerous highs almost daily but the thrill and absolute joy of what is about to come makes it all worth it.

A few friends and family still hope that I’ll ‘find the love of my life’ and either stay in Southampton or Cyprus. Even in 2019 it’s tough for some to comprehend that being in relationship is not a priority. Of course I still would like to have family, but not now and not ever if it’s not with the right person. That’s another compromise I am not willing to make.

I sometimes feel guilty I feel this way, that a boring but OK job, with lovely colleagues and a comfortable, conventional life is not enough. I am aware that others would love to be in my position. But I am not. It’s just doesn’t fit my personality, as hard as I try. And I’ve tried hard the last three years. I have to at least give myself the chance to be who I am full time. There’s so much I can do and so much I can help with.

I feel I need to talk about the B-word. Though it wasn’t the main reason, Brexit and the current political situation definitely helped my decision. I truly can’t believe what is happening right now. Moving outside the UK was something I wouldn’t even consider a year or two ago but right now, it probably is for the best. It will always feel like home and I will come back, I think. That’s a whole other post though.

Despite the anxiety, doubts and everything else, this just feels right. Maybe I’m wrong but I have a good feeling about this.

So that’s my news. I’m leaving my job in July, moving to Cambridge for a month to study CELTA, moving to Cyprus for four months to draw, film, take pictures, try random jobs like I always wanted to e.g. work in a farm, waitressing and other odd ones I have in mind and then travel teaching English.

Wish me luck!

Eleni