Official bitch about daily life in UL

Chris Martin wrote: »

Well it depends how invested you want to get into teaching abroad.
Do you want to do it as an experience, a break from Ireland for a year or so or is it a long term thing? If you want to do it long term, then I would probably check out prices of the physical course. A lot of places 'don't take on' people with internet courses. That said, unknowingly you hold the most valuable tool anyone going into TEFL can have; Native English.
They say that they need you to have done an extensive TEFL course and experience but saying you have native English is equivalent to 5 years of both. I did a '3 day' (all in all maybe about 12 hours) course through UL. Essentially a fast track course before I went on CoOp. I did this last May I think, I'd say they do it every year as people go abroad teaching English each year. There was about 5 in the class. Just went through a few presentations and that was it. There is the 2 year course but I was unable to do that because I have CoOp and Erasmus for my 3rd year. Again, I think there's a way fit it all into final year but they were talking about stress as well..
I'd say email UL and see if you can do that thing in May if you want to do it (relatively) short term. I will say this though; although I've never taught native English people English, which at the moment in my goal, I will say that teaching English as a foreign language is an awful lot different to teaching it as a subject. It's also very difficult when you don't speak their native language. The place I went on CoOp, I won't name it because it was awful, I got through UL and there were 4 people who had graduated that year who went through UL to get the job. In Seville, there is an unbelievable demand for TEFL teachers, if I was to guess I'd say there are at least 100 English academies in and around Seville and I can only imagine the same is true with the rest of Spain as a lot of Universities require a B2 level in English to graduate. I'm not sure if there's a similar story with Spain but those that I've spoken too here have very good English so I can only imagine that they're present, Venice isn't a good gauge though.
It's a painstaking job and I'd definitely recommend taking a course in the language of the country you're going to first as you do pick it up when you're over there, but I felt I would've got an awful lot more had I known the basics beforehand. It's a great experience though, glad I chose to go abroad and will probably go back there in later years. Language barrier and I guess general lack of preparation on my part cost me a bit. I also went to an academy that had opted to shun the default method of teaching for a more 'natural approach.' Natural being, not teaching grammar. The lesson I got from it being, you don't need to know how it works, just that it works. Fell out of favour with boss for disagreeing with it and things didn't really get better.. :P
I will probably do it again in the future as I'm dying to learn a new language.
Also this year has kindled the traveller in me, something I didn't know I had..
I've realised travelling isn't as expensive as I thought if you sacrifice comfort and be a little more reckless. GoGoCar I think it's called is amazing. Carpooling with other people travelling to your destination, costs a fraction of the price of train or bus. Add an 's' in the middle of hotel to get a budget bed at prices you didn't think were possible. Cheap breakfast, new cuisine, early mornings. All come naturally :P
I've stayed places for 9e a night and I've seen cheaper. I see why backpackers do it. :P
With good restraint, I'd say you could travel Europe for under 1,000e, a foreign notion had it been said to me a year before.
Drifting off topic a little here..
tl;dr: Contact UL, 3 day TEFL course in May if you're thinking of going abroad short ish term.
Long term, look into doing a physical TEFL course and learn basics of language :P

Chris Martin wrote: »

It's great. In Venice now and loving it :P
Must go proper budget travelling in the future and want to learn a language so has to be done. :P





I don't mean to take away from my magnificent post but I did have something to do at the time. Something studious and boring.. :P
Hence the length and detail. That said I'm sure it would be the same if I was doing something less boring.. :rolleyes:
A year or so I'd say you'd get away with the 3 day or internet course one, but still, I'd say try and go through UL CoOp. Saves searching. Also look for some groups on facebook. Found a great one on Seville, to the extent that I could nearly walk back in there and get a job.
I'd learn Italian first although I was surprised how many people knew English here. I was told the opposite before I came.