WINTER 2005

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Message from the President

Dear TEFL Grads,

Once again it is my pleasure to wish each of you and those you love a holiday season and new year filled with blessings. 2004 has been just such a year for The Boston Language Institute and for me personally.

The TEFL Certificate Program continues to grow in size and stature. We have just enrolled our 600th trainee. Virtually every session contains participants who travel just to take the program from all over the United States and often from Europe, Asia or South America. Under the continued leadership of Myrna Norris, Director of English Language Programs, assisted by Program Coordinator and TEFL graduate Catherine Rogerson, we have continued to refine our program, including the development of non-native speaker modules. We have also completely upgraded our TEFL computer lab, which incorporates career resources that graduates and current trainees may make use of. Our trainers and observers include five graduates of the program with many years of teaching experience among them.

For me personally, the year has included a pilgrimage to the Himalayas culminating in life's ultimate pilgrimage: marriage. On November 28, 2004, I became both a husband and a father by marrying Siri Devta Kaur Khalsa in a ceremony in the Sikh gurudwara (temple) in Espanola, New Mexico. We flew her nine-year-old son from his school in India to share in the nuptials. His name is Guru Prakash Singh, the lion who radiates the dawning light of God, and I will be adopting him as my son. Siri Devta will be working part-time at the Institute in accounting and human resources.

I hope you enjoy and profit from the current newsletter. Please drop us a line to let us know how and what you are doing...and don't forget to send pictures.

May God bless you in this holiday season and in all the seasons of your lives.

Siri Karm Singh Khalsa
President
    Photo Award
The Mikhail Mayzelis
Memorial Photo Award

"We're Not In Kansas Anymore!"

The Photo Award for this month's newsletter goes to Pat Lilja, a December 2001 program graduate.

These photos were taken during the run of "The Wizard of Oz", which Pat directed at his high school in Japan.

The recipients of the award receive a $50 gift certificate to the Boston Language Institute online Bookstore.

Click here to view Pat's photos.

You can submit your photos for consideration in our next Photo Contest by e-mailing them here. (OR JUST FOLLOW THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD!)


Pat Lilja (December '01)

Another Graduate Visit to the Career Workshop

On September 1st, 2004, Andrea Denk, a graduate of the August 2001 TEFL program at the Institute, spoke to trainees as part of the career workshop. Andrea spent over two years in Turkey and obtained extensive experience teaching EFL in Istanbul. She is back in the U.S. temporarily, but is planning to go to Honduras to teach English in the next few months. She fielded numerous questions from TEFL trainees eager to know more about what awaits them as they venture out into the world of international EFL teaching. She spoke of how welcoming she found Turkish people and culture and of the importance of networking and building a wide range of contacts to find the best overseas teaching jobs. Andrea told trainees that her TEFL training was a tremendous advantage and said she might not have survived the first few months in Istanbul without the skills and techniques she learned at BLI. She also advised trainees to save their lesson plans from the TEFL program as an excellent resource when they begin their EFL/ESL careers.

If you are interested in learning more about teaching in Turkey, or have any contacts for teaching in Honduras, you may reach Andrea through the Institute by sending us an email at tefl@boslang.com.


Graduate News Photo Awards Teacher Advisor Teaching Opportunities TEFL MainPage