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This August, TEFL'ers and trainers alike came in for a double treat
on as firstly TEFL alumna Stephanie Meagher (January,
PT '04) spoke to us about her overseas ESL experience in China and then
our former colleague Stephen Walsh put in a guest appearance
presenting a grammar module as only he does!
Stephanie has recently returned from teaching ESL at a technical university
in Chengdu, the capital of China's Sichuan province.
Stephanie spent the afternoon discussing the challenges she faced in
adapting the Communicative Approach to ESL she learned at The Boston
Language Institute, to a classroom setting of over forty students. She
was especially grateful for the hands-on experience she received as
part of the TEFL program. She told us how she observed fellow teachers
who had not gone through any formal training who had tried to "wing
it," only after the first few days, they crash landed whereas she was
able to draw from her vast library of ideas coupled with her structured
lesson planning training.
Stephanie also shared with us a very special story. When she asked her
students what their ESL goals were, they gave her the answer we've all
heard a dozen times before - they wanted to "perfect their English."
She brought some of them to the front of the class and asked them to
cup their hands tightly together. She poured water into their cupped
hands and warned them not to let a drop escape. "Ah ha!" she said as
the water seeped through their hands, "My advice to you is to set yourself
attainable goals. Reach high, but accept that you will not be able to
reach perfection."
After a brief stay in the U.S., Stephanie plans to head to Russia to
continue her EFL teaching career. We wish her well and say: "Udachi!"
For those of you lucky enough to have been taught by Stephen, a quick
up-date. Stephen is working on his Ph.D. in Central and Eastern European
Studies in Krakow, Poland, at the Jagiellonian University (Alma-Mater
of no lesser personages than Copernicus and John Paul II). He and Meredith
are also teaching ESL and loving life in Poland. Stephen recommends
the soups there, but misses the Yak! He reminds all of you to observe
Talk like a Pirate Day next one being Sept 19th!"
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