TEFL classes and pictures

Well, I've been slacking and I know it. But I'm going to try to be responsibile with this, so here goes. I've finished my class and now I'm working on finding a job. I learned a fair amount about teaching English, which as I have found is quite different from teaching anything else. You have to talk as little as possible so as not to confuse the students. This has been a challenge for me, but I think I've gotten better. The solution seems to be being very prepared and using gestures and pictures. They have taught us to teach only in English and not to speak any Spanish, because it will seem like a crutch to the students. During the class we got to practice teaching to real English learners. I taught 6 lessons, 2 with a partner, to all 4 levels that we offered: Low beginner, high beginner, low intermediate, and high intermediate. It was impressive how much the ability level changed between each level. Low beginner was working on past tense verbs (ex: buy/bought), low intermediate was working on modals (You should have...), and high intermediate was like a conversation class. Some of the classes were difficult because of the students and others because the page in the book I was supposed to teach didn't give me much to go on. Either way, I got my certification on Friday and I'm good to go! I can now use that to teach anywhere in the world. That's a pretty nice job prospect.This is about 2/3 of the class and most of the teachers at breakfast

I had a good time with the other students in my class, which is a good thing because we spent a lot of time together. When all we had to do was plan lessons, we got a little silly at some times. On the last day we had breakfast at one lady's apartment and then the program took us out for a fancy graduation dinner.

Today started the job search process. I spent the afternoon in a cafe looking into several institutes that had been recommended to me and crafting a cover letter to them in Spanish. Once I get this email done, I hope that I'll be able to send it out to several companies. Tomorrow I'm going to work on crafting a classifieds ad for the paper to get private lessons.

Here are some pictures of my friends here:

First few days are going well

Hello, Hello...

Reporting in from Buenos Aires! My classes have begun and everything is going well. Let's see what all has happened since I last wrote. I've settled in quite nicely. Everyone in the dorm is very nice and I've been able to speak a lot of Spanish, which is wonderful for me. I've enlisted a few friends as my Spanish teachers, so that makes life fun. Julio (from Peru) is constantly for mixing up pensar/creer (to think), ser/estar (to be) and saber/conocer (to know). It's confusing because all of those pairs mean the same thing in English, so I have to work extra hard to differentiate when I need to use one over the other. I can already tell that I'm getting better and he tells me that I'm doing well, so at least we're making progress.

Today I started my class and after a bunch of difficulties with the program that I'm in, I got it all worked out. My program (GIC Argentina) sends its TEFL students to the TEFL International classes, but they never told me that or where to go or when. It's all sorted out, so no need to worry about me. The other people in the group seem to be very nice. As far as I can tell the daily routine is classes from 10-1, lunch from 1-2, then classes from 2-5. The school is about a 25 minute walk from my dorm and is pretty much a straight shot. There is one Argentine and one Brit and the rest are Americans in my 14 person class. There are 2 older women (in their 40s-50s probably), 2-3 people in their 30s, and the rest seem to be in their 20s. We went to lunch together in several different groups so it was nice to get to talk to a few people then. It seems that the last bit of the day is set aside to prepare the lesson that we present the next day. So basically, they teach us one way to teach vocabulary/grammar/etc and then we create a lesson to give to the class the next day. The lessons seem boring to me, but I guess it will all work out.

It looks like I might be getting an apartment with 3 other people from my dorm, which would be wonderful. They are the 3 people that I like the best here, so that would be awesome. They are Katherine (from England), Francisco (from Columbia), and Julio (from Peru). We've just started the search, and once we get some things figured out between us and figure out the system, it should work out well.

That's all for now. I'll post some pictures soon!

Arrival - check

So I'm here and fairly settled in. Everything on the airport end of things went very well. No delays, I had an extra seat to myself and I was able to get a decent amount of sleep. I'm getting to know some of the other kids at the dorm and they seem very nice. Apparently, I'm going to go with a bunch of them to a local amusement park tomorrow. It's about an hour away and we're going to take the train. I'm not a huge amusement park fan, but hey, I need to meet people, so why not.

I ate lunch and dinner at the dorm. There is a supermarket right across the street and several more in the area, which is very nice and convenient. I didn't get too exotic off the top, just a turkey sandwich for lunch and pasta for dinner, but it worked. I was curious to see what everyone else does and there seems to be a wide range, but the general consensus is that its a lot cheaper to eat in, so they do it. I've watched a lot of TV today. The TVs are in the kitchens, so that's where people tend to congregate. There is a lot of American TV and English movies, but all have Spanish subtitles, so that's really helpful because I can hear the English and read the Spanish. The people have a wide range of Spanish abilities. About half of the residents are native Spanish speakers, mostly from Argentina and Colombia from what I can tell. The rest are mostly Americans and I've met one British girl as well. I've been able to follow a good number of Spanish conversations, even catching a few things and having to help some of the other Americans, so that's a good sign. The accents are definitely different and young people talk fast, so those are both barriers that I'm going to have to learn to deal with. The dorm's website is: http://www.azul-residencia-universitaria.com/ and there are pictures there. Here is a picture of the building. I'm on the top floor.
Things went pretty slowly today. I went on two little walks around the area, just searching out what's here. I also took two naps for a total of 2.5 hours, which was wonderful. My bed is comfortable and has a really soft fleece blanket that makes me want to curl up and go to bed every time I sit on it. It's chilly here, but not really cold. When the sun went down and the wind started to blow it was brisk, but after walking around I warmed up enough to take off my scarf again.

Apparently this is a party dorm, so we'll see how that goes. Some people were talking of going to Palermo (the hip district) tonight, but that won't happen til midnight probably. This is why afternoon naps are key according to my roommate. I did have this really weird feeling when I woke up from my first nap that I had forgotten where I was. I figured it out quickly, but it was funny. There is enough English spoken here that it feels a lot like a hostel. Everyone is here to have a good time, they just hang around more and cook more.

I've written a lot now, so I'll stop, but I'll be sure to update after the amusement park adventure.

Receive Blog Posts by Email and Skype

I figured out a way to receive blog posts by email that I wanted to pass on to you. This way, you won't have to check the blog to see if I've posted. It will be delivered directly to your in box.

I'll outline it in a few easy steps:

1) Go to the bottom of the page to the link that says "Posts (atom)". Either right click on it and copy the address, 0r click on it and then copy the address (URL) for that page.

2) Go to http://SendMeRSS.com

3) In the box that says "RSS Feed URL" paste the address from my blog

4) Enter and confirm your email address (and click that you agree to the terms)

That's it! The posts will be delivered directly to your inbox!


Also, there is a great online phone service called skype that is free and will be a great way to keep in touch with me while I'm in Argentina. My friend Alli has just left for a year in Israel and she posted very specific instructions for setting up skype on your computer. Go here to see her instructions: http://allichatool.blogspot.com/2008/08/s-is-for-skype.html. Then you can search for me by my name "Stephanie Berman" or by my skype name "waterat901." Then we can talk just as if we were chatting on the phone.

Hopefully that will help us keep in touch while I'm away!

Home again, home again

Happy 4th of July to everyone. It's a wonderful welcome back to the USA.So yes, I'm back. The last part of my trip went well. I had a nice time with Luca in Bologna. We relaxed and watched some tennis and read as well as doing the tourist stuff that I love. I got my taste of Italian pasta and pizza which is very good. On Wednesday I spent the afternoon in Rome. I walked all over the city and saw a lot of the sights. I saw the Colosseum (but didn't go in) and the Trevi Fountain and went in to explore St. Peter's cathedral. It was a very hot day and I was king of ready to head home, but I'm glad I got to do see it all. I splurged and stayed in a hotel near the airport that night because my flight was so early in the morning. It was very nice and cool to have my own room. The bartender at the hotel was

really nice and made me a pizza, that was normally sold frozen (but was cheaper than that at the restaurant). I woke up at 3:45 the next morning and both of my flights went smoothly. On
the long flight (Munich to Washington) I was sitting next to an 18 year old from Ukraine who I helped with his immigration documents. I also watched 2 movies: Definitely, Maybe and The Other Boleyn Sister. Both were very good. Now it's back to real life I guess. I'm spending the weekend recovering from jet lag, unpacking, and spending time with my parents. I
restart work on Monday.

It has been great hearing from so many of you so often. I plan on continuing these emails when I head off to Argentina on August 15. Between now and then I'll be doing some visiting and working and preparing. I'm going to Florida next weekend with the whole family to visit my
grandfather. Then the weekend after that I'm back in North Carolina for Alice's wedding which I'm in. Then I'm here until August. I hope to see many of you between now and then.

More from Toulouse

Hi!

I don't have long to write cause I'm out the door soon, but I wanted to give
you all an update. I have spent a week here in Toulouse with my old host
family. It has been very nice and very relaxing. It is kind of a blast
from the past to be here again. Most things are just like I remember them,
but the kids are a little bit older. I wrote more about my first day here
on my blog, so check there for more details. I also was able to meet up
with some French friends that we used to hang out with when I was here 2
years ago. There was a big music festival (basically a 5 day concert) that
I went to with them for 2 days. It was nice to hang out with people that I
already knew and to practice my French with people my age. While I've been
here I've walked around the city a lot, basically just to see things again.
I also went for a walk and a bike ride along the canal that is right in
front of the house. I've decided that that is one of my 'happy places' in
the world.

Now I am off to Ma and Grandpapa's. They are the parents of my host father
and they live in the countryside near the Pyrénées. I am very excited to
see them and to spend some time at their lovely place. I am taking
Quitterie (the oldest) and her friend with me because they finished school
for the year this morning. One of the cousins will also be there, so that
should be fun.

On Saturday I will spend all day and night on a train to get to Luca's house
at the beach in Italy.

Ma's and the beach = relaxation to the extreme

It's seems like its been longer than it actually has since I last wrote. I am now at Luca's home in Bologna, Italy. Let's rewind a bit so that I can tell you what i've been up to.

Wednesday afternoon I took the train with Quitterie and her friend Marie to
Ma's house. She took us up to her house (about 20 min away up in the hills). There were a bunch of cousins there because Ma takes care of one family of cousins on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. It was great to see them all. This bunch I didn't know too well, but one of the other cousins, Jean Gualbert (Babert), who I got along with really well last time was also there. After dinner Quitterie, Marie, Babert and I all played outside for a bit because it we could and it was great weather. Thursday we took a trip to Lourdes (about an hour away). This is a big pilgrimage site for Catholics and Ma works there often. We were all enlisted to address envelopes to bishops from around the world who had visited in the last 3 years. We were inviting them to come in September when the pope will be there. The kids got lost on our walk to lunch which let us explore a bit. Then Babert and I did the touristy stuff and he was a great guide since he's been there many times. Friday we just hung out at the house. I helped collect potatoes and plums from the garden and make lunch. In the afternoon I went for a long walk and then visited the neighbor to see her cows (including a week old calf), chickens, and pig. The Montpellier cousins arrived Friday night for the weekend. This family (Babert's family) includes 5 kids ages 18, 16, 14, and 12 year old twins. I had a long talk with the oldest about life, society and politics which was fun.

Saturday was my train day. I ended up being on trains for 25 hours including a bit of a delay. I took a 6 hour train from Tarbes (ma's) to Paris, then my night train from Paris to Bologna was 3.5 hours late. I met a bunch of Americans and we passed the time with ease. My first night train
went smoothly and I slept well enough. I made a connection from Bologna to the beach town where Luca's grandma has a house and he picked me up from the
station. His grandma is very nice. She doesn't speak English, but speaks French, so we used that to communicate. We spent most of our time hanging out at the beach with other kids, playing pingpong and beach volleyball or reading at the house. It was very relaxing. We've just arrived in Bologna and he has a very nice apartment in the center of the city as far as I can tell. It seems like we'll be going out for real Italian pizza tonight!