TEFL Kawasaki

I have learned much from this course. In particular, I have learned how difficult of a language english is to learn and master. There are numerous english language rules that even we as native speakers either take for granted (because we follow them almost instinctively), have forgotten, or have never learned. It is important that we know how truly difficult it is to learn english so that we may always maintain a level of empathy and understanding with those we are teaching. The course has taught me a lot not only about teaching english, but about the general activity of teaching. I now know various philosophies on teaching, effective ways to arrange a classroom, general activities to accomplish varying goals, and an overall strategy to teaching. Regardless of the topic, I feel that these lessons will permeate throughout my teaching career. The course has also taught me how to properly organize my thoughts, activities, and materials into a cohesive lesson plan with ways to assess whether the lesson is a success or needs improvement. My goal is to teach around the world, starting in thailand. While earning my Master’s degree in business, I spent six months in Bangkok on a student exchange and fell in love with the culture and the people. In that time, I have been back to thailand twice and have traveled to South Korea and japan. Unfortunately, it seems that once the travel bug has its claws in you, it is very difficult to shake loose. I have an undergraduate minor in english (creative writing) and a Master’s in business. I have been the president of a local non-profit for five years now. I hope to utilize these skills and past experiences and teach business english (or any other business-related course) at a thai university, if possible. I am open to any and all offers and look forward to the experience. I chose the ITTT course over the “cram” alternatives for one reason – I wanted to truly understand the material and the techniques to become an effective instructor. I do not view this venture as a vacation or side project. If an organization is kind enough to hire me and students are willing to donate their valuable time to attend my classes, I want to provide maximum value. I feel that this course will prove imperative to accomplishing that goal. Finally, I have always wanted to be a teacher. I come from three generations of teachers, all of whom have won multiple ‘teacher of the Year’ awards. As a young man, I wanted to be an english professor at a university. While it took me several years to find it, I think that teaching overseas is the perfect scenario to feed both my passion for travel and teaching. I thank ITTT for helping me take the first step on what I hope to be a long and interesting journey.