TEFL Spirit Lake Iowa

This course has been a definite eye-opener for me. As an American living in Germany and involved in the export business, I have always been the “go to guy” for all matters related to english. This is mostly related to work correspondence, customer requests, helping friends etc…. I went into this course thinking that it would be a breeze and it would come easy for me. I couldn't have been more wrong! There were some lessons that were easier than others, and some that were downright frustrating. I have definitely gained a much healthier respect for our language and the specific nuances and difficulties related to it. I can now appreciate it better when someone tells me that learning english is difficult. I think that school english (especially in Germany) is much more focused on the technical aspect of the language and much less on the spoken language. It's great that a student knows what a modal auxiliary verb is, but in the real world, you need to communicate clearly where people can understand and interact with you. For me, if and when I really start teaching english, I will focus a lot more on the actual practice of the language and not the technical side. I like the efl philosophy of engaging the students more and really getting them speaking. I believe that learning by doing is the best way to gain and maintain your knowledge. While I believe lesson planning is important as you need certain guidelines, I think it is as important to be flexible and able to adapt to your students needs.