Monday morning saw the start of the English course. Everyone met at 9h for registration. There were originally 12 people but 2 cancelled and then another had problems with his car and another can't start until tomorrow. So there were 8 students – 3 in the advanced class and 5 in the beginners’ class. By the time we’d all introduced ourselves and everyone had paid there wasn’t a lot of time left. I took the beginners class for what was left of the session from 9h30 to 11h and Heidi took the advanced class. At 11h we all went down for English tea and biscuits which Jenny and Jannik had prepared and then from 11h30 to 13h Heidi took the beginners and I took the advanced class. This is how we’ll do it everyday this week – I’ll take the beginners from 9h30 to 11h and then from 11h30 to 13h I’ll have the advanced class and Heidi will do vice versa. The students are all adults, and most of them are quite old. The beginners are not really beginners and the advanced are not all that advanced. I did the verb ‘to be’ in the affirmative with the beginners and we also looked at numbers and introductions. With the advanced class after break I looked at the past simple in the context of holidays. I wasn't not sure what I was going to do on Tuesday but I felt I needed something a little more complicated for the beginners who are, as I’ve said, not really beginners. At 13h we all went down to eat lunch with Jenny and Jannik had prepared for us. It was roast potatoes with baked beans, cheese and coleslaw – typically English! Afterwards there was fruit and more tea. The afternoons are for lesson planning and relaxing!
On Tuesday I did students arriving before I'd even cleaned my teeth! I guess that's what you get for living next door to the classroom - literally! I did the simple past with my beginners which stretched them sufficiently. After break - English tea, biscuits and cake, I did the past simple and past continuous with my advanced class. After classes we had lunch - today it was a German meal - onion cake, followed by fruit and the cake that was left from break. One of the students lives in Herrnhut and invited me for afternoon tea where there was tea and cakes that her husband (who is a baker) had baked in their bakery - fresh cream eclairs, cheesecakes, all sorts of things. Afterwards she took me and Heidi and another of the students - Annetta, for a drive around the area. In the evening I went to a missonary meeting, with a translator of course!
Qui êtes-vous ?
- Gill
- I'm an ex-student. A vegetarian ex-student. A vegetarian ex-student who studied English Language and French at the University of Sussex in Brighton. I spent the 2007-8 academic year on my year abroad (in Marseille, France) which is when I started the blog. It was a way of keeping my family and friends back in England updated with what I was up to without racking up gigantic phone bills. I enjoyed my degree. I originally wanted to be an EFL Teacher, I even did the CELTA. I still get excited about grammar, about the present perfect continuous and phrasal verbs. But it's not a career I want to fall into. I love speaking French too and learning new words. Now I've finished my degree I miss my Student Discount. I miss my title of 'Student' too. I'm a Project Worker now, a far cry from an EFL teacher. I've swapped my international students for rough sleepers and my text books for substance misuse and harm minimisation leaflets. I've decided to stay in Brighton, for a while at least. I might do a Masters, you never know. But, at present, I'm quite happy being a Project Worker. I'd still like to travel mind, maybe teaching as I go. But we'll see - at present I'm just fine where I am.