Helta CELTA

There’s been a long gap in this blog while I went to the UK to study for my Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (CELTA).  Four weeks of twelve-hour days seven days a week. 

Before the course I laughingly thought that I would have a little time and space to write my blog and have the odd day out.  Instead it’s been: get up; go for a run along the Brighton seafront; finish the lesson plan for that day’s teaching; discuss the lesson plan with my tutor and fellow trainees; give the lesson; analyse the lesson; have a sandwich and talk about teaching; go to training sessions on how to teach; go home and work on an assignment about teaching; look at watch; say “good God is that the time?” And; go to bed.

Twelve of us started this intellectual and emotional assault course and eleven of us finished.  Most of the others are twenty somethings looking to travel or just to get a job in this increasingly tough economic climate.  Decent people and good colleagues, although they did at times make me feel very old.  For the first time in my life I started to notice an occasional “doesn’t he do well for his age?” subtext in some of their comments.

Anyway, it’s over now and I feel peculiarly sad.  It has been a very intense experience.  Maybe I’m just tired.