TESOL Interview

"It's not a formal interview... there's just a little test..."

How do you prepare for an interview if you're not even sure what to wear? Kath and Laura and I had practiced some grammar - mostly parts of speech - but we had no idea of the level of the test, nor of the intensity of the interview. Luckily for Kath and Laura, I got to go first...

And it wasn't that bad at all, really. Sean, the tutor, spent a lot of time talking about the course. The assessments seem really interesting - for example, we spend time observing lessons for a language we don't speak (Russian, say), which we then have to write a critical appraisal of. Sean's kind of manic - or was in the interview, at least. But I liked him. He's been to Japan to teach English too. Another information source, that's good.

The interview was simple, pretty much. We talked about why I wanted to do the course, what I thought made a good teacher, and what other languages I knew. Mostly it was Sean getting excited about his subject. Enthusiasm to spare! There was a test, and it was "just a little test" too - correcting some sentences, choosing some spellings, and a short written piece about teaching the differences between two types of English.

Yes, I passed. We start next Thursday. Yahoo!

Is "boring" an adjective?

Yes, in the main, I suppose it is. But it could also be a regular verb - "termites are boring through the floorboards" - and subsequently a derived gerund too - "We estimate that boring occupies four-fifths of the termite's waking life."

Kath, Laura and I went through the seven main parts of speech in my classroom bedroom. Noun, Pronoun, Verb, Prepostion, Conjunction, Interjection, Adverb, Adjective. I gave examples, and then invited Kath and Laura to complete a couple of exercises. The lesson went well, but it went on and on too. We stopped for chips.

Hopefully the grammar will equip us well for our TESOL interviews. It's me on Thursday, and then the ladies on Friday. Good luck to us all!

Emi-san! Konbanwa!

Our first Japanese lesson was today. Our teacher, Emi, is very good: lively, enthusiastic, smiley. Is this what Seb meant when he said that most of all we need to be genki? We covered the aims of the course, and learned some phrases - konnichiwa; konbanwa; ohiyo gozaimasu; arigato - and a little bit about grammar - introduction to particles o; wa; ka.

We were given our names in katakana, and asked to learn numbers one to ten as our homework: ichi, ni, san, yon, go, rocku, nana, hachi, cu, jui. Laura's colleague Kris came with us. That makes yon of us. How exciting!

Clare's blog

Laura’s friend Clare is a JET in Hokkaido. She’s on the scheme with her husband Andy, and they’re based near to Iwazizama. It was a conversation with Clare and Andy that led Laura to ask me if I’d be up for participating in the JET scheme. And, as avid readers might recall, Clare and Andy know Seb, who just happened to go to my school. Small world, eh? It turns out that Clare has a blog too. It’s in the blogroll, and it’s available here.

As you can see from this post, their flat is really spacious. It looks very nice!

Seb's Blog

Do you remember my post A Strange Coincidence? From a few weeks ago? Well, Seb got in touch earlier this week and has given me lots of information about his JET experience so far. I'll post some of what he's said once I've asked his permission to blog about it, but rest assured, it's very interesting stuff! He's written about his application process, about his interview, and about his first experiences of the scheme. Keep your eyes peeled for more of what he's said.

He has also been writing a blog about his JET experiences. It's really well written, and would make for a very enjoyable read, even if you're not interested in the JET Programme yourself. I'd heartily recommend taking a look - you can read it here, and it's also available in the blogroll too. Check it out!

Kath's got an interview too!

Kath has heard from Magali, and she's got an interview. 30th September. Great news!

Forty pounds! For two sheets of paper! Outrageous!

I have just paid £40 for two sheets of paper. Yes, that's right. Forty pounds. Forty whole pounds. And what, pray, are these amazing expensive pieces of paper?

Academic Transcripts.

Not a transcript of every word I've ever submitted for my degree. No! Far more modest than that, despite the lofty price.

A list of modules I took at Uni, with grades.

Yup, that's all they are. I know that there's a funding crisis in the education sector. But blimey, what a whack in the pocket!

Still, can't be helped, right - it's part of the JET application process. Bite your tounge Dave, and fork out your cash. you know it's going to be worth it.