When I first came to Chile, everything was new. I'd never lived in a different country before, I'd never had a full time job before, and I'd had only a little bit of teaching experience. I really felt like a fish out of water!
Why am I in Chile? So, the main reason I'm in Chile is for the part of my Spanish/linguistics degree called the year abroad. The year abroad is a compulsory year spent in a foreign country that speaks the target language (for me it's Spanish).
Why am I teaching? During the year abroad, you must complete a placement. This can be an internship, a paid job, or studying at university. Although I was very tempted by the thought of reliving freshers week again as a student, I decided to go for the more rewarding option of being an English language teacher.
How did I get the job? I sent off an application to the British Council , a scheme which helps organise overseas opportunities for British students to teach English. It was a lengthy process which started nearly a year before I came to Chile. I sent off the application, did the interview and went to two pre departure briefings. Finally, in September 2014 I found myself in Santiago about to start a job as a British Council English Language Assistant.
What was the first day like? Naturally my first day was the worst, mainly due to my complete lack of teaching experience. In lessons, all the students could tell I had never done this before which inevitably pushed my confidence right down. I remember I was put in a level 1 class on my first day, so everyone (myself included) spent the whole class feeling just a little bit confused as to what was going on.
What's it like now? Although I'm an assistant at most of the time, the experience I got teaching my own classes, has been the most rewarding (I've had three in the time I've been here). Now, I feel much more comfortable with giving explanations and presenting information to students. I have more confidence so the students listen to me more and ask me questions all the time.
What's been the best experience? Surprisingly, teaching teenagers has been my best experience. When my bosses first asked me to take over a group of 12, level 1 teens...for four hours...on a Saturday, I was a bit reluctant to accept, but I really wanted to teach my own classes. So I took my opportunity. And it actually has turned out to be fun and rewarding all at the same time. In classes I used to do games with them and competitions with edible prizes, and it was a lot of fun, so everyone could enjoy the classes.
And what's been the worst? Giving oral exams. I find this part of the job awful, seeing students so stressed- mainly because the oral exams count for a lot. And when they are so nervous they can barely talk, it's heartbreaking to give them a bad grade. It also puts a lot of pressure on me because, I'm then largely responsible for the students' final grade.
Finally, what do you think the key to teaching is? From my experience, I would say that the main key to teaching is confidence. If you can present and explain something confidently, people will naturally listen to you and believe what you're saying. Also preparation. If you know what your next steps are, the lesson runs smoothly without any awkward pauses. And keeping it fun. When students are having fun, they are more confident to join in with classes, which helps them to learn better.
Now, it's been nearly a year. Thanks to my time in Santiago, I've learnt a lot about what it means to be a teacher and why it's such an important, rewarding job!
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