United States
US
Molly Childs
Teach Enrich Empower
Lost in Translation
My name is Molly Childs and I am 23. I did a TEFL course with The TEFL Academy because I was bored of doing the same job every day in a country that I have lived in forever.
I wanted to do something different that I knew would help people. I love working with children and I worked in a nursery for about 3 years before I came here. I have been a volunteer teaching English in Hanoi in Vietnam for the past two months. I have loved every second and I will be very sad to leave next week, but it is time for me to go and travel more in Asia.
I have had some crazy teaching experiences and every day has been so different. I have worked in a Centre where we go to numerous different schools and the children range from ages 3-17. Some of the children are so naughty and it can make teaching quite challenging, but the Vietnamese support teachers have been amazing. I have also had classes where the children are so eager to learn and it’s amazing to watch their English improve each week.
“If anyone is thinking about doing a TEFL course I cannot advise you more.”
I had a class last week and was told that I would be teaching 30 children for an hour and a half which was way out of my comfort zone as I am used to classes of 15 maximum. I prepared the lesson slightly hungover, with not a lot of sleep and chose the topic foods (probably because I was rather hungry at the time). I arrived at the Centre with my support teacher to be told that I was going on my own by car with some other non-English-speaking Vietnamese people to another centre. After a 15-minute drive along a dirt track, we arrived at a hall filled with about 60 children and all their parents and rather a big stage for me. I realised at this point, I either run away back down the dirt track or put my TEFL into practice and use it as a positive experience. I walked away feeling very proud of myself and overcoming a huge fear of public speaking. I now feel I can teach in any situation, even if it is on a stage to 60 children and all their parents.
I absolutely love where I have been living and have felt like part of a family for the past two months. The Vietnamese are the kindest, most generous people and a little bit crazy (stay clear of the rice wine). It has been the best experience and by doing the TEFL course I gained the confidence I needed to throw myself into a new culture and embrace it in all the ways I have. I am off to Thailand next week to carry on travelling around Asia, but I have every intention of coming back to Athena English Centre to carry on my TEFL teaching journey.
If anyone is thinking about doing a TEFL course I cannot advise you more. It’s the best of both worlds: you are helping people learn a language which helps them to communicate in ways they couldn’t before as well as helping yourself travel around an amazing country. I found the course quite daunting at first as there was so much I didn’t know before but after completing the first few units I was amazed by how much I was learning and really enjoyed it.
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