Insider Tips To Being Successful TEFL Teacher

Finally you finish your TEFL course and are looking towards a exciting new journey into the world of TEFL. You’re confident in your skills, you know the course curriculum like the back of the hand and you’ve pored over pages from there lonely planet on your destination country. So everything should be sunshine and rainbows, and go according to plan right?

Not exactly. Almost everybody feels they’re upto to the task until they land up in a room full of foreign students and realize that their TEFL course doesn’t teach everything, leaving just about a few holes to trip you up. When you struggle you to pronounce your students name going karshekavin, abdelgaziz, wingchin yin, you know you’re in for a rough ride.

Become a fine ESL teacher in Spain with TEFL MADRID ACADEMY

As a TEFL teacher, not everything is learnt from the book nor can a how to guide take your through the ins and outs of a culture. Only way you learn is by experiencing it yourself and you’ve got treat it as an adventure. But that doesn’t mean you can’t be prepared for it. So here are a few insider tips to surviving the first few months on your TEFL journey.

• Master The Pronunciation

There are a few common names in every language and it makes sense to do a quick Google search to get their sounds right. This will start you off a little smoother during the first few days, and more importantly, you’d learn to differentiate between male names (such as Noureddine and Ridouane in Morocco) and female ones (Hind and Wafae).

• Get the Names Right

Once you do land up in the foreign shores, start carrying a small notebook where you write down common names and objects. And in your classroom, make the effort to learn all your students names even if it seems impossible. This develops a much closer bond with your students and maintains discipline as well. If you want, you can just write down descriptive notes beside the names to recollect it faster.

• Start Off Strict

Don’t be casual or easygoing in the class initially. Start off being strict even if it’s not your style and you come across a bit difficult. You can eventually revert back to your laid out self later but you can’t go the other way around. You’ve got establish a clear hierarchy and discipline during the first few days and ensure the students respect your authority, after which the chains can be loosened up.

• Learn the local language

This one should be obvious. You’re in a new, foreign country and it’s only prudent to learn the local language lest you get lost searching for the loo. But more than that, it’s also very helpful in the classroom. For one, you’ll empathize with your students and understand what they’re going through while learning a foreign language. You’ll also be able to see what works best and what doesn’t in a language class, which serves to help formulate better lesson plans, activities, address pronunciation and vocabulary issues, conduct assessments, etc.

• Get some realia from home

Every student in a foreign country adores and fawns over realia from abroad. Take advantage of this curiosity by picking up tourist brochures, target ads, weekly magazine, music and movies from home. You can use this as a great learning tool in your lessons and students themselves would be very enthusiastic to get some hands on authentic English works, rather than reading about it in some textbook.

If you are interested in our programms, please contact us and Don’t hesitate if you want to become part of our successful team of ESL teachers at TEFL MADRID ACADEMY.