Madeleine Young - TEFL Traveller

1. Age when you taught: 22-24
2. Nationality: Australia
3. Where did you teach?: Bunchaplaces,
4. Time spent teaching per week
   varied
5. How long did you teach for?
   still at it
6. What was your pay?
   $10-$45 AUD per hour
7. What is the biggest lesson you learned from your teaching English experience?
   1)Know your material 2)People learn more when they are smiling
8. What is the most common misconception about teaching English?
   I'm not sure about everyone else but I thought it'd be a hell of a lot easier.
9. Did you get certified?: yes
   Why or why not?
   Because I am interested in languages and linguistics (my degree is in Spanish language studies) and wanted specifically to teach in Latin America, where it is more difficult to get a job without certification. I also had a view to teaching in Australia for a while where salaries are quite reasonable and where there are opportunities for further study in this field.
10. If you were certified, what was your certification and how did you acquire it? Also, did your certification help you when trying to find a job? How?
    Cambridge RSA-CELTA. This course is administered at least twice a year at the Intstitue of Continuing and TESOL Education,(ICTE-UQ). It was necessary in getting all of my jobs - especially in Australia where I have worked in several institutions, all of which require certified instructors in order to retain their accreditation with NEAS, the regulatory organisation for the industry in Australia.
11. If you did not get certified, was it harder to find a job? Why?
    
12. When looking for a certification program, what are the things to look for?
    Find out what are the usual requirements in the country you'll teach in by researching on ESL forums or looking on job listings. Supposedly in Europe and the Americas it's more useful to have a well recognized certificate such as CELTA, while working in Asia it's less so. Also look for a course which offers some kind of practical component - this was the part where I learned the most during my course.
13. What are some common 'traps' that teachers fall into while teaching English abroad?
    
14. What do you wish you would have done differently?
    I wish I'd listened when they told me it rains a lot here. They meant it really rains A LOT. I wish I'd brought my hiking boots instead of my nice dress shoes. Why didn't I bring my hiking boots?
15. What are the best things about teaching English abroad?
    Its a marriage of the best parts of teaching at home and travelling: the connection with your students on the one hand and the eye-opener of living in another culture on the other.
16. Did you travel before or after your program? If so, where?
    I've been travelling on and off since I was seventeen. But when I came to Chile in for this job, I arrived a month early to see the north of the country, since my job is in the southern part. When my contract finishes I hope to travel further south to trek in Patagonia, and then through Argentina and finally to Colombia.
17. What would be your advice to people thinking about teaching English abroad?
    Do your homework, talk to some people about where you're going. And also, take a swatch of magazines, newspapers, funny articles, funny pictures and photos of home wherever you go. When all else fails, bring out a couple of copies of National Geographic, tell them to find as many verbs as they can in 5 minutes and call it a 'vocabulary exercize'. Be prepared to improvise a little.

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