In 2011 I scored my dream job of working in the comic book industry. It was short lived as 11 months later due to studio cut-downs, I found myself at home, thinking, “Now what?”  Thankfully while working there I met a man who resembled a young Vincent Van Gogh. His name was Clinton Jones.

We had lunch together a couple of times. He did most of the talking. He was an interesting person but what really caught my attention were his talks of South Korea. He spent over a year in Korea teaching English to kids and adults. It was not the first time I’ve heard of this. I know a few people who have left South Africa to teach English abroad. It was only now that I began asking all the right questions. Clinton put this idea in my head which left me pondering for weeks. Taking into consideration my girlfriend of over six years and my dream job, I’ve always wanted to travel but never built up the courage to actually get up and go.

When the studio got the bad news and a handful of us lost our jobs, I figured this was the most appropriate time to study and do the TEFL course. I began searching the web for places to study. There are many places to do this type of training but none of them were helpful. I sent out a dozen e-mails and all I got back was a few words with links. Nobody gave me a step by step break down into the course proceedings except one. The Knowledge Workshop. I e-mailed Paul and got a decent response. Not only did he give me a break down but called me and invited me to the workshop for a chat. This was the type of assistance I was seeking.

My father and I met with Paul a week later. His lovely wife Marian was just as impressive as he was. Together they were super helpful. I made my decision. I was going through with it. Even though I knew what to expect, I still didn’t really know what to expect – If you know what I mean. Teaching is in my family but I certainly never pictured myself as one.

Day one of class: I entered the room to strange faces who over the next couple of days would become my friends. I broke the ice by introducing myself and giving them some information about my life. 10 individuals and two hours later, the ice was broken. I speak on behalf of the class when I say we all felt at ease after that. For the rest of the evening Marian lectured us on language and its sub-systems. e.g. Grammar system, Vocabulary, Content words (nouns, verbs, and adjectives), Structure words (pronouns, prepositions and conjunctions). I could not recall most of these things. It was at this point I felt butterflies in my stomach. I knew it was going to be a late night. After class I went home and cracked open my old school English text books. I spent the remainder of the morning reading and studying sub-systems.I felt more confident the following night going into class.

We covered Jack. C. Richards’ five assumptions of communication in that week. Communication, interactional, appropriate, conventional and ability to convey meaning. These are key points that come into effect when teaching. One also has to remember how to ‘level’ lessons into beginners, intermediate and upper intermediate.

From there lessons became more interactive and the classroom environment was livelier. We covered how a class was taught, grammar, teaching theories as well as classroom management which included lesson planning, which is VITAL. In week two, Marianused games in class which enhanced our productivity. Her interactive teaching methods gave us insight as to what problems could arise and how we could amend them. Preparation is important. Repetition is too.

Our second week was a build up to the presentation we’d be giving on a chosen aspect of English. We’d each get 45 minutes to teach a lesson to the class. 45 minutes at first sounds daunting but when you’re up there and well prepared, the time flies and before you know it, you’re done. Presentations were spread over two days and were thoroughly entertaining, informative as well as stimulating. Marian’s comments on our presentations were one of the most important things about the course. Good suggestions were drawn. I gained a lot of courage in a short space and a much better understanding.

After two weeks of theory, we were onto practical training. One is only required to do 70 hours of training but I reckoned I’d take advantage of this time as I was not working. More hours of training just sounded better. In the end it would be to my advantage.

I assisted the upper intermediate class in my first week which consisted of two foreign students. The male student is from the DRC and the female student from Malaysia. The male student was reserved and silent but impressed me with regard to communicating. I was told his use of English improved drastically in just two months. The female had humour and a great laugh. Assisting her was a pleasure. I took notes while in class. I was a student again for the time being. On day four I taught half a lesson, which in all honesty, did not go very well. Teaching a lesson to my own class was a breeze as everyone spoke English fluently but this was going to be hard. Not only was my lesson not well structured but I was struggling to convey meaning. Thankfully the lecturer I was shadowing helped me through it all. He was real life-saver.

I was determined to get my point across, so I went into my bat cave and plotted my next lesson. I wanted to revise what we haddone the day before and run through some activities so that nothing was vague. I felt better when everything was clear. The lesson planning and classroom management served me well. I was getting into the swing of things. After a short break, it was onto the next subject. I was going to teach a foreign student Interjections (Ha! Wow! Hooray! Oh!). How to use it, when to use it and why we use it. The lesson was fun because I incorporated the use of comic books and graphic novels. You’ll find plenty of interjections in those. We also watched 15 minutes of The Ultimate Spider-man series as Spidey uses lots of interjections to express meaning.

An activity based lesson gave my student more of an understanding and insight. The lesson expanded into 3 hours. He asked lots of questions which was great because not only was he reading, writing and talking, he was also grasping the content.

 In my second week of practical training I assisted the intermediate classes. The lecturer I shadowed was so good. She was well preparedand the structure of her lessons was inspiring.

During my practical training I was always concerned about not finding work because all I have to my name are National Certificates and I’ve heard many countries are strict when it comes to qualifications such as NQF-level 6 diploma’s or degrees. So these lead me back to my old college to find out exactly what these certificates I hold are equivalent to. It turns out that if you hold a national certificate and you work in the field of your studies for over two years, you qualify for a diploma.

It’s strange how things work out. If I didn’t lose my job when I did, I would never have gotten an opportunity to do the TEFL course. If I didn’t do the TEFL course, I would never have gone back to college to find out that I qualify for a diploma. I’M GETTING A DIPLOMA!! That was truly a happy day.

When I look back and think about those late nights of studying and early mornings of preparation I see hours of learning and planning that’ll prepare me for the future. I’m not sure where I’ll land up. Japan, China, Korea or Russia but I welcome it with opens arms. A new chapter just waiting to be written.