Week 1:
I started Oxford TEFL on August 5th and taught my first lesson on August 7th.
(Our home away from home for 4 weeks, we were on the 3rd floor)
(Our actual home - Zboroska Flat)
There is no time for anxiety to build up - they throw you right into the deep end of the pool. I initially taught a Pre-Intermediate level class and found them to be delightful, yet challenging. They know enough English to get around, but not enough to get your jokes. It is quite humbling to be the teacher in a room where everyone else speaks at least two languages (usually more). I will never forget the lesson where the learners had to pretend to be a "celebrity" and fill their social calendars with "dates", Vojtech chose Kim Jong Il and went around the class telling everyone that he would love to meet them for dinner, a movie, or something else, but because he was the leader of a poor country with a big military they would have to pay for the date. Also, among my favorites were Lee (my learner for my Learner Profile 1:1 assignment), Anya (from Russia!), and Stanislov (Standa). I taught them for the first two weeks and really appreciate what a great experience they provided me as a first time teacher!
Oxford sponsor a Pub Night every Thursday when any affiliated with school (learner, trainee, tutor, etc.) can meet up and socialize. They held a special Quiz Night one of our first nights in town. Guess who was on the winning team? I got a 4 color white board marker set and a "Language Teacher's Survival Handbook".
Walking back to our flat we saw...
Tons of bats were flying all around this building.
Over the weekend lots of work! I had to complete my first assignment the Unknown Language Journal over the first weekend, and didn't get to go exploring at all. The class was split into two groups with one learning Irish (ugg! I wanted to learn Irish!) and one learning Japanese. The purpose is to help new teachers empathize with their learners and to steal some TEFL tricks from an experienced teacher. I learned that I am rubbish at Japanese, and gestures are really, really important in language immersion programs.
the Zboroska flatmates did go to dinner at a "Native American" restaurant down the street called WigWam. I think their idea of Native American covers anyone who is actually from America. The first thing we learned was that in Czech - nachos do not come with cheese...that is something you need to add to the order.
And even still, the cheese, is not what you might expect.
I ordered the chicken in cornflakes. It turned out to be chicken fingers. They were actually pretty tasty.
The sauce was really good. It was kind of a spicy not really ketchup thing. I love, though, how it is served with julienned raw veggies and a toasted baguette.
Week 2:
The second week was really busy. I had to recruit a 1:1 learner for my Learner Profile and have the initial one hour session to gather the samples (reading, writing, speaking) for the linguistic analysis. Friday of Week 2 it was already time for our mid-course appraisals. I spent Saturday working to complete the linguistic analysis so I could do something fund on Sunday.
Sunday I got up early and braved the tram system for the first time to attend church. The trams are not that intimidating once you have a working SIM card and data plan to help navigate your way around town. When I got off the tram I wasn't sure which way to walk. Luckily there was a women wearing a dress and a young man in a dark suit. BINGO! They are definitely headed the right way.
The branch in Prague has translation equipment available for Sacrament Meeting and Relief Society, while Sunday School is an all-English affair. I'm guessing that this is the only Prague branch/ward because there were a lot of missionaries in attendance. Several, of course, from Utah. One from Bristol, UK, and one from Farmington, NM where I ate the best sandwich ever not even a month ago. She was really surprised that I knew where Farmington was.
The oddest thing about the service was the Hymn book. I surreptitiously snapped a photo in RS, but it doesn't do justice to the odd numbering system they have.
After church, I went exploring at Prazsky Hrad and Charles Bridge - both on the 1000 Places list.
