Cactus Language Blog

Online Diary: TEFL in Seville from our Scholarship winner! (3)

Posted by Sarah under Cactus Languages Abroad, Cactus TEFL, Learning a language, Spanish

Anna Prime, winner of the Suzanne Furstner Scholarship 07, reports back from Week 3 of her TEFL & Spanish course in Seville (Week 3 of 6)

The insanity has not subsided, but the stress levels have. Luckily, the receptionist said that everybody who does this course tends to lose it a little bit, so we’re normal at least. The 12 of us in the group have spent so much time together it feels like a little family in a way; as in we irritate each other a lot and make fun of each other but help each other out a lot.

I’m feeling very pleased with myself because I just delivered my first hour-long lesson which went very well. I chose a topic and designed a the lesson completely independently from help all in one evening. It was based around a poem by EE Cummings. I wanted to enthuse the students to enjoy the music of the poem and its rhythm and get them to think about how it made them feel and what images came to mind. At the end of the lesson they wrote their own poems which were very sweet. I strongly feel that most language teaching is far too tedious and it really boosts students’ confidence when they are given a task to do with pure, personal opinion and no right or wrong answer. Language is, after all, primarily expressive of personal thought. It is not merely about information, it is an art form and should be respected as such. The students all left the lesson today with big smiles on their face and gave me a little round of applause, so I’m sure that my instincts on the importance of creativity were justified.

Now I can relax a bit (finally) because I don’t teach for another week. At last I can get some time to enjoy Seville. It’s such a gorgeous city, I’ve really fallen in love with it. It is the kind of place I could really see myself living for an extended time. If it weren’t for my university commitments I’d probably be looking for a flat and persuading my boyfriend to move to Spain. The city really feels too good to be true in a lot of the ways and the people are so friendly and likable. Tonight I think I will rent one of the public bikes, cycle around the twisting alleys and listen to the soft hum of Spanish laughter under the warm indigo sky.

Read more of Anna’s TEFL diary:

Week 1 ¦ Week 2 ¦ Week 3 ¦ Week 4 ¦ Weeks 5 & 6

Tags:Seville, spain, Spanish, Suzanne Furstner Scholarship, tefl