Cactus Language Blog

Cactus TEFL Open Evening Success in London

Posted by Sarah under Cactus TEFL, News

Laura Harrison, Cactus TEFL Advisor, reports back from our Cactus TEFL Open Evening in London

The third of our 2008 Open Evenings was held at the Guardian newsrooms in Farringdon on the 13th June and was, by all accounts, a resounding success.

Over 75 people came along to find out more about how to realise their TEFL projects, and were treated to presentations by Trinity College’s Head of TESOL, Jenny Pugsley, one of Cambridge ESOL’s most experienced teacher trainers and assessors, Conrad Heynes, and Director of Human Resources at Saxoncourt Recruitment, Ian Holden.

Attendees were educated about the benefits of taking either a Trinity Cert TESOL or Cambridge CELTA course, along with what to expect on the course, and what they will be able to achieve through gaining a qualification such as this. Work-wise, Ian was able to give expert advice on what to consider before looking for, or accepting work, and where prospective EFL teachers are most likely to find a job.

Flying the flag for Cactus TEFL were Sarah Wilson, who shared her expert knowledge on who takes TEFL courses, why they take them and the different types of courses available and Richard Bradford, who highlighted expertly to everyone why the ELA course can be so benefical..and why initiating conversations on the difference between the present simple and present perfect at a dinner party will not get you a repeat invite.

At the end of proceedings Laura Harrison also took the opportunity provided by 75 fresh faces to talk (at length) about her experiences during an amazing trip to visit a quality, friendly and rapidly-expanding EFL employer, ILA Vietnam, earlier this year. Photos were included, but fortunately for everyone, a detailed slide show had been vetoed…

Giving the evening a more interactive element, Hussein Saygineren (a teacher from one the evening’s main sponsors, ISIS school of English) got everyone involved in a highly-enjoyable Turkish lesson. This gave everyone a real taste of what it’s like to learn a language from scratch using the ‘communicative’ method, and reminded everyone how rusty the grey cells can become if we don’t exercise them enough!

One more exciting and especially pertinent component to the evening was the announcement of the Suzanne Furstner Foundation’s annual scholarship, set up in memory of our former Head of TEFL, Suzanne, who was tragically killed two years ago this spring. This year’s fantastic scholarship prize is a 4-week TEFL Course with a 2-week Spanish language course in Latin America, including accommodation and return travel to the UK (or equivalent), an amazing prize I’m sure anyone will agree, so get those entries in quick!

Tags:EFL, Guardian, open evening, Suzanne Furstner Scholarship, tefl, Vietnam