Real World Teaching

Nothing prepares you better for teaching English as a foreign language better than getting up in front of a class and just doing some actual teaching. With many chances to observe other teachers and several practice classes guided by my own lesson plans that are followed by feedback from professionals, this program really helped me get ready for teaching English in China. We also put ourselves in the shoes of students by taking a mock foreign language class so we could understand how difficult it is and how important it is to have students participate. There was good exposure to the various teaching theories that we could apply to our classes. It is important to understand which techniques are effective for each type of student depending on their age, level, background and goals. One cannot forget grammar as well. Especially native speakers who know the rules, but might not be able to explain them very well without some prior review. I have a much better grasp on all these concepts after taking this teaching English as a foreign language course.