Universites Authorised TEFL

Why I decided to teach EnglishEnglish is a fun, distinctive and worldwide spoken language. I have learnt english on my own starting from the age of 5 or 6 years old, I remember watching an American movie at the time and wanted to become fluent like those beautiful actresses in the movie. My parents felt my strong desire to learn english and enrolled me in an after school english school. I was a very studious child and quickly became the best at english in my class. Growing up I kept going to the english school after class and started translating some of my favorite songs into both of my maternal languages which are Mandarin and french. I learned a lot that way and discovered words and grammar structures I have never seen in class before. I decided I wanted to study in America. I went, against my parents` will, and as soon as I arrived I loved hearing english everywhere and felt very comfortable. But as soon as I started speaking, Americans would ask me right away “where are you from?” They could tell I wasn`t a native english speaker unfortunately and it bothered me so much I thought I want to sound like an American! I started to listen carefully and practice my speech as much as I can, looked in phonetics and dictionaries, listened to songs more and more and finally by the time I had to return my home, When I met someone now, they would not ask me where I am from anymore and would be even surprised I was not American. I kept in touch with all my friends in America, not only because they were very nice people, but also because it was a great way for me to practice my english and not lose it as I returned home. I strangely missed America so much and felt like I belonged to that country more than my country of birth. I had the funny feeling I could express myself so much easier in english than in french or Mandarin. I realized I should find a way to include english part of my everyday living in order to diminish that emptiness I was feeling every time I wasn’t able to speak english, I decided to become a teacher and share my knowledge of english with foreigners of all ages. I found it very fulfilling and rewarding as soon as students were able to accomplish their homework, their business tasks using my english tips. I applied in bilingual schools and surprisingly I got turned down because I was not a native english speaker. I faced my first challenges in finding a teaching position and thought it was quite unfair at the time. I sounded more American than most of the other instructors and students would ask for my help or advises instead of their formal teachers in school. I decided to do research and encountered Teachers of english to Speakers of Other Languages TESOL and thought it would be a good way for me to get my chances evened out since I am myself a foreigner. I started the program online and was hoping that it would open up opportunities to teaching positions I could not apply for not being an english native speaker, and found it very interesting and useful as it covered a lot of grammar and class management points. As I am almost done with the course, and now polyglot (I speak Mandarin, french, Cantonese and japanese); I am very enthusiastic and motivated to be able to teach english to foreigners. I want to share and pass on my passion and knowledge I have gained throughout the years, learning on my own, going to class, with friends and through TESOL. I hope for the best and encourage anyone who is interested in learning english, that TESOL is a very good start or way to improve your personal language skills. Even if you have never taught before, TESOL provides a great range of information and tools you need to know and understand in order to become an excellent english Teacher for Foreign Learners.