Teacher-Lady says "Good Morning, Class"

Another eternity without updating, but I have been rather busy. I think I can keep things more up to date if I don't aim for a long meaningful post, so perhaps there will be short missives from the ESL front.

Update #1: I got my CELTA! I am now certified to teach English as a Second Language. CELTA was good, I learned a lot about the structure of a good lesson, methodology that is/isn't effective, and good tricks for the classroom. I can't say I learned much about English itself, which is perhaps one failing of the course as there are many times as a native speaker I have no idea why English works the way it does, but it is an area that I can and will work on. It is frustrating for students when they expect there is a logical answer for why English behaves a given way, and all you can say is, "it...just...does?"

Update #2: I live in Manhattan! It has been two years of wildly drastic living area changes, from Masuda to Hamilton to NYC, and I barely feel like I belong here, but I am certain in time I will get used to it. Four of us are sharing an apartment, keeping the rent manageable, but the location certainly helps. Washington Heights is certainly not Downtown, but it has its personality. I am going to learn Spanish and work my way into the community, if for no other reason than I miss throwing myself upon the hospitality of foreign individuals. Cultures: there are many that are different from mine. But how do I know for sure if I don't try them out? Also, I can only speak for certain points of view from some Mexican, Ecuadorian, and Dominican individuals I have met, but they might be more pushy about getting married and having cute babies than my Japanese students were, and I found the Japanese students to be rather obsessed. I have not told most of my current students my age, but they are all convinced it's high time to have at least one child - but two would be better. And of course, this comes from their own experiences as most of the young women I have talked to from these countries have a child or two, married or not.

The saddest part for me though is when they talk about having left their "babies" in their native country and how they haven't seen them in a while. I can't imagine what that decision must be like, but I have a few questions I would love to ask. Are they having these children because they want to, or do they lack the information and resources to make their own reproductive decisions? I can see how a child you did not plan for could be perceived as a burden to leave behind in search of better opportunities. But that's not the feeling I get from them since they tell me so proudly about their kids, so perhaps it is something else. Are opportunities that limited in their own country that leaving their child behind with family for years can feel like a good decision? One woman hasn't seen her child in five years. She will be six or seven when she sees her mom again. But then again, we tend to view family in the more nuclear sense here, and perhaps we over-emphasize the relationship between parents and children. Maybe the mother-child bond is weak, but the kid has a great relationship with the grandparents or aunts and uncles. Maybe it doesn't really matter who is taking care of the kid as long as someone is. But it is a new idea for me, and I would love to know more someday.

Update #3: I am an English teacher (duh?). I am officially hired at a school and I have real, regular students, and a real, regular schedule. I memorize names, and try to have a structure to my classes, and generally give everyone their money's worth. I'm looking to branch out into private lessons, but I still feel a little unsteady in some areas, such as TOEFL prep and really advanced students. The super advanced students are the one who know more English than I do, I think, and can throw around crazy grammar terms like nobody's business. They scare me still. So I'm reading a grammar reference book to prepare my grammar arsenal, and in the meantime I am making up flyers that I will some day print and distribute. Know anyone who needs to learn some English...?

That's all I got now, stay tuned for more ESL missives? Just don't ask me where godzilla and the tea went....