My Future Job in TEFL
Ok, so I’ve come up with a tentative plan that I’m really excited about.
I’m going to be getting my TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) certification in San José (Rohrmoser, to be precise). This certification will take 3 weeks (it’s a 120 hour course) and when I finish, I’ll be certified (although I guess that doesn’t necessarily make me qualified) to teach English.
This is what the course looks like:
80 hours in-class: learn how to best teach reading, writing, speaking, and listening; prepare lesson plans; practice teaching
40 hours online: grammar awareness; how to teach vocab; games & lesson planning; lots more
20 hours grammar: this is self-explanatory (I hope)
That equals 140 hours. They said it was 120 hours. Liars!
I then plan to teach English in Costa Rica for about 30 hours/week. Now, this may not sound like a lot to you, but it’s plenty. You see, students don’t come to me; I go to my students. This means that I will be traveling on the bus to their locations, thus upping my weekly hours to more than 40. This is also why I needed to buy my new laptop; I need to have my lesson plans portable and with me at all times. Anyway, my students will most likely not be little children (although I LOVE kids!), but adults who use English at the workplace. Their employers hire me to teach their employees English (sometimes Business English), and so I usually will be at their offices when I teach.
I think that after a year or so of teaching, I’ll be ready to get my masters in TEFL from the UCR. Hopefully I will get in. From what I hear, the UCR is notoriously hard to get into. But I did pretty well in college, I have great references, and I plan to rock my students’ world. 
Hopefully, I’ll be fine.
If you haven’t seen my countdown counter, go see it and be as excited as I am!
I think you will be a super duper nice teacher
And you will rock in the university :D, and well remember that the process to be admitted in the masters program is different than being admitted to the bachelors program…
If you have a good references from UVA, you will be admitted :D, promise.
Espero verte pronto en la U… especialmente en mis clases
This is so exciting and right, right up your alley! I have a feeling the traveling to meet your students at their offices will bring amazing stories and many fun memories.
The master’s program would be lucky to have you
Next Saturday, I’m beginning a training program in my town to be a literacy tutor. There’s also an opportunity to work with Spanish speaking students, which I feel will be a great learning exchange.
I’ll be sure to keep ya posted with this adventure! Felicitaciones en tu mapa del futuro
Sounds like a GREAT plan Erin! I’m excited for you that you figured out what you want to do and it’s also something that you will enjoy doing. Congrats! I wish you all the best!
If the people at the UCR are smart, they’ll let you in. All they have to do is notice your hard work, great personality and intelligence. If not, they’re doo-doo heads, and you don’t want to go to a place that hires doo-doo heads anyways. Good luck!
Hey Erin- TEFL sounds like a great fit for you. You’ll get your foot in the door for many possibilities. I was going to get my TESOL cert. last summer but ended up not- it’s something I want to do one day too. anyways, you’re gonna be an awesome teacher!!
Sounds like you have figured it all out.and I am certain that you’ll be able to pull it off. Later on I can give you an email address of some lady I know who might help you find a job …at least you can get some additional info from her. and that’s usually helpful huh?
I am really glad you’re gonna live amongst us. You dont have to worry at all, you have people who support you 24/7 and want you to get a costa rican passport…and if there’s anything I can do to help you feel at home, just say the word!!!!
I will get you some peanut butter from time to time so you dont miss that sort of thing. Not that I complained not having gallo pinto while I was in calfornia….
But it’s good that you know what you wanna do, where you’re headed for…and I send you my good vibes for you to become a kick ass teacher. I would forget the english I know so that I could have a teacher like you. I wouldnt bring an apple though. make that a pineapple….or a mango??
buena suerte. you got my support !
Aww… you guys are really sweet. I appreciate your support! And any time you need some English lesson, here I am.
I’m such a smartass. I know you love it.