Comments on: And it’s no movie, there’s no Michelle Pfeiffer

By: Eve

Eve — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 19:43:51 +0000

Hey, I just came across your blog by chance. Today, I got a letter in the post from Strasbourg offering me a place in Selestat also (lycee). I’m really looking forward to the whole experience. I know exactly how it feels to be worrying about lesson plans! I teach French and Maths at the moment. Would you have any info/advice on the area? Living there? Things to do in the town? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you! Eve, Ireland

By: Catherine

Catherine — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 07:59:40 +0000

Your job sounds horrible and makes mine sound like a cakewalk. Yet I still want to do this teaching English thing.

I miss you, Vicky.

By: limelicious

limelicious — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 16:10:32 +0000

Lesson plans are bunk! I think about them on my 5 min walk or 20 min bus ride to tutor. It includes : “OMG WHAT AM I GOING TO TALK ABOUT TODAY. What news are there that we all know about?” Inevitably, I will think of some news I heard or some social difficulty I am experiencing i.e. my room is so small… and then spend an hour teaching them all the vocab to housing situations. i.e. what is a duplex? a den?

But I totally understand being tired after teaching. All the concentration required to catch their mistakes, trying to understand what they are trying to say (bad grammer and all), and showing them infinite patient, even thoguh you had spent the last 2 lessons correcting them the same mistake. (i.e. puttint the word ‘be’ in front of every verb). yes, its very taxing. But work is work and you are in France.

By: Lorenzo

Lorenzo — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 09:26:31 +0000

Making lesson plans is one of the worst homework assignments ever: I do agree on this point, Vicky even if I joined the side of the barricade you’re fighting in just for a short time.

But, hey, you know what? If I had had the opportunity of learning English just a couple of times a month in the way they’re doing in your school, it would have been great!
Unfortunately we had a 60 years old Italian mother tongue teacher who had gone for the last time in an English speaking country maybe 10 years before and was just popular because she was smoking with us in the courtyard.
We were never making presentation. We were never speaking a proper English. We didn’t know anything about pronunciation. Classmates pronouncing, say, “friends” in the Italian way (phree-and-zzz) had A markings. I had C.

Long live Professeure Tam! In Sélestat they hired the right one (unless you should think something for putting some journalism (noodling around?) into those French Dangerous Minds ;o)