My Life after CELTA

After another terrible night's sleep, my wee body behaved like a terribly confused old pensioner. I still need to figure out why my inner alarm clock goes off at midnight every day and wakes and keeps me up till 5 a.m. when I feel so terribly exhausted that I fall asleep like a sick sloth. I've been able to control it for weeks - more precisely, since the advent of the colder season - but it seems I must re-adjust my circadian rhythm according to the real-time.  The weather was disgusting today. It started snowing at 9 a.m., and by 11 o'clock, a 10-centimetre-thick snow layer covered the land. It looked alright. However, when I walked to the city centre to meet Ági, the snow turned into frozen rain, making our return home resemble an arctic journey. And it's been raining since - it's still pouring relentlessly. The weather forecast predicts more rain - probably some snow - with the additional sleet. The greyness of the sky puts off everyone.

I woke up at half past midnight because of the wind. I couldn't go back to sleep, so I jumped out of bed and went down to the basement. I checked my submitted CELTA assignments, lesson plans, tutor feedback sheets, and my self-reflections. What an unbelievable journey the CELTA course was. This time last year, I was about to hand in my second assignment and the plans for my fourth teaching practice. I remember how anxious and nervous I was, and I wanted to quit several times. However, now I'm glad I didn't turn my back on the course. It was a hell of a ride! My class with the A2 level group today was about reviewing the previous lessons. I created a plan that contained the most challenging parts of the previous lessons. They seemed to enjoy it, and they did a fantastic job. Apart from a few minor mistakes, their performance was top-notch. The weather was beautiful today. Even though the highest temperature was around +1-2°C, the sunshine compensated this freezing cold. Unfo...

I wanted to wake up early in the morning. And I did, and I even switched off the alarm clock, but right after starting to ponder on my schedule, I lost consciousness and fell into a deep coma-like state. When I woke up again, it was already 7 a.m. I hurried downstairs to make up for my early morning mistake, but it was already too late for that.  Anyway, after breakfast and the much-needed coffee, I buckled down to write the e-letter to the tax office. Even though they'd told me what to write yesterday, I was struggling with putting my thoughts into printed letters. Taxation and accountancy are not my cup of tea, and its vocabulary is so far away from me than Tokyo, but I wrote and sent the letter eventually. My English class with Charlette was fantastic. My progress since I started taking lessons from her baffles me every time during and after the class. I'm still light-years away from being a native speaker, but the gap between my English and the CPE is getting smaller and sm...

Bureaucracy has been at its peak for a good few decades. Even the most insignificant chores require the involvement of dozens of embittered officials, who, with their inadequate responses, can destroy all our hopes in a split second we cast into humanity. Nevertheless, should we bump into someone showing signs of expertise, it's still not an insurance of success. Sometimes, these individuals can cause more trouble, but the funny thing is they think highly of themselves. However, more often than not, these human beings can cause more harm with their incompetence. If I point out their mistakes, they go mad and angry. They play the victim card immediately, and their answers contain disdain, contempt, and pique. Their stance is: I only wanted to help! The saying that the path to hell is paved with goodwill is no coincidence.  I had to visit the Hungarian National Tax Office today. Despite the lady's benevolence, who helped us navigate the intricate world of accounting and tax, she ...

The warm days are officially over. The Northern wind brought cold air and snowy clouds, so the unusually warm period was replaced swiftly. A week ago, the highest temperature was well above the usual average temperatures. Still, today, the temperature is well below the typical average. The higher peaks saw some snow today, and the continuous cold front will bring more and more snow in the next few days. The freezing wind made our walks rather unpleasant, and even Abby was miffed about it during her afternoon walk. After doing what she had to do - it only took her 4 minutes - she turned back and dragged me home like a sled dog. I didn't learn nor plan another lesson today because I wanted to plan my schedule, which has been a tad hectic and erratic recently. I need to find time to structure my days much better than I've done in the last few months. I know the reasons, and I'm not going to moan about it at all. I'm glad we could renovate the house this year, and the progr...

Winter is back. It's cold outside. The sun rises at 7:03 a.m. and seats at 3:57 p.m. The walks in the freezing wind are anything but pleasant. We found ourselves wanting more than anything to sleep for hours under thick, warm blankets. (I wrapped a winter blanket around my waist, even though it's not cold in the house.) Anyway, the planned class today must have been postponed due to the internet hiccups Roya experienced and reported yesterday. Fortunately, Ági was keen on learning more, so we decided to check the past simple and continuous and the present perfect simple and continuous tenses. I used the definitions and tasks in my Destination C1&C2 book to explain and practice them. Despite being exposed to the heavy tasks and the tense explanations, Ági did a marvellous job. Undoubtedly, her analytical and language-oriented brain will help her process the information and use these tenses properly, provided that I expose her to more relevant tasks.

The last-minute lesson plan change did good for my class today. Even though I wanted to do a review lesson, I changed my mind, re-created it, and turned it into a listening practice. I think I made the right call. She enjoyed the class, and so did I. Anyway, the class was good, and after finishing it, we had a chat about her motivation, progress, and how I saw her during the classes.  The weather is changing. Even though the highest temperature was around +8-10°C, the northern wind made it feel much colder; no wonder Abby's evening walk was brisk and short. She did what she had to in five minutes, and right after the final act, she turned towards the house, signalling she was ready to go home. The weather forecast predicts much colder temperatures, wind, and snow.  Hello Winter! 🥶 ❄️  By the same token, in a month, it's Christmas 🎄 . And the end of the year. So, even though it feels like we've just started 2023, the year is ending astonishingly soon. We'll have plenty...

I felt much better today than yesterday. The vitamins mitigated the symptoms of this life-threatening man-flu disease, and my mood aligned with that. The recurring onset of the severe symptoms this afternoon worsened the overall picture. Anyway, I hope my immune system conquered this irritating disease. Apart from a few adjustments, I'm almost ready with my lesson plans. I completed the beginner and the advanced syllabuses. Tomorrow, I'll have to check the advanced lesson plan and practice how to teach it. The weather is getting colder, and the warmer days are over. Tomorrow will bring significantly colder air, so winter will greet us with low temperatures. The last few months were unusually warm, but from next week, we may even have snow. It's been a while since we last saw some snow in Hungary. I don't miss it, as the street we live in is quite steep, and shovelling the snow is not my cup of tea. But what else can we expect at the end of November or the beginning of D...

My recovery seems to be longer than expected. Although there is nothing to complain about. Strictly speaking, there are no other symptoms besides the slightly sore throat and the weakness, so my wee system heals itself in record time. It could have been the latest variant of COVID-19 or merely the flu. What surprised me was how much I enjoyed the inhalation today. Right after being exposed to the hot steam session - I added chamomile, salt, and menthol oil to the boiling water - I fell asleep again. It wasn't difficult if I'm being completely honest with myself. My head was wrapped in a huge towel, and I looked like a Touareg-wanna-be with severe mental problems.  But let's move on and focus on my lesson planning. I completed my beginner student's class, and there are a couple of enhancements I need to apply to Ági's lesson plan, but these are only minor issues I must fix, and the plan will be ready. Meanwhile, my books - some of them with audio files - arrived, and...

This persistent ruddy flu does my head in. Even though my throat wasn't sore and I felt better after waking up, my system gave up the fight by the end of the afternoon. Once the class was over with Charlette, which was excellent btw., I thought I'd prepare a folk remedy - boiling water with chamomile, salt, and menthol oil, and inhale for about 15 minutes. No sooner had my symptoms begun to deteriorate than I finished the inhalation process. I felt dizzy and weak, so I decided to have a kip. When I came to after a 40-minute-long slumber, I instantly knew I had a fever. My body temperature wasn't extremely high - +37°C - but it was just enough basis for a nice, silent, pain-of-the-world-on-my-face type of man-flu-tantrum. Women might laugh at this terrible condition, but little do they know about how much men suffer at these times. Anyway, apart from a slightly sore throat, a gentle fever, and a general bad mood, there are no other sinister symptoms. Fortunately, Ági is as h...

We met an old dog-walker acquaintance of ours last Friday. We were happy to see her and her two dogs - one of them is a King Charles Cavalier Spaniel, like Abby, and the other one is a fourteen-year-old who knows what breed of a dog, whom we met several times while Myke and Lizi were with us. While in the middle of the conversation, she suddenly spilt the beans about her husband lying in bed with COVID-19. We didn't pay too much attention to this information, but after returning home, we immediately began our disinfection program. We thought we were on the safe side. And we did, at least for a couple of days afterwards, but today, I felt like a piece of useless old git. It all started after breakfast when I felt soreness in my throat. I thought it was an insignificant little sensation due to the warm coffee I slurped rapidly. Oblivious to the fact that it could have been the symptom of something more than a sore throat, I went to the basement to devise the next classes' syllabu...

I wanted to go shopping this morning, but my sleeping centre thought otherwise. And when I say shopping, it obviously means buying food. I can't stand visiting malls or outlets unless I really need something that can be purchased in these places. The suffocating crowd that flocks and knocks about there is terribly irritating, let alone the musac, which consists of only commercialised Christmas songs at this time of the year. So, after sleeping in again, I had a delicious cinnamon pancake breakfast and a strong espresso, which made my day. The caffeine ignited my mind, and I was ready to rumble in my little office. However, since Ági had a terrible night's sleep and woke up at 3 a.m., I offered her a relaxing foot massage. Fortunately, she didn't hesitate for a moment to accept it. Anyway, while fiddling with her feet, I watched silly videos on YouTube. The Karen videos are fabulous. Even though they are funny, the sad reality of them being arrogant, ignorant, and entitled m...

We got a taste of winter today. After a long and windy Friday - the wind has blown ferociously since yesterday morning - which brought much colder air above us, today was quite chilly. We popped into town to post some goods Ági'd sold on the internet, and even though the walk per se was pleasant, the strong wind couldn't make it desirable. We can't really complain about the weather returning to its normal temperatures towards the end of November, right?  The class I taught today was all right. My plan worked, and I could remain within the allocated sixty minutes, which is quite an achievement, I would say. Planning is one of my strengths, and it has been acknowledged today and during the CELTA course. I reviewed the syllabus several times, calculated how much time each stage would require, and guesstimated how my students would react. I was lucky as things panned out eventually. After the last few classes I've taught recently, I started to believe in myself. I'm wel...

Today was windy, and not in the sense of me being windy - it wouldn't surprise anyone, though. It was much colder than yesterday, which forebodes the imminent inrush of the pre-winter weather. I'm still not a big fan of late sunrise and early sunset, let alone the grey skies and days without sunshine. Walking with Abby in the evening was anything but pleasant, and the gale-force wind from the northwest ensured that none of us enjoyed the walk. I'd love to write about my thoughts and ideas, but planning the lesson for tomorrow took my time. It is challenging to devise a plan for the C1 level students because it is so high that even I need help with some of the topics this level requires. Even though this process is challenging, I enjoy it tremendously. 

Using a book to teach English is not the worst idea. Nevertheless, considering the book as the sole source and neglecting creative deviations from the syllabus is not advisable. Authors of language books often claim their approach is the best, asserting that it provides learners with a solid foundation for building a rich vocabulary and strong language skills. However, what exactly constitutes this foundation? In what order should grammatical, semantical, and syntactical elements be presented? To what extent should teachers delve into details while imparting information and knowledge to learners?  Answering these questions is challenging, not just because I'm a novice in teaching English but also because CELTA highlighted something essential that should be at the core of language teaching and learning. A clear understanding of students ' needs can be achieved through pre-teaching interviews, where teachers define learners' goals, habits, and the optimal teaching approach. T...

I asked ChatGPT and BING to help me detect mistakes students are prone to make at the A2, B1, B2, and C1 levels. The tools were supposed to write five sentences at each level containing typos and various grammatical, syntactical, and semantical mistakes, among which some must have been flawless - to make my life more difficult. After the third set of sentences, both tools started to produce the same mistakes and write frighteningly similar sentences, so I left them. My class today with the A2-level group was quite good. They enjoyed the listening practice, and I could boost the retired lady's confidence. Today's performance during the listening task was way better than the first time she'd heard a recording. I was pleased to see how she tried to concentrate and focus on the not-so-easy conversation and how much she could understand, even though she felt otherwise. When I asked her about the text, she described it perfectly. The weather was interesting today. It's still ...

I'll be succinct today with my diary. Not that I couldn't write about my day, my English class with Charlette, and other equally important topics. I simply couldn't find time to organise my thoughts; therefore, it is best if I don't blabber here at all. I'll probably be more productive tomorrow.

The quickness of the passing time is hypnotic, but simultaneously, it is shocking. Christmas is just over a month away, so the year's end is around the corner. I gave up pondering about the yearly cycles long ago because the notion of periodically making decisions as if something new had been going to start is futile. The Earth is circling around the Sun unceasingly in a galaxy we call home, which on a cosmical scale is merely a tiny little fraction of the universe, which is constantly expanding. And we all know how the young Alvy Singer in Annie Hall felt about this: "Well, the universe is everything, and if it's expanding, someday it will break apart...".  Anyhoo, even though the calendar indicates we are in the middle of November, the weather still doesn't exhibit the signs of late autumn. The trees seem to struggle with deciding when to lose the foliage, and quite surprisingly, some of them keep green leaves on the branches. This time last year, all the leaves...

Today was a typical sunny autumn day. After a chilly morning, today's highest temperature was around +11-12°C, but when we took Abby for her evening walk, we could see our breaths. However, the next two days will bring rain and warmer temperatures, so the real autumn is yet to come. According to the meteo-men, the El Niño phenomenon's effects will be long-lasting, bringing more rain and warmer temperatures than usual. Moreover, they said, next year would be warmer than this year was, so chances are records will be broken, which is a cause of great concern in light of the already warm summers. Nice prospects, I must say!

The weather was horrible today. Except for the chilly but dry morning, the day was too windy, rainy, cold, and depressing. It wasn't the amount of rain that vexed me. Anyway, in six more weeks, 2023 will be over. I'm not going to ponder on how 2024 will be or how the world will see Biblical portents. I will only focus on: Ági - she's been and will be the most important person in my life. Focusing on our future, getting old together, and planning our last decades on Earth is my number one topic. Abby - this little rascal wagged herself into our lives quite forcefully, but after three and a half years, she is one of us. My English teaching - I'll continue to hone my skills, my English learning and teaching. My focus should be on my CPE exam plans despite the long road. Securing our future - somehow, we must come to terms with the fact that time is not on our side anymore. The dangerously fast passing of time scares me sometimes, so we need to take precautions in time. As ...

The reason I prefer tailor-made lessons to the traditional following-the-language-book method is that even though devising the syllabus is a tad more challenging, the reward of successfully teaching something is indescribable. I still can add the essential topics recommended by the language books, but the flexibility definitely gives teachers and students a stronger basis to cooperate and trust each other. This is essential to be able to hone the weaker topics a student might struggle with, and by strengthening the weak skills, students can deepen their knowledge and their confidence soars, which can help maintain and improve their motivation. Gosh, this sounded like a piece of the annual report from the International Teachers' Conference on Methodology and Pedagogy.  Anyway, my student enjoyed the class today, and despite leaving out half of the planned lesson, we made notable progress. She is a natural talent in language learning, and even though we only scratch the surface of gr...

It took me a day to complete my next student's syllabus. After checking up on how to proceed tomorrow, we agreed to review and add only a few new things to the lesson. So, with this in mind, I did the following: Creating the structure of the class. Filling up the vocabulary review section with words from the previous lessons, particularly the ones she had difficulties with. Adding the transcript of the latest listening exercise to practice reading. Creating the clarifying section, in which we can go through the topics she had issues with. Creating a new vocabulary, in which I hid a couple of words she could be familiar with to increase her self-confidence. And finally, the tenses part, in which we'll clarify the simple past and future tenses.  Once the structure was ready, I could fill them up with content. Even though I had several ideas on how to make it more effective, I had to contain myself and prune the extensive amount of new information. I tremendously enjoyed the proce...

Well, my students seemed to enjoy the class today. After carefully planning the lesson, I came up with a fairly good syllabus about giving directions. I started the class with the previously discussed review section, during which we reviewed some of the vocabulary from the previous lessons. They did a fantastic job translating the Hungarian words into English and vice versa.  We moved on to the new vocabulary section when we completed the list. I brought seven new words - I know I'm supposed to focus on four or five new words, but this is what they'd asked me to do, so I kept my promises - and besides, they knew some of them, the context I provided them with helped them a lot - as well as the eliciting questions - to find out the meaning of each unknown words. Once we completed this section, we moved on to the next chapter: checking the previously learned vocabulary. I created a list with the essential words and expressions and asked them to check the items and tell me what the...

The highlight of the day was my class with Charlette. I can't emphasise it enough, but she is the best. I never watch the clock during classes with her, and those sixty minutes fly by like a rocket. Although I was not content with my performance - mind you, when will I ever be? - I was pleased with my speech and reading. They got light-year better during the last two and a half years. My confidence level is much higher than it was. And, if it hadn't been for her, I wouldn't have been able to achieve such significant progress, let alone complete the CELTA course. She truly is a magnificent teacher.  I installed the LED lights in my office in the basement. I had to do something about the place because there are no windows here, and the only natural light source is the door that opens to the back garden. Even though there are panes of glasses in the doors, the early dusk turns the cosy office into an obscure dungeon. Now, my office looks a bit better with those colourful LEDs ...

After ruminating on my next class, the thought of simplifying the lesson struck me with the force of a cartoon anvil. (I stole this metaphor from J. K. Rowling's commencement address.) Even though my initial plan seemed bulletproof, I had to admit I was wrong. With this and the principle of "less is more" in mind, I carefully restructured the plan, took away words and rephrased instructions. The spruced-up plan seems challenging, even with these modifications. I'll need to put the finishing touches to the plan, but it only will require thirty more minutes. Fingers crossed that they'll like the class. We had to run a few errands today, so we jumped in the car and drove off. The shops are brimming with the accessories of the commercial version of Christmas. The musac in the shops is Christmasy; they play the same tunes over and over again. The decoration is overwhelmingly Christmassy: there are little lights and candles everywhere, the manifestation of some stoned d...

I hope, my pre-hibernating state will disappear soon. I'm not saying that I don't enjoy it since my summer was a nightmare in terms of sleepless or interrupted night's sleep after all. However, this constant drowsiness is a tad vexing. Why can't I simply hit the sack and sleep through the night uninterrupted, and wake up the next morning full of energy? Right now, I feel like a sluggish grizzly before winter trying to find its way to its cave. Even after Ági's foot massage, I had to take a horizontal position because my eyes were acting weirdly. They couldn't resist gravity, so I had to plop myself down and have a short kip. I thought I'd slumber a bit, but when the alarm went off after 15 minutes, I knew I had to jump out of the chair, otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to avoid falling into a coma-like sleep. I felt like I was on the verge of losing control over my conscious self. It was like balancing on a thin rope over a precipice, unable to resis...

Apparently, my system resembles a hibernating bear's before winter sets in. This day passed so quickly that I can hardly recollect what happened. I was sleepy throughout the day, and despite the strong espresso I had after lunch, I had to lie down at 2 p.m. and have a kip. After this half-coma-like slumber, which lasted 45 minutes, even though it felt like 2 minutes, I felt like a haggard hamster completing a marathon. My limbs were as heavy as my eyelids, and while I tried to pull my thoughts together, I couldn't form any reasonable idea. I tried to initiate a rational conversation with chatGPT, but I had to admit I wasn't ready for anything more complex than having high tea and surviving the rest of the day. Let's face it; months of sleepless nights took their toll, and my weak system tried to make up for those wake nights. During the afternoon walk, I thought I would fall asleep on every corner. Even now, when I'm writing this entry, it is challenging to keep my ...

I had an intriguing chat with AI today. After teaching a class to my beginner student, I asked chatGPT to create a mnemonic story for me using the words I wanted to memorise. These were rescind, rebuke, respite, rebuff, and rebut. I was astonished, baffled, and simultaneously frightened by the rate at which it wrote a 15-sentence-long story containing these words. Not only that, but also the story made sense, and the context checked out, so it did a great job. Actually, I was so impressed by the accuracy of its response that I thought we could have a chat about AI's interpretation and understanding of consciousness and existence. Its response to these questions made it clear that even though it uses a language model consisting of several meticulously devised pattern recognition based on algorithms that can access an enormous database, it doesn't seem to have its own consciousness yet. After pushing these issues and asking more and more questions on the subject, its responses be...

I had so many nice thoughts throughout the day, but somehow, I lost them on the way back home after our late afternoon walk. Besides, I didn't feel like writing today, let alone speaking. During my English class with Charlette, I stuttered like an extremely shy one-year-old toddler. I still have to figure out what happened to my wee brain today, and I'm hoping it's nothing sinister or portent of any brain deterioration. Anyway, Charlette"s lesson was phenomenal. It was challenging, but it highlighted several aspects of my English that need more attention, as well as learning and mastering a language, including one's native language, is a lifelong process. So, with this in mind, I'll sleep much better tonight. At least, I hope I will.

Today is All Saints' Day, and tomorrow is the Day of the Dead. Only today is a public holiday in Hungary, and tomorrow, everybody must get back to work. And it's just as well. It's good to stop for a moment occasionally and think back to the times when we were much younger. Recollecting memories, even those that might be painful, helps us remember where we came from and what we've accomplished so far. It reminds us not to make mistakes our ancestors and parents made but to focus on our not-so-long future. Even though we are not old, although, at the age of 53, one wouldn't make preparations for their first ball, five decades bear a tangible weight on our shoulders. If things go well, we can enjoy ten more productive years in the job market, but beyond our sixth decade, employability becomes uncertain. And it's just as well. However, life is short. And the few decades we might have will be going so fast that we won't be able to recognize the speed at which ye...