My Life after CELTA

I became exceptionally miffed when I woke up in the middle of the night with a stuffy nose. For a moment, I thought I was hallucinating. But reality hit me with a sixteen-ton weight. Actually, it is not a full relapse; it is a mild cold that tries to vex me. And it does because the cold feet I experienced today were the portents of how COVID started in December. The good news is, despite all the unpleasant symptoms, it is not showing signs of anything sinister; therefore, the annoying aspect of my (our) current condition is that COVID's long-term side effects are not entirely gone. The weather was freezing today. Taking Abby for her walks was a real challenge each time. Traipsing the freezing streets didn't have the usual pleasant feeling that could uplift one's spirit. This unpleasantness was written all over Abby's face when I wanted to drag her to another corner. She insisted on going home and behaved like a canine compass, showing the right direction to home instead...

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...

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. 

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 ...

Today was the first day I felt no frustration while preparing and teaching the lesson. I planned a review lesson, but since only one of the students attended the class, I had to change the plan on the spot. I drilled the listening exercise with the lady, and by the end of the lesson, she was confident about her abilities and understanding of the text. I was over the moon to see her trying hard to understand the text's meaning, which was challenging as the girl's speech was fast, and her accent was sometimes below standard. Anyway, the breakthrough occurred after the first half of the listening, and by the end, I didn't need to repeat the sentences over and over again. She got all of them right. The weather was terrible today. The day started with cloudy skies and rain. Even though the clouds disappeared at 2 p.m. and the air was warmer than usual, I didn't like today's weather. And I won't like Friday either, since according to the latest weather forecast, we mu...

I slept in today. I heard the alarm go off at 6:00 a.m., but I couldn't care less, so I switched it off and went back to sleep. I shouldn't have to. I woke up at 8:00 a.m. with my eyes puffed up like that of an enormous pufferfish. Anyway, after breakfast, we jumped in the car and drove to IKEA because I wanted to buy new curtains for my little office. The products were disappointing, so we hurried home without spending a penny. Although, we couldn't resist the temptation and grabbed some cakes in the Swedish cafeteria.  After returning home, I gave Ági a foot massage. Then we had lunch. Ági prepared pizza, which was divine. While devouring the nosh, we watched another episode from the last season of Doctor House. This series is ending soon, which is good since the writers clearly couldn't come up with any genuine idea, so it became pretty boring. Another series is on the way, the Swiss one we loved so much while it was on air on NETFLIX, "Der Bestatter". The ...

Needless to say, how my night was; therefore, it is much easier to focus on what during the wake hours happened.  After finishing the delicious breakfast and gulping the much-needed coffee, I went to study. Today I asked ChatGPT to assist me in error correction. It gave me five random sentences containing various mistakes at the B1, B2, and C1 levels each and waited for my input. It then checked the sentences I failed to correct and explained what went wrong and what I should have to rectify. It went well, and I was pleased with myself, for I spotted every error ChatGPT hid in the sentences. Today I was responsible for lunch, so I prepared a delicious spaghetti with tuna. While devouring the nosh, we watched another episode of Doctor House, which we enjoyed. When I drank another coffee, it dawned on me that I had to prepare for the Saturday class lesson, so as soon as the last sip of coffee found its way into my system, I grabbed the book and started planning the lesson. It's still...

I'm becoming more and more tired of the heat. I can feel the weariness in my body, and even though I try to replenish the batteries, the restless nights take their toll. Despite switching on the AC units in the attic, the roof worked like a huge radiator heating up the upstairs area, and as a result, the temperature in the bedroom was +23°C yesterday night, but after waking up, the thermometer showed +27°C. Nevertheless, it's still not as bad as in Southern Europe, where the temperatures were soaring during the last few weeks. "El Niño" has a terrible, devastating effect globally. Apart from my moaning about the weather, a lot happened today. Despite waking up late - I fell asleep at 6 a.m. and couldn't get out of bed til 7:45 a.m. - and having breakfast, I buckled down to plan the Saturday lesson at 9:30 a.m. I enjoyed the process. I think I made a decent lesson and can hardly wait to teach Ági and Roya on Saturday. I followed the CELTA guidelines while designing...