My Life after CELTA

My days are getting better and better. Even though my energy level is still not as high as it used to be - thanks to COVID - I definitely feel fitter every day. However, the brain fog that prevents me from going back to one hundred per cent irritates me. Despite all my efforts to buckle down to do my homework Charlette gave me a month ago - for Jeff's sake, this is how long this nasty infection lasted - I can't focus more than ten or fifteen minutes before my mind finds itself in a thick fog. Ruddy interesting. Well, no, it is not interesting; it is vexing if I'm being completely honest. Anyway, in order to preserve what is left of my sanity, I thought I'd entertain my little self with ChatGPT. I tried to ask AI to come up with a syllabus considering my topics of interest - I defined almost thirty topics - and the lesson formats I invented. My input turned out to be thorough, but its complexity was beyond its capabilities. It took me five painful dialogues with it to cr...

Well, I felt much better today after waking up, which is a great improvement. Even though I'm still not as fit as a fiddle, my overall condition is way better than a week ago. I could even buckle down to study a bit, so let's consider it a success. 

There is nothing wrong with Ági's eyes! What a great relief! We were a tad anxious today and the previous days, if I'm being honest, but this is hardly surprising. Vision is essential, and I'm sorry for those who were born blind or lost their sight. Despite my work today, the progress in revamping the basement is insignificant. I'm not worried about not being able to finish the project in time; the magnitude of the task makes me a tad on the edge. Other than that, I'm okay with moving to the basement. The weather is interesting. We woke up to an early October morning, spent an early April day, and experienced a late September evening. What a silly weather this is! Moreover, the weather forecast predicts +33°C for next week - which is great while in Austria. As for my English studies, I completed my homework. And this is all I'd done today because the basement tasks and the visit to the ophthalmologist took a great deal of time from the day. I don't mind them...

I got a sad message today on Facebook. One of my classmates from high school suddenly passed away a month ago. He was only 51, and there were no signs of his death. I know we are not young anymore, as 35 years have passed since graduation, but isn't it a bit too early to kick the bucket?  Rest in peace Gyuri. ✝ I finished the sixth unit today. It was simple; however, I needed some explanations in causatives. I had some controversy with the following sentence: "I heard that Susie had her motorbike stolen.", in which the causative indicates that "they did something to Susie's motorbike without her intention or control". However, it shouldn't necessarily mean it since some fraudulent intentions could be involved, e.g., Susie wanted someone to steal her motorbike because she deliberately wanted to commit insurance fraud. So, once again, the context is essential to understand how and what to use and why this structure means what it means. Then I completed som...

My certificate arrived today. I can't believe it. I'm over the moon; I'll pop out for some cakes. This little piece of paper is the beginning of something new and the end of a challenging period. CELTA wasn't easy for various reasons, but with hindsight, I'd do it again.  I progressed today by almost finishing the fifth unit in the book and the workbook. The listening tasks are waiting for me to get over with them, but apart from that, I'm good. I'll finish them tomorrow, provided that the dentist won't cause any pain which could knock me out. The weather is improving, although the rain makes it grey and depressing. Next week will bring some cold days, which is not good news considering that the roof guys are planning to install the new shingles. Anyway, they will fix the roof, and this is what counts.

After quickly going through the fourth lesson, I decided to start the fifth. And I didn't regret it. For the first time in my life, I was successful with the open cloze and gapped tasks, as I didn't make any mistakes. I was proud of myself and patted myself on my shoulders. I was over the moon. I plan to take more and more promising steps to consider myself ready to sit either a CAE or CPE exam soon. Anyway, I'll finish the fifth lesson tomorrow and focus on the other mistakes I've discovered and identified during the last two weeks. These are the following: using commas, relative clauses, and other minor errors that shouldn't be mentioned. The weather was much better today than yesterday. It was still cold and windy, but the temperature was higher, and the sun was shining a lot. We might even have +20°C on Friday, which seems crazy.

My performance today was excellent. I stuck to the plan and managed to go through the second lesson in the 'Ready for Advanced' book. It contained some words that needed attention, but overall, I'm happy about the test and task results. Tomorrow I'll review the relevant exercises in the workbook, but I must adjust the plan slightly, though. The anticipated pace at which I'd thought I could progress must be reconsidered, and I have to devise a better schedule. The main issue I detected today is: being an autodidact meant so far that going through any language book was merely about dealing with texts and vocabulary and forgetting about the tasks and workbooks. There were better ways of learning, of course, but this is how it is now, and instead of moaning about it, I need to rectify my mistakes. I must slow down and give myself more time to study. I must allocate enough time to immerse myself in the world of quality learning to improve and prepare thoroughly for the e...