Our first stop in England was Reading, where we had the opportunity to house-sit a lovely little flat overlooking the park and river. We had expected the English weather in November to be a bit of a shock after the heat of Texas, but we were surprised by how mild it was.
We enjoyed plenty of walks along the river and canal, but the main focus of our time there was to get on with the online part of our TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) course.
We had two weeks to ourselves, free from the usual distractions of travelling and visiting with friends and family, and we made good use of the time.
The grammar section was tricky and challenging, and I had no idea how little I really know about the structure of the language I use every day. The TEFL Methodology section was a little challenging too, as we had to write lesson plans and have them assessed.
The final two sections of the course were Telephone Teaching and Teaching Large Classes. It took time to go through the modules, but having made a good start while we were still in the US, we managed to complete everything before we had to move on.
The next part of the course is a three-day intensive classroom unit in Birmingham, which will involve plenty of actual teaching practice.
For more details on the TEFL course we picked, see here:
150 hour premier TEFL course – tefl.org.uk