Sweating it out in Saigon

Vietnam can stun you – but not if you grew up in India, like me. To me, Vietnam feels like home, and more home than India sometimes. But Vietnam has so much in common with India, at least superficially, that on my very first evening here, I forgot I was in another country!

Until my first morning, when roosters woke me up to a cacophonous crowing match at 5 a.m. Now that does not happen in Indian urbania.

That’s how a typical day in Saigon begins for me. You’d think it was an unearthly hour for roosters to be crowing, but look out the windows, you’ll see old men already sitting down for a game of backgammon, women sweeping the alley, men grooming their roosters (yes, the same dreaded roosters that wake me up every morning), teens heading to the park for a game of badminton or ‘shuttlecock’, and school kids sipping pho and chanting trigonometric theorems.

Earplugs in, curtains drawn tight to block out the warmth of the sun, back to sleep. Read More →

Preparing for an ESL interview

So I did my CELTYL a few months ago, and collected a mineful of useful information that has been lying around in a discarded Brodard Bakery mooncake box. Now, there’s always an excuse for being lazy. Here’s mine.

November – Did the CELTYL, or the YL extension to CELTA
December – P was in India, so I worked extra hours to keep myself busy, very busy.
January – P came back, and we prepared for our upcoming vacation
February – Traveled in Malaysia, more about that in another post
March – Languished in India
April – Returned to Vietnam for a second year at ILA
May – Here I am.

Since I’ve moved to Vietnam, I get a few emails every few months, mostly from CELTA trainees at St. Giles San Francisco (my alma mater) asking about the job, the move to Vietnam, and the kinds of questions to expect in an ESL interview.

So I thought I’ll list some questions I remember being asked, and some my trainers at St. Giles had warned me about. Hopefully, if you think about these questions before your big interview, you’ll be a little more prepared, a little more confident, and that much closer to getting that job.

  1. Why do you want to teach?
  2. Why do you want to teach in Vietnam/Prague/Istanbul?
  3. What ages and levels have you taught before?
  4. What was the size of classes you have taught?
  5. Have you taught one-to-one?
  6. How do you think teaching a group may differ from teaching one-to-one?
  7. Have you taught any exam classes?
  8. Which books did you use during your CELTA/TESOL?
  9. Did you enjoy the CELTA/TESOL course?
  10. What was the most important thing you learned during the CELTA/TESOL?
  11. What are your strong points, and what do you need to work on in your teaching?
  12. What languages do you speak?
  13. Do you think ESL teachers should try and learn their students’ first language to be able to communicate better with them?
  14. Which teaching methods do you prefer while teaching?
  15. Are you ready to deal with the madness of a third-world country?

Make sure you read the post on things to do before you accept an ESL job offer

 

A Continuum: Jaded

Harsh, one would think, for a normally outwardly calm person. But hey, this blog isn’t called Volatyle without a darned good reason.

First it was Delhi, where I just shut myself up for the most part, hanging out with a closed group of friends, not venturing anywhere beyond was absolutely necessary. I know it was a knee-jerk reaction to the events of early 2004… wow, six years ago. But that’s what I did with my life. Pined for one boy, spent all day in the company of books and bookish girls, and I’m not saying it was a bad thing at all.. it’s just that I was letting go of myself, bit by bit… letting go of the girl I used to be. Read More →

Jaded

There’s so much to do, so much to think, so much to write, but so often I feel oppressed and unable to do whatever it is I want to.

I need to start living my life again, on my terms. It’s not gonna be easy but it’ll kill a lot slower than suffocating in this sludge.

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