Getting into the swing of things...

Monday, August 18, 2008 - Sunday, August 24, 2008

By now I have mastered the walk from my front door to the Metro, and from the Metro to the Oxford TEFL school quite well...as well as to a few other key places including the grocery stores, calle Guell with some good bars and restaurants and different walking routes to the same destination, such as to my flat:) I am beginning to feel that I know my way around, especially when I can start giving directions to different people asking within the city...it's a great feeling!

With classes, at this point, I have been assigned Elementary level students, which can be a bit of a rude awakening when you realize how little they know (understandably so) and needing to adjust to teaching people who may only know very few phrases of English, in contrast to the Advanced students who have a pretty good grasp of the language and are able to pick up so much more based off of context. This was a great experience for me to realize how to tailor teaching based off of exposure an skill level to be sure that I am communicating effectively to all students in the class, while not going too slow, boring the other students...what a balancing act, and such great experience!!!

This week was filled with a lot of school work during the day, and fun evenings out, getting the chance to try a few new restaurants in the city. The one thing that was evident was that Estrella tasted the same from one restaurant and/or bar to the next (Estrella is the local beer in Barcelona)...the best things to consider were outdoor seating along with the views...

Over the weekend we were able to enjoy some nice evenings in front of the Gothic Cathedral and on the waterfront in Barcelona, really getting the full feeling of being in Europe...Cathedrals and ports, how can you beat that!?!:) This weekend was a great opportunity to discover a little more about Barcelona and to appreciate all that it has to offer:)!!