Working Girl

So, yes...as preveiously blogged, I got a job! I will be working for American Language Master (ALM) teaching English. ALM is an American-owned language school here in St. Petersburg. They offer pre-intermediate, intermediate, upper intermediate, and advanced English classes. (this means the students have to know basic english already in order to enroll...meaning I don't have to be able to speak Russian to do this. which is A BIG PLUS.) They offer evening classes and also have a number of contracts teaching english at local companies (in the morning) who want their employees to improve their english. I have been orienting/training a few days these last 2 weeks, and getting familiar with the ESL books from which I will be teaching material. Also, I have been helping with the conversation group ALM offers on Saturday afternoons. The students who attend an English class with ALM can go to the conversation group on Saturdays for free as another opportunity to practice their English. We meet at a local coffeeshop and split the students into 3 groups, each group including a teacher, who then leads conversation on a certain topic, or leads the group in a game or activity that encouages them to speak. I have been to conversation group the last 3 Saturdays - the first time just as an observer to see what they do - and the last two weeks I have been a leader. Its a lot of fun and the students seem to respond really well to the things i have prepared. Plus I just have fun talking to people and hearing what they have to say. Fun for me, and i even get paid to do it! I went to ALM today for my last training thing - I met with the director and together we went through a lesson I had planned. He gave lots of good feedback and at the end told me that he had no reservations at all about me doing a good job teaching. He thinks I am totally ready and he could put me in front of a class tomorrow if he had one. The classes don't run on a set semester schedule, but rather begin once enough students are signed up. I don't know when I will get my first class, but he said that it should be in the next few weeks. Very exciting.

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