Study Motivation

I've been doing my studies for a couple of weeks now, and so far, I still feel motivated!  One thing that is quite difficult with self-paced, online studies is keeping yourself motivated.  There's no teacher in front of you, telling you to concentrate, and no timetable telling you when to go to class. 

Despite that, sitting down with my study guide, pen and paper hasn't been a chore yet.  I even take my assignments to work, so I can do them while on my lunch break.  I'm trying not to do too much, though, because I don't want to get sick of it.

I've got a file, broken into 60 separate tabs.  There are about fifteen chapters, but each with so many different topics.  I also have six electives, which I have another six books for.  I'll need more for my Indonesian studies!

Until next time,

Sophie

More, More, More...

Selamat Pagi!
(Good Morning)

This month, I can enrol for my second course- learning the Indonesian language.  Taking on yet more study.  Stark raving mad, right?!  

As part of the TESOL course, they assure you that you do not need to speak the language of the country you will be teaching in.  They say, 'The teaching is like drama; all actions, songs and pictures'.

That's all well and good, but what if my students have questions?  What if they don't speak enough English to say anything at all?

This is why I have taken up Indonesian, as Indonesia is the country I want to teach in.  I speak very basic words right now, but ask me to put them in a sentence?  Yeah right!

Maybe my next post will be entirely in Bahasa Indonesian....

Flag of Indonesia

Until next time,
Sophie

Jumping in Head First...

It was July 28th 2012, when my friend and I boarded an airplane to Bali, Indonesia.  It was my fifth time-her second.  We were both equally as excited.

I knew what to expect.  Loud music at night, street markets open all hours, Australians almost outnumbering the Balinese, cheap food and even cheaper alcohol.  Despite the hustle and bustle, something about this place never fails to make me feel calm.  It is almost homely, now- coming here and knowing where everything is, and even knowing some Balinese people I can proudly call friends.

My friends and I at Paddy's in Kuta August 2012

Mel (the BFF), Wayan, Me (in the middle), Nurah, Lenju and Gede

Whenever I'm in Bali, I do some soul searching.  I don't know what it is or why I do it, but being over there makes me feel like I'm ready to take my life to the next step.  Each time I've thought about it, I've never known what the next step has been, and fallen back into the same old routine of going to work, coming home, eating, sleeping... and repeat.

For some reason, this time when I got home, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.  It had been playing on my mind for a while, but never had I done anything about it.  

Teaching the English language overseas.


It always seemed something too far out of reach, however a little bit of research and I stumbled across www.seeklearning.com (fantastic website, by the way- very helpful staff and hundreds of courses).  I found the ATA TESOL Course, and without thinking twice, enrolled for it.  Within a week, I was a student.

It seemed like the perfect course for me.  I am passionate about English and grammar, and cannot help but correct people (rude, but not intentional!) when they make a mistake.  I write as a hobby, and read when I can.  I love travelling, and I'm okay with my own company.  Luckily, I'm not someone who wants to (or can tolerate) being surrounded by people 24/7.  I would happily go to a foreign country and live alone.  I could always buy a few cats, if the worst came to the worst...

At the moment, I work full time in a bank, and now, I have taken on a 460 hour, self-paced course.  It's probably a good think I didn't think about it, otherwise I would've told myself how silly I am for thinking there are enough hours in the day to do all of that!  So far, I've studied only 5 hours, but I'm loving it.  

I'm going to keep an updated blog about my progress, both through the course and then hopefully into my travels.  

Until next time,
Sophie