E/LE teacher José Ramón Huidobro, who took part in this year’s “Tutorials and Internships for Teachers” course, tells us about his experience.
Dear Tandem team:
I made the right decision. I know this now that a few hours have passed since I finished the mentoring and internship for teachers at Tandem. The 40-hour programme immersed me in the daily routine of teaching Spanish as a foreign language to A2 and B1 level students. My experience was based on a 150-hour E.L.E. specialist course at International House Madrid and another 100 hours of teaching in a N.G.O. for people at risk.
Practice is the only way to get by, but always with a criterion backed up by those who have accumulated experience. The world of ELE is immense when you have learnt the basics and only through direct contact with the students who demand quality training can you grow from nothing. I am not saying that someone can jump in from nowhere with a clear idea of language teaching: written and visual documentation is not lacking, but the double vision of the learner and the tutor is not. As well as that of the person who learns every aspect of the class from the person who teaches him/her. In my case: Natalia, someone I connected with since the presentation, with thirteen years of experience and the same motivation as on the first day.
He instilled in me the real contact, the empathy and the daily plan of the classes in which I was involved from day one. I participated with two different groups in the morning, and I observed in them all the essential guidelines to develop all the activities that lead to a well-defined objective. Classes are not strict, plans change, boys and girls have their own characteristics. The rigidity with which one learns in the course of obtaining a teaching qualification is paralysing if it is applied rigidly. Perhaps that is why I had not felt confident to go into teaching or to place a single advertisement. I needed one more point and that was to step into the classroom and let go as the beginning of my further learning.
In Tandem I didn’t feel like an outsider, from the beginning I felt part of the team. They are trustworthy, took the time to get to know me and offered sincere advice on any questions I had about the profession. The students with whom I practised had educational, professional and personal life experience. They want to learn Spanish to improve their educational and professional expectations and they learn it with great interest. It has been easy to feel good about them.
These two weeks have made me realise that I do want to try teaching Spanish. A degree is not enough, nor is sufficiency itself. You have to see yourself on the spot, work day by day and start enjoying yourself. Tandem is the perfect centre for this.
Thanks to all of you who are part of this centre for your closeness and professionalism.
José Ramón Huidobro
