Felt bad again this morning. After the Tylenol kicked in, the headache was gone, but I still wasn’t up to snuff. It’s looking like the morning input sessions are going to be exactly the same as what was covered in the TESOL. They advertise the TESOL as an introduction to the CELTA, but it’s more like the CELTA without the teaching.

But the teaching, with feedback, makes the CELTA worth the money. I taught for 35 minutes this time. The lesson plan, once again given to me, started with some listening, and culminated with a class survey exercise. It flowed really well, and I got some good positive feedback. The survey is what’s called a “freer” exercise, since it gives the students more freedom to practice the target language on their own. I gave them survey forms, and had them stand up and ask each other the questions. It’s been tricky to get this group to mingle freely, but eventually, they got into it.

I’m learning that these freer exercise are my friend, since they are extremely flexible. If you have a good one, the students can do it for a long time. Conversely, you can cut it short, if necessary. So it can expand and contract as necessary to use up your time.

I taught first, with meant I had to deal with “Thai time.” All Thais are on this system, which means they can be up to 30 minutes late for an appointment, weather it’s an English lesson, or a movie (never sit on the end of a row, unless you want to keep being made to get up). I made sure to get each late-comer up to speed on what we were doing.

After class I went to see a doctor. It’s nice that in Bangkok you can see an internationally-educated, fluent English speaking doctor for $10. In the USA I had to pay $80 to see a stuck-up prat. The doctor said I have a respiratory tract infection, and put me on a regimen of Tylenol, decongestants, and antibiotics.