My Latest Midlife Crisis
I decided to become a TEFL tutor... and I am LOVING it.
Hello!
My Midlife Crisis has taken another turn.
I believe that life doesn’t just come to us. If we want to try new things, we should. Otherwise, we might reach a point where we are no longer able to do so much, and we will regret all the things we didn’t do. Permission is not needed to do the things that make us happy. If we try something and it doesn’t work out, at least we will have tried instead of wondering, “What if?”
This time, in addition to being a writer and a dog behaviourist, I decided I also wanted to become a Tutor of English as a foreign language (TEFL/TESOL), so I set about learning how to do so in earnest.
After ploughing through several pages of results in a Google search, I finally settled on The TEFL Org , mainly because their 200-hour, Level 5 Diploma is TQUK and therefore OFQUAL regulated.
OFQUAL may not mean much to people outside the UK, but the curriculum for our schools and universities is regulated here. While many wonderful organisations are not OFQUAL-regulated and equally worthy, we generally know what we are getting with an OFQUAL-regulated course and that it will be held in fairly high esteem should we need to flex it.
Somehow, I have made it 45 years speaking a language without ever being taught Grammar, so ironically the most challenging part of the course was learning how English sentences are formed! This shocked me, as I’d always “just known” without ever actually knowing.
The rest of the course focused on methodologies, phonemics, learning to teach remotely, using resources, and developing decent lesson plans. As a solopreneur, I already knew how to do my taxes, set up the accounts, and so on, so learning the business side of things was already taken care of.
So I took my time, bought some grammar books, and got my head down. Now, a few months later, I have a bona-fide certificate telling the world that I am capable of teaching people across the globe how to chat away in English.
So I’m feeling rather proud of myself.
I’ve set myself up on Preply, a platform connecting students and tutors, to gain some experience. One day, I might branch off and start my own business, but for now, I’m happy with the support of a busy platform. As a plus, they find students for me.
If you want to improve your English, with me or another tutor, you can do so here*.
Now, I just have to convince Twyla not to bark during my lessons! Most of my students think it is quite funny, though. They know my obsession with all things dog overrides just about anything else. They choose me over other tutors because they also like dogs and seem to have barkers of their own.
I’m not expecting to get rich anytime soon from teaching. Many of the people I teach do not have much money to spend, but want to better their position in life. So I get a lot of satisfaction from that fact alone.
It is GREAT fun though! I meet people from all walks of life.
One of my students loves Karaoke and we chat about his exploits singing Coldplay in the local bar in Korea. Another is a film-maker. Another wants to get into university and needs English to be eligible. Another is a mother who wants to communicate better with her English-speaking daughter.
What things have you done in midlife that have changed the direction you are going in? Let me know in the comments.
Warm ‘n’ Fuzzies,
Freya xx