Things I Wish I?d Known before Starting the Course It has always been my ambition to be a

It has always been my ambition to be a teacher and specifically to teach English as a foreign language. I have lived in London for 16 years, having moved from Portugal when I was eleven. My career up to this point has been in a totally different direction although I harboured secret ambitions to pursue my dream.

I finally decided to take control of my future and looked for a course which could help me achieve my ambition. After much searching I came across this course on the internet which would fulfil my needs. I looked forward to starting the course and personally felt that being Portuguese, having attended an English Comprehensive school and living in the UK for so many years that I would find the course quite easy. However that was not the case it soon become apparent that the English I learnt at Comprehensive school was only a taster and that there was much more I had to learn. For example I don't remember the English teacher at High School teaching us the different tenses and nouns and pronouns. I wished I had known this before starting the course as with some research I would have found it easier to do some of the tasks assigned.

Personally I really enjoyed doing the course and learned so much from it. Some of the units which really stood out for me were the different tenses, lesson planning, teaching pronunciation and phonology, English grammar and the passive voice and introduction to grammar parts of speech. On reflection there were times when I needed to be more patient when doing the course. I had a tendency to rush things and this meant that some of my tasks were incomplete. Other times I didn't understand them but once I went through them again I would see my mistakes and correct them. At times it was hard going and I felt like giving up. I would hit mental brick walls and struggle to get to grips with some points. Also at times I found it hard to find time to study and my concentration would suffer because things were happening in my personal life. However I was determined to succeed at this course and gain a qualification which would help me realise my dream of becoming a teacher. Therefore I persevered and when the going got tough I visualised achieving my goal and also reflected on how far I had come and how much I had learnt.

I am confident that I will pass and gain my teaching qualification. However I know that gaining the qualification is only the first step of the journey. To maintain the knowledge and skills I have gained I need to put them into practice. Therefore I will be contacting local schools which teach English as a foreign language to offer my services, whether that is paid or unpaid so I can put what I've learnt into practice.