Job Discussion Forums

[ekush85]

Hey everyone! So unfortunately, this is my first post so I couldn't get in contact w/ anyone from the other Bridge post, but I'm just wondering if anyone has any advice for the initial training and then just what their experience w/ Bridge has been recently. I'm heading down there in early August to start and I'm insanely excited! I was a little worried about the other post b/c the guy mentioned having a horrible audition and not getting a contract. Although I'm confident I'll do fine, I'd love to get rid of some worries.

Thanks a lot!

[aphannen]

hey there...

I started at bridge 2 weeks ago, with no prior experience teaching (other then an online certificate). They are a good company. Like you, the other post made me wary of coming down here, but not to worry. As long as you keep an open mind, do what they want you to do...the biggest thing is less teacher talk time and as much student talk time as possible, the audition is not too intense. It's a pretty good place. Im in the middle of the 2 week spanish course they give to new hire's, its leaving a little to be desired but its better then nothing. The only thing I can tell you is to not expect a lot of hours to start... I had 9 teaching hours after my first week, most people get to 15 hrs a week and thats about it. Not a lot of money, but chile is a great place and its enough to survive on. Good luck and feel free to PM me for more info. Me and my girlfriend are always looking for new amigos (we have been here for 3 weeks). Ciao!

[Dia]

Some things I'd suggest paying attention to are corrections, encouraging participation, eliciting answers, lesson structure, and especially minimizing teacher talk time.

If you have to do a demo (eek, cant say Im good at these but would suggest) try to be organized, confident, dont assume students know everything. Minimize the amount of time you babble to them, in the end its about getting them to communicate. If you are doing a training course or something, I'd suggest the above things are what you should try to soak up knowledge about because later, the grammar rules and material are something you can prepare and touch up on easily by yourself or before specific lessons, but you might not always have the chance to really fine-tune your teaching methods.

I was rejected once for a job because, after watching the other applicants do a similar lesson, I felt like my material had already been covered and probably skimmed by things real students would've needed more time on. Treat your demo class as real students hoping to learn something from your time with them well enough that they might use it in conversation.

personal advice, I have no idea if this is in-line with what bridge would be seeking from you...see what you can find on their website or look for clues in your communication with them about what they want to see in their teachers.

good luck!

[aphannen]

Dia hit it on the head and has good advice. DO NOT assume your students know anything. speak slowly, give concise directions and get them speaking. The topic they give you to teach during the demo MIGHT be over your students heads, but as long as you dont talk the whole time, be very encouraging, and correct their mistakes, you will be fine.

[ekush85]

Thanks for all the help! It won't let me PM either of you b/c I don't have enough posts, so do you mind maybe sending me some info so I can reach out to you on facebook or IM? I'll be down Aug. 10th and I've met some people that will be down there already, but it can never hurt to know some more

Also, my email's: [email protected] if you want to find me on fbook so we can talk.

Thanks again!

-Elias