My First English Class

On Monday, I headed off to teach my first English class. The class I was teaching was located at another language school that was 30 minutes or so from the center of Budapest and required me taking the Metro on my own for the first time.

The most difficult part of this process was locating the school which ended up being on the second floor of a shopping complex in a hidden corner. I only knew I was in the right area as I saw a sign advertising the school which quickly calmed the panic that was starting to build inside me.

I found out I was teaching this class very last minute and didn’t have time to get the required information from the previous teacher. I thought I was having 3 classes each for 45 minutes, but it turned out, it was just one class for 2 hours and 15 minutes. I was not prepared at all for this. I had gone with a brief outline for the class: talking about myself, asking the students about themselves, seeing what they wanted to learn and how they wanted to learn and just generally talk. I figured that would be enough for 45 minutes, but when I found out it was just one class, I had a mini panic attack.

Classroom(L) The classroom; (R) Posters on the wall

I was told that my class had two people in it. It was suppose to start at 5:30m, but by the time that rolled around, no one had arrived yet. So I waited, and waited. In the end, only one student showed up and she was almost 30 minutes late.

We ended up discussing the points that I had written down and then going through a text book that she had.

Teaching English

It wasn’t the best first experience teaching, but at least I know what to expect for next time. I am thankful that at least I only had one student so I was able to focus on her and to see what she wanted to work on. Her English was really good already and talking to her came quite easily. We talked of travel and books and design! So many common interests. If all my students are like her, I’ll be a happy camper.