Sally left the UK around two years ago to start a new life in
Portugal. She lives in a suburb of Lisbon, close to the
sea and is now a TEFL teacher, teaching English to Portuguese
children and adults. So, if you are interested in a
career in teaching English as a foreign language, here is an
account of some of her work.
My children are still the same except one has now gone up a
class so I am left with three – to be honest if I could shed
this class I would, as it is not as enjoyable as teaching
grown ups due to the fact that Portuguese children are not
taught to read or write before the age of six – so, in a way
I baby sit them twice a week. We are making slow
progress as Jorge (the four year old) tends to be disruptive
when he is with one of the girls but fine with the other
one! I had to send him out of class to sit with the
receptionist one week because he was so naughty.
Nuno, my other student, is still great fun. His English
has come on in leaps and bounds and he now proudly displays a
sign in the front of the taxi he drives on Sundays in Lisbon,
to say he speaks English. He loves it when he gets an
English passenger – he had one from Birmingham last Sunday so
he had great fun chatting to him. He is a Sporting
Lisbon fan and very knowledgeable about them. He is
also very interesting and told me all about his upbringing in
Cacem. Cacem is not a very pretty place – mainly high
rise flats and a lot of black people (I am not being
politically incorrect – this is what they are called
here). He remembers it before all of this and is quite
upset about the way it has become. He lives in what was
his parents’ flat (they died a few years ago) with his
wife. He went to university in Lisbon and did what all
students did, i.e. drink and behave badly but still managed
to pass his exams. He is a strong family man and found
Christmas quite trying and he still misses his parents and
says although Christmas was at his aunts, it was not the
same. He is also very interesting about his childhood,
playing in the cul-de-sac with his friends but says that he
has lost quite a few to drink or drugs which has made him
sad. He is about 29/30 and still out of work although
he has had loads of interviews – very like the UK, half the
time he never gets a reply to either application or a reason
for not getting a position.
I have also got two/three other students. One, Senor
Manuel, is a Graphic Designer who is going on a cruise on 21
March so needs some English to get by on it. He has
French and reckons he had no English but as usual he
understands quite a bit. We are getting on quite well
and I think he will manage OK. The other one/two is the
husband of the Ambassador for a Caribbean country, and his
daughter. Both are lovely. He has decided that he
has to get his English sorted because his best friends over
here are the UK Ambassador and the US Ambassador. He is
making swift progress. His daughter just needs help
with the reading and writing. I teach the pair of them
for two hours on a Saturday morning.
My Portuguese is coming along and I find that watching the TV
helps. Television is still dire but I am now slowly
watching bits and pieces of Portuguese TV. I got hooked
on their version of Who wants to be a Millionaire – very
entertaining as the presenter often gives them a clue!
I have been trying one of their telenovelas (soap operas) but
it was so atrocious (think the UK’s Crossroads but worse
acting and wobbly scenery) that I had to turn it off. I
am also getting much better at understanding the news.
Last week there was a wonderful piece on at lunchtime about a
group of OAPS who had raided a disco in Abrantes (Pego Power
Station) dressed up in glitter wigs, men dressed in drag etc
etc to protest that dancing was for all ages and not just the
young! Some of the old men had grabbed very young,
nubile young ladies and were swinging them round the dance
floor much to their horror. Good on ’em I say.
Great footage too of all the snow that has hit the north of
the country and brought parts of it to a standstill.
Lorries trapped at the Spanish border, people stuck in cars
for seven hours etc etc.
If you would like to ask Sally any questions about living in
Portugal or teaching English as a foreign language, Sally can
be contacted on: pethybs@hotmail.com
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